Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine

Mikkeller
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Barley Wine
Copenhagen V, Denmark

wow, what a truly beautiful full delicious brew, why oh why! ..so good i want to cry.. "I wish it were winter so I could freeze it into ice blocks and skate on it and melt it in the spring time and drink it! " ...abv works perfectly ...amazing stuff ..."good blow this is" ..only my second ever perfect 5!

I gotta Trump this one. Pours brownish amber with a full, lingering froth. Superb lacework displaying a full canopy and a thick fluffy ring. Aomas of fruitcake, grassy herbs, and oily new leather. Medium full nectar w/ ample residual effers that are very soft. They seem to just glide around like a gentle wind. Texture is like loose knit cotton. Nice! This brew is not overly sweet. It just barely makes sweet on the rickter scale...for a Barlewy Wine that is. Dark plumby flavors with grapes, cassis, leather, peachpit, kiwi, melon rind. The finish has a lingering hop that keeps me going. The 12% abv doesn’t even taste. Very well balanced. This is a world class BW in every right. Keep up the good work amigos. Highly recommended.

Deep red-brown with off white head that stays. There are lot of yeast flotsam. Aroma is rich caramel and astringency. Flavor is very rich deep caramel and some bourbon, burnt wood and alcohol. Hop spiciness underlies it all. This is a very interesting, well put together BW. Earthy and very strong with a long finish that stays tasty. In a world where BW can be any namby-pamby, this ones the biggest and worst that I can remember.

(on bottle, this beers rating no. 250) Clear as cognac, chestnut color, small, white and steady head. Now, I know Cascade, maybe Centennial, but Nugget? No, but the mixture of the 3....it´s freaking magic. First of fresh cut pinewood, shoeploish, dirt. Then more sweet aromas; leather, old furniture, some winebar on Madeira. Small and perky carbonation.. And here the malty wood, the tobacco and the warmth of massive, aged alcohol strickes my palate, while the tastes of pears in brandy, canesugar and a whole 12-course dinner from a huntingparty in the hungrian forrests, with it´s fat, charcoal, bread, smoke, solid gunoil, wet dogs, laughing men, rich and tender meat, century-old tables and firm vegetabels, just rolls across my tounge. Hell, the depth of that alcoholburst, is so full, I get warm in my stomack, while the beer still is in my mouth. This is überbeer, no doubt.

2009-05-11, draught at Plan B, Copenhagen, 9-5-9-5-18=46
Cloudy brown color. Still a very powerful yet balanced Barley Wine, round, mature, with a good share of fruity American hops, extremely sweet and bitter, can drink on and on...

2008-10-17, draught at Ølbaren, 9-5-10-5-18=47
Red mahohany color. Huge creamy head. Wonderful hoppy aroma, with delicate fruits, malty. Extremely sweet, syrupy, strong caramel flavor, powerful, with the necessary strong bitterness; getting nutty at the end. Very well hiding the alcohol. One of my favorites.

2008-09-30, bottle, 9-5-9-5-18=46
Beautiful hazy amber color, huge head, reducing to a short cap but persistent. Very nice malty aroma, perfumy, positively soapy, creamy, hoppy. Good body, full malt and caramel flavor, not sticky but very sweet, and perfectly complemented by the good hopping; almost fruity. Where were we? Better than I rememebered. It has been bottled 3 months ago, so the improvement is not due to the maturation. Excellent.

2008-02-14, corked bottle, plastic cork, 37.5 cl, bottled 2007-08-14, 7-4-7-4-14=36
Pours a chestnut color, with a medium creamy head. Even the plastic cork smells of noble hops; the aroma highlights immediately malt, caramel, some vanilla. It has a good caramel flavor, that is sweeter in the front and darker at the end; powerful hopping, but difficult to distinguish Cascade or Centennial); at the end it’s well bitter, mainly with burnt sugar and hops, not much malt or sweetness left. Many elements (reduced sweetness, medium body strength, fiery warming perception) make me believe that this beer should have stopped earlier its fermentation. A good beer, but I enjoyed more the Big Bad.

nice filthy though not too alcholic dominated beer. flavor of sweet soft fruits, the best part of this BW is the balance.. it’s becomming alive on the tongue and it speads out to the entire body.. amazing feeling !

Dark hazy amber/ brown with a beige head. Aroma of fruit, caramel, sugar and a little alcohol. Flavor of fruit, raisons, caramel, sugar, hops and a little alcohol. Very good.

Nice and rich chesnut coloured beer with great looking yellowish head. Aroma is a la mikkeller, exiting and interesting complex. It has hints of fresh birchwood, forest soil, bee wax, caramelized cerials, Grand Marnier, Hors d’age Calvados de chez Roger Groult, nice refreshing hops, honey and old furniture. Taste is delightfull, strong and slight sweet malty. It also has a woody and earthy caracter with na boozy finish. In the finale there are nuts, dried leafs, carameized malts, some stonefruit pits and crispy green hops and herbs. Alcohol is presents but well integrated in this very complex calvados like barley wine.