Mikkeller It’s Alive!

Mikkeller
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Copenhagen V, Denmark

Amber colored with a white head that retains pretty well. Smell is pretty good, I got a lot of horse blanket in it, as well as some earthy notes, and some spices. Taste unfortunately, did not have as much of the horse blanket, or much of what I find enjoyable, best thing to describe it was like Vick’s green cough spray. I wanted to like the taste better, but I just kept being distracted by this flavor. Medium bodied and high carbonation. Don’t know that I’d have this again.

Best By Date March 2012; Sampled July 2008
A soft pour easily produces over three-fingers of foamed that is a dirty, light tan color. The beer is a full amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, orange-tinged, light amber color when held up to the light. The aroma is very fruity smelling; aromas of berries, aromatic apples, sauvignon Blanc, some light zinfandel grape notes and some Asian pear are each noticeable. Funky, though not overwhelmingly so; it is more spicy than funky with ample notes of woody black pepper, cedar, ginger and clove. A backdrop of bready malt notes round out the complexity in the nose. Really it is the woody, peppery notes that make this such an interesting beer to smell.

Despite resting for almost ten minutes it is still incredibly well carbonated and it fizzes up as soon as it hits my tongue. The beer tastes fairly sweet which really accentuates fruit flavors up front. It then starts to get funky towards the middle and into the finish. The fruit notes remind me of currants, some generic berry notes, a touch of apple and some light pear. As to the funk, well this is dominated by huge phenolic notes that are a mix of some band-aide notes, lightly rotting vegetal notes and a curing plastic / acetone note that lingers on in the mouth after each sip. Underneath the strong phenolics is a solid, if not piquant, spiciness that provides flavors of pepper, fruity young ginger and lingering clove. At times the phenolics seem to contribute more of a spicy, wood-like character that is almost like cedar, but does seem to pick up a turpentine edge.

As the beer warms up it loses the harshest of the plastic phenolic notes, or perhaps it is just that my palate has become saturated. It almost becomes enjoyable from the beginning to ending of each sip, though the harsh, plastic phenolics never entirely dissipate. This is light and quaffable, especially for an 8% abv beer.

This almost has a Jekyll and Hyde flavor personality (thankfully the aroma is all nice, funky, goodness); up front it is quite fruity, smooth and tasty, but towards the finish it starts to get wild, harsh and phenolic. In the end I would balance this a bit more towards the pleasant notes; even in the finish there are solid, good tasting, flavor contributions, all of which ultimately save this from being un-enjoyable.

Well, it starts it’s life hazy amber orange with a coarse head of white foam. The aroma suggests hay, sweet caramelized malt, classic Belgian spiciness and complex earthy element. In the mouth, it struts a substantial carbonation. Starting rich on the caramel side, it quickly turns quite hoppy. Spicy and earthy elements from the yeast, transitioning to a growing bitterness, almost with grapefruit character. Upon first tasting, this bitterness seems quite intense, but mellows-out as one continues to sip.

Pours a slightly hazy orange color with a small white head. Aroma is spicey and fruity. Sweetish fruity bitter and yeasty flavor with some tart citrus notes. Long dry yeasty malty finish.

The aroma is malty with a bit of hops which gives it a tint of pepper. It is also very floral in the aroma. The colour is like copper. Flavor is a bit sour with a lot of hops especially for the aftertaste. I guess this beer is inspired by orval.

750ml bottle from WLV... cloudy medium orange brown pour with a soapy white decently sized head.... aroma was semi-sour tart citrus fruit and some light spice and earth to go along with it.. flavor was spicy sweet malt, somwhat peppery with mildly citrusy sweet qualities....not sure i dug this all that much but glad to have tried it.

RBESG08 grand tasting
Murky amber body. Hoppy and caramelly nose. Nice herbal hopiness in the taste, notes of caramel again. Wrote it down as a typical IPA for some reason. Ah, well, there goes my credibility. Nice beer anyway.

Bottle. Pours an orange/amber colour with a lasting off-white head. Aroma is fruit, caramel, yeast, hops. Flavor is fruity, grassy, spicy, hoppy. Very good.