Denmark

Mikkeller Big Worse Bourbon Barrel Edition

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It all started with Mikkeller’s Big Bad Barleywine. My keen powers of observation tell me that, in this context, the word “bad” is not actually an indication of poor quality, but rather, of strength! However, Mikkel perhaps thought the beer was not quite bad/strong enough, and thus comes the Big Worse Barleywine, which was then aged it in a bunch of barrels. Some got a barrel formerly used for Red Wine, and some got a former Bourbon barrel, which is what I have here:

Mikkeller Big Worse Bourbon Edition

Mikkeller Big Worse Bourbon Barrel Edition – Pours a very pretty, very deep, very cloudy brown color with a half a finger or so of quickly disappearing, large bubbled, light tan head. Smell is filled with bourbon, oak, vanilla, caramel, and maybe a slight fruitiness. As it warms, a little booziness emerges. Taste is very boozy, beyond just the bourbon character, which is plentiful in itself. There’s a lot of caramel and some muted vanilla oak character. Maybe even some dark malts; not quite roasty flavors, but there is something in the finish and aftertaste that is reminiscent of that sort of thing. Mouthfeel is full bodied but smooth. It goes down easily, though you do get some of that warming alcohol feeling too. Overall, very complex, well balanced beer. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 12% ABV bottled (375 ml capped). Drank out of a snifter on 4/21/12.

Still not satisfied with this beer, Mikkeller went on to brew Big Worst, which comes in at a hefty 18.5% ABV. There’s also a version of that beer that was aged in Bourbon barrels that gets up to 19.2% ABV. I can’t say as though I’m all that excited to try those, but I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on the Red Wine Barrel Aged Worse someday.

Mikkeller Green Gold and Gypsy Contracts

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So I’ve written about gypsy brewers like Mikkeller or Stillwater before, but a recent comment about contract brewing got me to thinking about the differences between contract brewers and gypsy brewers. For the uninitiated, contract brewing is basically outsourced brewing. People who can’t afford breweries themselves find a facility with excess capacity, and leverage that to establish their brand and start building a revenue stream. So I guess the question is: aren’t these gypsy brewers just glorified hipster contract brewers?

Contract brewing has something of a negative connotation amongst beer nerds. There’s a perception that these brewers are cheating and that the final product would be better considered as something made by the actual brewery involved. The extent of the outsourcing seems to be somewhat variable. There are apparently companies that are really just marketing firms that rely entirely on the contracted brewer for the beer stuff (not hard to see why contract brewing would get a negative reputation in that case). Then there are companies that have a little more control over the end result. In reading around about gypsy brewers, it seems like they have a much more active role in the process. They’re physically at the rented facility, making the beers themselves, with minimal involvement of the host brewery.

I suspect we’re going to see the devaluation of the term “gypsy brewer” over the next few years as the marketers pick up on the hype and attempt to exploit it. Pretty soon, we’ll have “gypsy” brewers making beer at a Miller or AB Inbev plant. Riiiight. In the meantime, it appears that folks like Mikkel Borg Bjergsø (Mikkeller) and Brian Strumke (Stillwater) are the real deal, and their beers really show that, like this IPA from Mikkeller:

Mikkeller Green Gold

Mikkeller Green Gold – Surprisingly dark amber color with minimal head. Tons of hops in the nose, full of pine, and some citrus too. Taste is also dominated by pine and citrus hops along with a very prominent, dry bitterness that hits in the middle and lasts through the finish. There is a nice malt backbone though, enough to balance out the bracing hops. Lightly carbonated and medium bodied, it’s not quite refreshing, but it’s still easy to drink… Overall, another winner from Mikkeller. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV on tap. Drank out of a pint glass on 4/1/12.

This is a relatively straightforward brew (apparently one of Mikkel’s first IPA recipes), but Mikkeller continues to be one of the more interesting brewers out there (Gypsy or not). I’ve got another review of his stuff coming soon, and I’m sure I’ll continue to explore his ridiculously large selection of beers.

Mikkel’s Black Tie

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Continuing to make my way through the cellar, I finally cracked this beauty open. An imperial stout brewed with honey and smoked barley, then aged in Scotch barrels for 4 months, I don’t know what the hell I was waiting for, but I’m glad I finally got to this:

Mikkeller Black Tie

Mikkeller Black Tie – Pours a thick, syrupy black color with a finger of brown head. That’s a really deep black color, no real brown detectable. Smell is filled with sweet Scotch aromas, a little roasted malt, and some vanilla oak character too. The taste hits with a ton of roasted malt character (perhaps some of this comes from the smoked barley or maybe even the scotch), and that’s maintained throughout the entire taste. A pleasant and well balanced sweetness keeps things interesting and the Scotch, vanilla, and oak flavors are highlighted in the finish and aftertaste. As it warms, these flavors intensify and melt together. Mouthfeel is very thick and chewy, coating your mouth, and yet this is surprisingly approachable. Dangerously drinkable stuff for such a high ABV beer. I don’t think I would have guessed at how strong this beer is, except that there’s a bit of that alcohol warming factor (which comes up especially since you can drink this pretty quickly). Overall, this is a well balanced, complex stout. Another winner from Mikkeller. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 11.5% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a snifter on 3/16/12. Brewed at Nøgne Ø. (Label has a slot for Batch #, but it’s blank – I bought it sometime in mid-2011 though.)

