Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Beer Geek Brunch Weasel: Cognac Barrel

Mikkeller: Beer Geek Brunch Weasel: Cognac Barrel (Denmark: Imperial Stout: 10.9% ABV)

Visual: Jet black, pours thick and slick with a deep chocolate coloured rich head.

Nose: Honey. Oatmeal. Chocolate. Spiced blueberry. Thick treacle. Crystallised orange sweetness. Crumbly chocolate cake. Raisins.

Body: Viscous. Bitter chocolate. Bitter coffee. Very smooth oats. Froths nicely to sweeter chocolate. Marmalade undertones. Raisins and plums.

Finish: Very bitter chocolate. Bitter coffee. Porridge oats. Very potent indeed in the coffee flavour here. Almonds reside here as well and hazelnuts. Light marmalade grows over time.

Conclusion: You know, I have often called for the more potent beers to be available in smaller bottles. The trend towards 660ml/750ml bottles of 10-15% abv beers has been great for sharing, but they just don’t suit all occasions.

This beer comes in a 25cl bottle. Come on! There is a whole excluded middle thing going on here!

The beer, however small its package, is as delicious as ever. The usual Beer Geek Brunch Weasel (BGBW from now on) traits of wonderfully deep chocolate and coffee flavours are on full show. The thick oatmeal texture and dark fruit rising over time are present as well. In fact even more so than Black Hole this is a beer where the cognac influence struggles to make itself felt.

There are some influences though, subtle but present. The aroma especially picks up some spirit touches, and a very light marmalade sweetness as well. In fact there is marmalade touches nigh hidden, but present, throughout. Id say some part of its influence seems to give the dark fruit more play as well.

However it is effectively the BGBW flavours that stand tall. No bad thing, it is a fantastic beer. Everything good I said about that beer still holds true here. The depths it brings to the simple words “chocolate” and “coffee” the range, the thickness, the texture. All here. The bitterness of both coffee and chocolate are resplendent and tongue coating. For all the slick texture the oatmeal seems to give it grip that makes the bitterness last.

However the cognac adds but little, and for all I like to see smaller bottles you can get 660ml of BGBW for 250ml of this. Id say go with standard BGBW. However if you see this and not standard, well it’s still the same beer pretty much, and definitely the same quality, Drink it. It is delicious and still after all this time one of the greatest Imperial Stouts of all time.

That’s a hell of a good beer.

Background: Beer Geek Brunch Weasel was, and still is, one of my favourite Imperial Stouts and in fact beers, ever. It comes in a close second after Good King Henry: Special Reserve (Don’t ask me to pick a third, the Imperial Stout competition is too tight and I just can’t do it). Thus a cognac aged version sounded like just the thing. For those of you looking at the tags and noticing this doesn’t have a “My favourites” entry, it is just because I have already had Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, which has taken the place. This beer is just as good, but not distinct enough to earn a separate place.  Anyway, yes an oatmeal imperial stout made with partially digested coffee beans. I.E. weasel shit.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Black Hole: Cognac Barrel

Mikkeller: Black Hole: Cognac Barrel (Denmark: Imperial Stout:13.1% ABV)

Visual: Black. Thick creamy coffee coloured head with burnt toffee coloured bubbles at the base.

Nose: Smooth creamy chocolate. Milky coffee. Slight plums. Thick marmalade. A slight spirit edge.

Body: Bitter chocolate. Raisins. Figs. Quiet creamy. Cinnamon. Marmalade again. Caramel. Plums.

Finish:  Bitter chocolate gratings, or maybe chocolate cake. Cream. Milky coffee. A light hop touch.

Conclusion: One day I will get bored of barrel aged black hole variants. One day. Today is not that day however.  This one, cognac aged, initially seems remarkable unaltered by its time in the wood. I thought to myself “Maybe the cognac had found its match and could not escape the black hole of flavour”.

A bit more time proved that hypothesis incorrect. The beer is smoother, and does have a spirit touch to it. Though frankly standard black hole had enough of a punch with it’s abv that you can understand how that is easily missed.

A bit more time and the real differences started to show themselves. Marmalade and distinct dark fruit nestled dangerously at the beers heart.  While not transforming the Black Hole it does complement it well. The strength of the base beer guards it against the common criticism of barrel aged beers, that of losing the base beer to becoming a clone of whatever it was aged in. You can tell that the base beers bitter chocolate and coffee are still present in full force.

