Mikkeller X-mas Porter Fra Via Til (From Via To) (2010)

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

750 ml C&C bottle with gold foil into snifter, 2010 bottle(I think). Pours pitch black color with an impressive 3 finger dense tan head with insane retention that reduces to a nice cap that lasts forever. Tons of nice soapy lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of huge orange, grapefruit, pine, floral, and spicy hops; with some roasted malt, caramel, light fruits, chocolate, and apple. Super hoppy aromas here, not what I was expecting at all. Taste of huge dark chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, smoke, coffee, molasses, citrus, pine, and spiciness. Good amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of big dark chocolate, caramel, smoke, and coffee on the finish for a bit. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very creamy and lush mouthfeel. Alcohol is pretty much invisible, hardly any warming after the finish. Overall this is an interesting and tasty Baltic porter with huge robust flavor and easy drinking.

An excellent and interesting Baltic porter style from Mikkeller. Definitely big Columbus hop presence in the aromas. Big and roasted robust flavor body.

Mikkeller Santas Little Helper 2010

4.4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

750 ml cork and caged bottle into tulip glass. Pours extremely dark brown color with a nice 2 finger dense tan head with fantastic retention that reduces to a thick cap that lasts. Nice thick lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of plums, dark fruit skin, molasses, roasted malt, candi sugar, citrus peel, nutmeg, light chocolate, and yeasty spices. Very nice and pleasant aromas with nice balance. More on the interesting side of things as well. Taste of big plum, dark fruit, caramel, toasted malt, chocolate, molasses, citrus, nutmeg, and light yeast spices. No bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of molasses, dark fruit skins, chocolate, and roasted malt. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very silky, creamy, and smooth mouthfeel that goes down way too easily for being almost 11%. Alcohol is practically invisible with only a slight warming well after the finish. Overall, this is an incredible Belgian strong dark ale. Fantastic balance and dangerously drinkable.

A fantastic Belgian dark ale, and yet another great beer from Mikkeller. I have one of the other Christmas holiday beers from them on hand right now, the From via To(bottled last year I believe).

Mikkeller 黑 / Black

3.9/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

375 ml bottle into snifter, no bottle date. Pours thick opaque black color with a thin lacing of a head that lasts. Almost no carbonation to speak of, the cork did not pop when I removed it. Some very small bubbles do show up eventually, hinting that there is some carbonation present. Aromas of huge roasted malt, cocoa, coffee, dark fruits, molasses, caramel, tobacco, biscuit, and toast. Some very complex aromas going on here, not much alcohol noticed surprisingly. Taste is intense: big burnt malt, dark chocolate, bitter coffee, molasses, caramel, tobacco, vanilla, and some spicy hops. Light amount of bitterness noticed on the finish; with lasting notes of dark chocolate, molasses, caramel, and coffee on the finish. Very light carbonation and huge full body; with a big creamy and slick mouthfeel that coats the mouth with each sip. The low carbonation actually fits well because of the huge body and creaminess of this beer. Alcohol is well hidden surprisingly; only a warming on the finish noticed. Definitely a big sipper to be enjoyed slowly. This has no cloying sweetness surprisingly. Overall, this is a very solid stout that was definitely not offensive at all. I probably won’t be getting this again due to the price tag; but it was quite the experience with huge roasted flavors and surprisingly great balance.

This is quite the slow sipper, but a good experience to have once. The only specialty grain in this is roasted barley, along with dark cassonade sugar to obviously boost gravity. I would like to try the barrel aged versions, but unfortunately I haven't seen them around.

Mikkeller Beer Hop Breakfast

4.3/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

500 ml bottle into snifter. Pours very dark brown color with 1-2 fingers of a very dense dark tan head with incredible retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some nice thick lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts, and caramel; with pine, tropical fruits, orange, and grapefruit. Damn this smells awesome, very similar to some of the other "breakfasts" I have had. Taste of huge coffee, dark chocolate, caramel, and roasted malt; with big grapefruit, pine, orange, and spices. Big bitterness present on the finish, with lingering notes of pine, citrus, chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied. Very velvety, creamy, and slightly thick mouthfeel. Some very nice balance of flavors here, with the hops being slightly more dominant. Alcohol is completely hidden in this as well. Overall an outstanding hoppy imperial stout, with tons of flavor and smooth drinkability.

