Mikkeller Draft Bear

750 mL bottle purchased at Liquor Max in Loveland, CO. Pours hazy orange with a large, creamy and frothy white head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (hay, straw, meal, grain), heavy hops (flowers, grass, perfume), heavy yeast (sweat, earth) with notes of grapes, apple, pear, and sweet corn. Medium bodied, creamy and sticky texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.

750 ml. brown champagne bottle. No freshness date seen. Caged & corked with a fake wax cork. Poured out a dark, hazy, yellow color, with a sticky white head. Aromas are of piney hops, citrus rinds, sweet malts, some spices. Flavors are piney hops, sweet malts, sulfurous yeast. Medium mouthfeel, decent body. Alcohol is dangerously well hidden. Hell of a beer overall.

Golden with a frothy head. Aroma of pine, grass and citrus, and a forcefull hoppy flavour that lacks some contrast from the malt to make connections to a pilsner.

Poured 24 karat with a massive 3-inch head that slowly receded but left mountains of foam on the side of the glass. Aroma is grassy and extremely floral (more so than any beer I can remember)...similar to what one would experience in an orange grove. Flavor is crisp and fruity...with obvious tangerine, nectarine, and orange. Amazing beer...not sure why others were so harsh in their ratings.

Translucent, yellowy brown color with an active, foamy white head that laced the glass. Strong aroma of citrus, hop oils, and slight pine with a hint of grass in the back. Flavor was well balanced, crisp but light malt, citrus and fruity hops, a touch grainy and a touch sugary. Finish is dry and crisp and just a tad syrupy. Very good session beer, I had no problem putting back the whole 750ml.

750ml Bottle: Sweet aroma. Smells of floral hops, candy, and Red Bull. Very hoppy aroma. Poured gold in color with a huge, creamy, off-white head that lasted throughout. Slightly hazy. Sparkling. Excellent lacing. Flavor is medium sweet and medium to heavily bitter. Tastes of floral hops, fruit, Smarties, and more hops. Medium body. Creamy, then dry texture. Average carbonation. Dry, floral hop finish. Sweetness is well balanced by the bitter hops. A nice brew.

Best By Cork Date February 2009; Sampled March 2008
A vigorous pour yields a four-finger thick, light tan colored head that forms some structural mesas and leaves some crunchy lacing on the sides of the glass as it slowly recedes. The beer is a honey color, but shows a lightly hazy, orangish copper color when held up to the light. The aroma has a nice grassy hop character to it up from, but this is immediately followed by a mix of sweet malt and hop notes that contributes an almost honey-like, wild flower nectar aroma. Aromatic notes of orange blossoms, lemon zest, fresh mown hay, grassy grain, soda crackers and a distinct fruitiness that is like a cross between apricot and pear. The fruit notes in the aroma are quite interesting, though this seems to dissapate as the beer warms and I work my way through the beer.

The beer is still fairly well carbonated after sitting for the last ten minutes; it foams up a bit as it hits my mouth. There is a nice grain sweetness to this beer, but it is not so much that I would characterize this as a sweet beer. Lots of hop character helps to offset the grain sweetness; flavors of hay, herbal grass notes, and a touch of menthol. Towards the finish the hop character gets much more herbal, with an accented menthol note and it even gets a bit astringent and green; a sure sign of a hopped up brew. The bitterness is not overwhelming here, it is solid, noticeable and even lingers on for quite a bit in the finish; either some low cohumulon hops were used or it does not have an over-abundance of IBUs when compared to the malt. The malt sweetness accents flavors of wild-flower honey with a touch of bergamot and orange flower. While this is certainly not a light Pilsner, it drinks fairly lightly for a beer of its strength, capturing perhaps the intent of a Pilsner if not the actual lightness.

As the beer warms up it picks up some more sweetness and a bit of warming alcohol in the finish, though I will admit that over all the alcohol is fairly well hidden here. A pretty tasty brew; the hop character can be a bit green and grassy at times, but this is perfectly in line with an "imperial" Pilsner and certainly distinct from an IPA.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=698>Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Cloudy orange, huge white head. Big hoppy, fruity, citrusy (grapefruit) aroma. Very hoppy up front, Surprising crisp palate. Some notess of wood, lemon and other citrus flavors. Nice beer, and surprisingly easy to drink.