The fruit does give it a touch of Trappist Quadrupel in its impressions, and frankly I can think of very few situations where those words are not a compliment. I would say that while delicious that maybe the influence is still a tad too restrained. The Red Wine version walked the thin balance between influencing and overwhelming better.  This should not however be taken as a slight, like all Black Holes this is delicious, rich and powerful yet smooth. It is just not the best in the extraordinary class that is the barrel aged range. Frankly that is faint criticism indeed. A fine beer.

Background: Yet another barrel aged Black Hole. Black Hole was one of the first insanely big stouts, or possibly even the first if my memory holds true.  As of such I love trying the different variants. Cognac ageing intrigues me, though I have only really seen it in Fullers Brewers Reserve so far.  Mikkeller are a great bunch of brewers who use other peoples breweries to make their beer. A fine and fun set of brews is the result.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Simcoe: Single Hop IPA

Mikkeller: Simcoe: Single Hop IPA (Denmark: IPA: 6.9% ABV)

Visual: Hazy apricot flesh. Good inch of frothed bubbled head with a light toffee hue that leaves lace.

Nose: Grapefruit. Gherkin. Hop tingle. Apricot. Cucumber.

Body: Gherkin. Slick texture that froths up easily on the tongue.  Malt and toffee sweetness. Moderate honey. Pineapple.

Finish: Good bitterness. Pineapple. Fluffy hop feel and quite drying. Toffee. Passion fruit.

Conclusion: That Simcoe hop. I’d seen it in many good beers, and most recently on its own in a keg only Brewdog beer. That beer was sodding excellent, and the hop has always impressed me so visiting it again in a different take seemed like the thing to do. Enter Mikkeller with their intense single hop series.  Their Nelson Sauvin single hop was fantastic so this seems like a perfect match.

Here the hop shows fresh pineapple and grapefruit characteristics against that unusual gherkin element which seems to be the unique selling point of the hop to my eyes.  The only other beer with similar elements I can think of is the Columbus hop Kernel IPA. This beer has a much more restrained take on that particular element than the Columbus hop beer, which gives more free range for this beers freshness and hop tingle.

Overall the hop still impresses, and this beer interpretation is a much more balanced effort that Brewdogs IPA is dead take. Mikkeller balances the hop much more with malt and toffee sweetness.  The more rounded beer does mean that the pure hop element doesn’t seem to get displayed to quite the same effect though. I would say that the Brewdog interpretation felt much more open so you could get a feel for what the hop itself was doing.  Here the malt influence is more present creating a heavier and more balanced beer.

It is a very nice beer, but I prefer the Brewdog version. That is not a slight against this beer, as it is a firm and well grounded beer of strong malt flavour and fruit freshness.  As always Mikkeller beer balances hop and malt for a very solid beer, easily appreciatable for its gherkin and toffee mix (odd as that may sound). It’s just the Brewdog version pips it at the post.

Background: Picked up from Corks of Cotham.  As you may have guessed from the conclusion I came across this after being very impressed by Brewdog’s simcoe single hop beer. Since that one wasn’t available in bottles this seemed a good way to get a bit more experience with the hop.  Mikkeller have done quite the range of these single hops, and from my experience with previous examples they seem to use a good base IPA to show off the hop.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Black Hole: Red Wine Barrel

Mikkeller: Black Hole: Red Wine Barrel (Denmark: Imperial Stout: 13.1% ABV)

Visual: Visual: Pours thick, black and with a good sized bubbled froth of head considering the abv. The head is a lovely toffee colour, but not too long lasting.

Nose: Jelly babies. Red cherries. Strong milky chocolate. Dusty cocoa beans. Strawberry jam and milky coffee. Red wine.

Body: Big thick milky chocolate with a very thick creamy texture. Solid bitter behind that. Glacier cherries and jelly babies. Red grapes and vinous touches as it warms. Cream.

Finish:  Milky and bitter chocolate mix with dry coffee.  As you wait the bitter chocolate wins out over the other two.  Grapes and slightly stewed apples as side airs.