Mikkeller has really been impressing me with the "Breakfast" series of stouts, and this is no exception. This is more of a Black IPA, but has a ton of imperial stout aspects to it. Great stuff.

BrewDog/Mikkeller I Hardcore You

3.6/5

AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

11.2 ounce bottle into tulip, no bottle date. Pours hazy dark red-orange color with 1-2 fingers of a fairly dense khaki head with good retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some nice lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of big caramel, orange, pine, spices, and alcohol. Strong malty aromas, but they are quite average and a bit boozy. Taste of big pine, grapefruit, orange, caramel, and some tropical fruits. Nice strong bitterness on the finish, that lingers for a bit with caramel, orange, pine, and a bit of tropical fruits. Big malt load with a fairly nice balance to the bitterness. Alcohol is fairly well hidden, but there is still a fairly strong warming on the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied, with a creamy and slick mouthfeel. Good drinkability for the level of alcohol, but still a sipper. Overall, a pretty nice DIPA, but I have a feeling this was past it’s prime due to the lackluster aromas.

Decent DIPA, but it was probably fairly old. I would like to try a fresher one in the future. It is a blend of Mikkeller's and Brewdog's DIPAs, then dry hopped twice. I was definitely a huge fan of the Mikkeller version, not so much the Brewdog.

Mikkeller I Beat yoU

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

11.2 ounce bottle into tulip. Pours very hazy red orange color with a nice 2 finger fairly dense off white head with great retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some lacing clings to the glass as you drink as well. Aromas of huge caramel, orange, grapefruit, pine, mango, and breadiness; with a tad bit of alcohol. Super big hoppy and sweet aromas here. Taste of huge orange, grapefruit, pine, and caramel; with a bit of spicinessand mango. Big bitterness on the finish that lingers for a long time with caramel, citrus, and pine flavors. Medium carbonation and a full and fairly slick body and mouthfeel. Even with the massive hopping of this beer, it still manages to be very balanced with big maltiness on the front to offset the big bitter bite on the finish. Quite drinkable for being almost 10%, but still a sipper. Surprisingly no alcohol noticed other than a decent warming on the finish. Overall a fantastic DIPA from Mikkeller. I have not been disappointed by them yet.

Outstanding DIPA from Mikkeller, no idea on age. However, as I understand apparently most of the IPAs that get exported to the US are 3 months at the youngest when they are stocked in stores. This holds up well to a bit of age then.

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Bourbon Barrel Aged Edition

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

500 ml bottle into snifter. Pours opaque black color with a nice 2 finger very dense dark tan head with great retention, that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap that lasts. Some thick lacing is left on the glass as well. Aromas of huge bourbon notes with dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, wood, and a bit of vanilla. Good strong aromas here, decent balance, but a little heavy on the bourbon. Taste of huge notes of coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malt, and caramel on the front; with some bourbon and vanilla in the back. Finishes with a fair amount of bitterness that lingers for a bit with coffee and roasted flavor. Outstanding balance of flavors, very smooth drinking for the alcohol level as well. Medium-full bodied with medium carbonation. Fairly creamy feeling as well. No alcohol noticed in the taste and a very slight warming on the finish. Overall an outstanding imperial stout. The nose was really strong on the bourbon, but the taste was great the bourbon sitting in the background.

Another delicious stout from Mikkeller. I still have two more to try that I have found thus far. Mikkeller is on the pricy side, but they put out quality product.

Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel

4.4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

500 ml bottle into snifter. Pours black as night with a 1.5 finger dense dark tan head with amazing retention. Some slight glass lacing, and a lacing cap lasts for the entire glass. Aromas of strong coffee, chocolate, caramel, and roasted malt; with a bit of dark fruits and vanilla as well. Some fairly strong and well balanced aromas. Taste of strong dark chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt; with a bit of vanilla and molasses. Some slight bitterness noticed as well on the finish that lingers for a bit with roasted flavors. Some great balance of flavors here. Bitterness and sweetness are well balanced, with sweetness being slightly stronger in flavor. Super smooth and slick body with no alcohol noticed at all except for a very small warming after the finish. Medium-low carbonation and huge full body. Overall a fantastic imperial stout, and my first from Mikkeller.

An outstanding stout. The beer is brewed with rare coffee that is harvested from the droppings of the civet cat from Vietnam.