Conclusion:  Much as I love the odd ageing you can apply to beers, I have come to realise that they are a very difficult balancing act to pull off.  So many barrel ageings come in so strong that they obliterate the original base beer that you loved so, which kinda misses the point.

Now Black Hole is a hard beer to hide, yet on first sniff you think that the red wine has actually done it.  The first whiff is all red fruit, and also oddly the same jelly baby style I found in the tequila aged version.

Main body however is classic Black Hole chocolate and coffee with the red wine fruitiness relegated to bubbling away underneath.  The red wine never quite comes to the fore, but you can see it there all the time, rounding off the edges and infusing a new richness in its place.

The natural bitter dryness of the stout and the fruit sweetness are a great match. The only thing I would say is not to come into it expecting the red wine to be a booming element. While it is definitely there it’s polite and intrudes only when it has something new to offer.

A subtly changed beer which results in a definite improvement to the Black Hole stout. A beer that invites exploration and probing searches, unlike its namesake.  A great twist then on an already great beer from a great set of brewers.
Great.

Background: Ah Mikkeller black hole, pretty much the first craft Imperial Stout I ran into and still and old favourite.  This beer actually has quite the back story to it.  Due to problems over at Brewdogs store at the tail end of last year there ended up being a few breakages of beers I had ordered. They had no more of that beer left in stock so sent me this beer as a replacement. Which promptly disappeared in the post. Still, dedicated bastards that they are they finally got the beer to me, which I can now joyously review.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Sur Munk

Mikkeller: Sur Munk (Denmark: Sour Ale: 9.99% ABV)

Visual:  A dark ruddy purple brown with maybe a touch of mashed blueberry hue. Slight dust of darkened bubbles over the cloudy body.

Nose: Sour. Raspberry and blue berry. Very sharp yet with toffee pavlova and fresh baked cake. Fruitcake soaked in Madeira. Very fruity.

Body: Sharp and sweet mix. Strawberry. Fudge cake. Acidic apple. Quite thick for the acidity. Tart raspberry and blueberry. Lots of fruitcake again. Wine like touches.

Finish: Lots of toffee. Apple and cider. Still sharp acidic fruit. Slightly throat burning in intensity.

Conclusion: A quick question to open. Do you like Rodenbach beers, particularly the Grand Cru? If you answered no, then you will not like this beer.

Yep, it’s another sharp to the point of vinegar acid beer. Somehow I don’t mean that as a bad thing. I’m not sure how, but it’s true.  This time however it is Mikkeller bringing their talent for Belgium style beers to the fold, fresh off their success with “Not just another wit”

The beer is sharp as hell and brings with it one of those lovely roaming aromas. The ones that can tantalise your quivering nostrils for an age as you try and discern its aromas, and as it fools you into nigh holographic smells emerging. Fruity and surprisingly sweet, you can take your time letting it shimmer and smell before you take that first sip.

The high alcohol means that the fruity main body seems much more vinous that in a lot of these beers, and you can be forgiven for imagining port or Madeira influences.  Yet again the huge toffee sweetness counteracts it. This fascinating departure from the Rodenbach style marks it as comparatively (comparatively) welcoming and open despite its acidity. Very rich and surprisingly thick textured.

The only complaint really, as long as you can put up with the intended acidity, is that at 500ml it really must be shared. The weight of the acidity makes it a beer that you don’t need a lot of to enjoy. I think there may be a 330ml version of this, which is a far better size for the average drinker.

So very good, very challenging, very sharp and very sour. If you can put up with that you will love this.

Background: Ah Mikkeller, quite quite mad they are. This beer was picked up from Brewdog’s guest beer selection.  Oddly lists the abv at 9.99%. This is odd as I’m fairly sure there is an EU law that says beer abv must be listed to no more than one decimal place. Guess it wouldn’t have been worth scratching the extra nine off for all the export sales. No I have no idea why that law exists either. Not that I care overly, though I do wonder if there is some symbolism in the 9.99, similar to another EU law ignoring  beer which had 6.66% ABV (in that case the symbolism being the obvious number of the beast). I can’t see any such symbolism for this beer however. Odd.  Anyway Mikkeller has had a good run with me so far, and I would put them very high on the brewers I trust to turn out a good beer so looking forwards to this one.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Black Hole: Barrel Aged: Tequila Edition

Mikkeller: Black Hole: Barrel Aged: Tequila Edition (Denmark: Imperial Stout: 13.1% ABV)

Visual: Black. An amazingly thick head considering the abv. Creamy brown and leaves coffee style rim around the glass.

Nose: Coffee and roasted nuts. Distinct spirit style alcohol evident at range that gains a recognizably tequila tweak up close. Bags of jelly babies. Strawberry crème centres

Bady: Thick and creamy. Jelly sweets and strawberry jam. Very frothy. Very sweet. Some malt chocolate. Orange liquorè. More bitter chocolate as it warms, or possibly chocolate fondue .

Finish: Jelly sweets again. Vodka initially, then develops to tequila. Good but not heavy bitter backing. Milk chocolate.

Conclusion:  Ah, tequila, the drink of student years. My mate once ate the worm from a bottle and spent the rest of the night hallucinating. This apparently is not the standard reaction. Also chilli tequila. Ugh, that stuff was vile. Why the hell did I drink that?

Excuse me, was lost in reminiscing about my stupider days of being me. So, Black Hole, a beer I loved, add in ageing in tequila barrels, a spirit I have…interesting memories of and we have this, possibly the odder end of the ageing spectrum.

Here we go. Holy shit it’s sweet. No alcohol burn, I mean you definitely know what you are drinking but its smooth.  The dry chocolate and coffee of the original black hole is much more muted. This thing is super smooth and feels like a trifle has been dropped in it. Probably in a good way. Probably.

I first had this slightly chilled, which is where it was so very insane jelly babies sweet. As it warms some of the dry bitter chocolate comes back to fight.  Not as much still as the un aged black hole, but enough that it is at this point the beer really starts to impress. A very character full beer.

Now this is such a fun ageing trick, and not one I would have ever thought to try myself. It is a one trick pony, and technically, technically too sweet. I am having so much fun with it though that I can’t complain though. The black hole base is just strong enough to fight its corner against the tequila. It almost fails, but thankfully doesn’t.

Now it does not quite hold up to the end of the glass. The final quarter may be slightly wearing out its sweet welcome, but its one I was happy to have.

If you thought Black Tokyo* Horizon wasn’t quite mental sweet enough then this thing may fill the void in your life.
Background:  Mikkeller Black Hole was one of the first really big Imperial Stouts I got to try and so still holds a special place in my memories. Tequila, as you may have seen in the conclusion has an, interesting, place in my memories.  Frankly I am a nut for odd barrel ageing and I’ve not seen tequila aged before so this was a must try.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Revelation Cat: Cream Ale

Mikkeller: Revelation Cat: Cream Ale (Denmark: Cream Ale: 5% ABV)

Visual: A hazy lemon coloured body with a just slightly yellowed hued head that gives somewhat the impression of a lemon meringue.  The lace leaving bubbled head is quite ridiculously massive on initial pour and stays that way for quite a while.

Nose:  Apricot, pineapple and jiff lemon. Slight white bread. Very fresh with a cinnamon touch.

Body:  Slight fizzy feel and evident bitterness. You get the feel of hops layered over a light lemon juice flavour. Apricot. Milky, or possibly more relevant to say creamy.

Finish: Lemon covered pancakes. Hops. A real long lasting dry bitterness. Milk (or yes, possibly cream again). Pineapple.

Conclusion: I’ve never had a cream ale before so I was really not sure what to expect on opening this.  Initial impressions as the cap popped off were quite positive. The aroma came in very fresh, all lemon hopped and energetic. Somewhat relieved I got my pen and paper to hand and progressed to the drink itself

I quickly realised the aroma had set the tone very well for the beer, though the word energetic should be replaced with solid bitter hoppiness. It is still fresh as a daisy and has a quite splendid hoppy finish.  The fresh citrus main body manages to be remarkably easy to drink as well, possibly due a slight sweet creaminess that I’m going to go out on a limb and guess is a standard point of the style.

There really isn’t much else to it, it’s simple yet brash.  Unfortunately its 5% abv is just a touch too high for the perfect session region that it would otherwise suit well. I’m guessing unless the hop finish grew too much over multiple bottles that it would have been a sorted session beer for flavour.
Still aside from that it’s a zesty little bottle of fun.  Makes me imagine that it was what Art Brews Lemon Beer was aiming for, except this one didn’t fail. (No offence to the otherwise quite rocking Art Brew beers) So it’s simple but fun. Will have to have a few more cream ales before I can work out quite the intent of the style though.

Background: I decided to pick this up at the Great British Beer Festival.  It’s Ratebeers highest rated example of the style, so having never tried a cream ale before it is either a great place to start, or a great way to make every cream ale afterwards looks crap. (Or maybe a great way to put me off the style if it turns out to be rubbish, possibly wrongly so).  So, no idea what to expect going in.  I don’t know much about Revelation Cat, but Mikkeller have been damn good so far.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Not Just Another Wit

Mikkeller: Not Just Another Wit (Denmark: Belgium Style Witbier: 7.6% ABV)

Visual: Very hazy in a mix of colours from dark lemon to a hazy apricot.  The body is shimmering in its hazy styling and sports a very solid cinnamon influenced off white head that has about an inch of froth bubbles within it. Some bubble suds are left as the beer descends.

Nose: Lemon. Cinnamon  on doughnuts. Pineapple and custard. Condensed cream or possibly vanilla ice cream. Orange peel. Lemon curd and peaches.

Body: Tingly orange fresh. Coriander and lemon.  Very citrus packed.  Wheat flavour and a lovely just slightly gripping texture to contrast the smooth flavours.  Lots of vanilla ice cream. A balanced hop bitter hidden underneath, subtly influencing the beer.

Finish: Lemon meringue. Peach and light bitterness. Wheat.

Conclusion: Oh wow. Definitely wow. This is how you do a wit bier. Fresh, full flavoured with almost an afterthought of hop bitterness just hinted at to give it a bit of spice.  The aroma rolls out of the glass, far more evident that most examples of the style, and brings a fresh and just slightly tart tantalising smell to lure you in.

When you get into the body the abv is evident in the punch it gives the flavour, not the burn of alcohol.  You know it has punch as it would be hard for a weaker body to sustain the flavour, but it does not otherwise give a hint of the alcohol.

The craft influence is cleverly restrained, with light hints of the hop style and pineapple and peach hop character.  It just adds that fresh touch. Instead of pushing the craft style where it would overpower the original elements they instead turn the traditional style up to 11 and it works fantastically.

Really refreshing, amazing to share and packed with fruit flavour. A gem and masterpiece of a beer.

Background: Picked up from Brewdog’s guest beer section.  As always Mikkeller is a big draw for me, being one of the early craft brewers I encountered. Mikkeller do not have a brewery of their own, doing all their work at other breweries.  Mikkeller refer to it as an Imperial Wit and I would find it hard to disagree.  The beer has been spiced with coriander seeds and orange peel.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog Mikkeller Nøgne Ø: Black Tokyo Horizon

Brewdog Mikkeller Nøgne Ø: Black Tokyo* Horizon (Scotland: Imperial Stout:17.2% ABV)

Visual: Opaque black. Quite a fizzy pour but no head results from it.  Leaves a brown sheen around the glass but the beer does not seem quite as viscous as you would imagine.

Nose:  Roasted walnuts, liquorice. Alcohol but not burning. Slight coffee beans. Wood fire. Blueberry jam and brambles. Gin. Lots of candy floss sweetness or possible even toasted marshmallows.  Toasted teacakes.

Body: Very sweet. Blueberry. Very distinct alcohol. Red cherries and sugar cane.  Chocolate fondue. Light coffee at the back, very smooth.  Lots and lots of cocoa. Oddly toasted crumpets.

Finish: red cherries and milk chocolate. Still distinct gin styled alcohol. Marshmallows and strawberry jam. Dry malt drinks. Toasted teacakes again.

Conclusion: It is a pity that the term sweet stout has already been taken for a particular variety of low alcohol stout because if it had not then it would have been the perfect descriptor for this imperial stout.  This is damn sweet, a mix of sugar shock and evident alcohol that comes with fruitiness and force.

Even on the nose there is alcohol on show, though without the burning sensation that comes from low quality examples of “extreme beers” (“Start the Future” I’m looking at you, you foul tasting piece of.. anyway) Throughout the rest of the beer though there is a significant alcohol punch, probably a tad too much, and I got the feeling very quickly that it is one that would benefit from a while in the cellar to smooth it off a tad.

However we are not talking about a hypothetical future beer, we are looking at the one in the glass in front of us. Even with the fire, there is a lot going on. Rich chocolate, some light coffee notes at the back and a huge range of sweet and fruit notes that frankly dominate the character.  With the chocolate and coffee it feels like good quality examples of the items as well, reminding me somewhat of the highly expressive range of coffee flavours in Mikkeller’s  Beer Geek Brunch Weasel in quality.

If it wasn’t for the over evident alcohol then this would easily be a showstopper, and I have a bottle ageing for a future retrospective to see if it lives up to its promise.  For now it is an insane sweet sugar sledgehammer of flavour that is very highly complex and sweet. Frankly it shouldn’t be possible to have this much subtlety behind so much force.  The especially odd toasted flavours (be it marshmallow, teacakes or crumpets) are welcome and completely unexpected.  A fine drink for slow inspection, in fact it would be an insult to try it any other way.

Well worth a bottle to cellar, and if you are impatient and have it sooner rather than later, well it’s still an impressive beer.

Background: Mikkeller Brewdog and Nøgne Ø are pretty much the big three of craft brewers from their respective areas and this is a collaboration beer based on their three respective massive stouts. When finished the stout has then been aged in whisky casks and on pure cacao.  Finally it gets put in a little cardboard box for some reason.  Maybe to allow the bottle privacy, I’m not 100% sure.  As a fan of the respective stouts this was one I was looking forwards to and gave a lot of time to enjoy.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: 1000 IBU

Mikkeller: 1000 IBU (Denmark: IIPA: 9.6% ABV)

Visual: Massive lace leaving, or possibly coffee cup rim bubbles leaving, coffee froth coloured head.  A reddish brown body, with some sediment in due to an over enthusiastic pour.

Nose: Grapefruit, bitter hops, coffee cup remains. Orange peel and crushed peanuts.  Quite dry.  Mixed spices including ground pepper, chilli pepper and so on. Quite acrid.

Body: Solidly bitter and full of hops. Malt and chocolate orange peak through, initially barely come out but reveal themselves more over time.  Touch of pineapple.  Quite a smooth cream styled middle.  Sweetness in the form of sugar coated chocolate eggs makes an appearance.

Finish: Bitter, dry popcorn hops. Clinging texture and bitterness. Milk chocolate hint and orange crème.

Conclusion: Wow, bloody hell, the hops still haven’t left. I put the glass down to do some writing about five minutes back, yet the hops have set up a makeshift town on my tongue and are playing away through the night.

So, yeah I guess you know what the finish is like now, the full affect of the sack full of hops  that go into this beer really take hold there and the more you drink the more it builds up.  I thought the barrel aged version had some kick, but this goes an extra yard and then some.

Now of course the theoretical 1000 IBU is just a silly boast as there no way your tongue tells the difference at that level, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less intense for the bitterness you do recognise, or the fact it seems to be designed to bring the full force to the fore.

Thankfully still a drinkable beer though, though not half as complex as the barrel aged version.  They have done well at giving a smooth main body, laced with sweet chocolate orange that restrains the assault somewhat, holding back the sledgehammer hit until the finish.   A nice trick that makes the beer enjoyable as opposed to just bitter as hell.

So, if you are only drinking the beer for the hop kick, it’s a surprisingly restrained beast (comparatively that is) until the end kicks in. If you are in it for the taste then there are better, the barrel aged version for one.  If you are in it for numbers then there have been higher since.

Still a decent kick at the end, and that’s enough to sell it for a try, though I doubt I’ll be having more than one, favouring instead the barrel aged version if I get the chance to try it again.

Background:  I drank the barrel aged version of this a while back, which I very much enjoyed, but wanted to see how this hop bomb bastard worked in the nude. At 1000IBU it was once the most bitter beer on the planet, though that crown is now held by something around the 2000 mark these days. Not that it matters so much as your taste buds can’t tell the difference at this level, but I am such a sucker for the big numbers.

Mikkeller don’t actually have their own brewery, instead brewing at many different facilities.