That Mikkel guy sure knows his stuff. If you’re willing to pay the premium, it’s often worth the stretch. I’ve got a barrel of his barleywine in my cellar which I plan to get to in the next couple weeks as well.

Polishing Off Christmas Beer Season

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Did I say I only had 2 Christmas beers left? Turns out there were more. Rather than belabor the holiday beers, I figured I’d just finish them off, all in one post.

  • Mikkeller Red/White Christmas – Inspired by the colors of Christmas, red and white, Mikkeller made this combination between an Imperial Red Ale (i.e. the Red) Belgian Wit (i.e. the White). Is this anything more than a gimmick? Well, I’ll tell you, if there’s wheat in this beer, I couldn’t detect it (and only found out about it after the fact), but there are spices added. Of course, the spices are subtle, but there’s definitely something going on here. Whatever the case, it’s a pretty great beer:

    Mikkeller Red White Christmas

    Pours a dark reddish brown color with fluffy head and tons of lacing on the glass afterwards. Smell is fully of earthy hops and citrus, maybe a little pine. The taste is sweet with a spicy bite and a well balanced hop bitterness in the finish. The hoppiness trends towards the citrus and pine, and as the beer warms, some complexities emerge in the taste as well. Mouthfeel is great, smooth and eminently drinkable. I was taking pretty big swigs of this one. Surprisingly medium to full bodied, with lots of complexity. It’s not quite Yule Smith, but it was quite enjoyable. B+ (Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV on tap. Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/29/11.)

  • Ridgeway Reindeer’s Revolt – A Christmas gift from my brother (apparently picked out by my nieces, as they liked the funny looking reindeer on the label). As it turns out, I’ve sampled this before, but neglected to rate it. I was pretty middle of the road on it in that context (a larger tasting with lots of other beers), but by itself, well, it just didn’t stand up. Pours a clear orange amber color with a very small amount of bubbly head. Aroma is very English pale ale to me – bready, a little citrus, maybe even some raisins… but there’s also some buttery diacetyl notes (typically something that doesn’t go over well with me). Taste is sweet, a little bready, with some light caramel/toffee flavors there, but I can never seem to get past the prominent buttery diacetyl in these beers. Mouthfeel is ok, maybe a little light on carbonation, but smooth and drinkable. The beer gets slightly better as it warms up, but this was still disappointing. C- (Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (500 ml capped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/29/11.)
  • Ridgeway Pickled Santa – Another Christmas gift from my brother. Ridgeway is a brewery that makes 22 beers, and I swear, half of them are Christmas beers. 11 Christmas beers. And most of them seem to be mediocre at best, this one not being an exception. It’s definitely better than the Reindeer’s Revolt – more spicy, more head, less diacetyl – but there’s nothing particularly special about this beer either. C+ (Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (500 ml capped). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/29/11.)

So there you have it. That wraps up this year’s Christmas beer blogging extravaganza. Regular beer blogging will resume next week, and boy did I have a doozy to start the new year off right!

Ølfabrikken Jule Ale

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I’ve been drinking and reviewing lots of holiday beer recently, so I thought I’d take a step back and think about what makes a holiday beer a holiday beer. There are, of course, no easy rules for holiday beers, but there are a few approaches that seem to work really well.

Approach the first: spice the hell out of it. This is usually done to a style that focuses on malts. The spices and malts lend a warming sensation (hence the “Winter Warmer” style). Approach the second: make it stronger. This seems to be a Belgian thing. Oh, it’s Christmas? Let’s make our dubbel, but give it 3% more alcohol. That’ll be fun. Of course, Belgian beers are often spiced and those distinctive Belgian yeasts also contribute some spicy character to beer, so there is that too. What you end up with is a spicy, malty, boozy treat, and with all the alcohol, you can really get that warming sensation going.

Then there’s approach the third: do whatever the hell you want! This is typified by Sierra Nevada’s Celebration, in which they just decided to do a strong, hoppy, reddish IPA thing and slapped a holiday label on the bottle. Nothing particularly festive about it, but it somehow manages to work anyway (we’re going to see at least one more of these before the year ends).

I tend to prefer approach 2 (see: Ommegang Adoration, Affligem Noel, St. Bernardus Christmas, etc…), but approach 1 has its charms as well (see: Anchor’s Christmas Ales and my own take on the style). The third category has some wonderful beers, but I also don’t find much holiday charm in there either.

Anywho, browsing the international section of State Line Liquors, I spotted this bottle from Ølfabrikken and bought it on a whim (insert nerdy joke about the null set here). As it turns out, this is a beer of the first approach, and one of the finer examples of that style:

Olfabrikken Jule Ale

Ølfabrikken Jule Ale – Pours a dark reddish brown color with a finger or so of quickly disappearing off-white head. The aroma is great. Rich malts, bready yeast, some spiciness, and even some piney hops. The taste isn’t quite as complex as the nose, but there’s still a lot to enjoy here. Sweet malt backbone, some of that spiciness, and a fair amount of hop character. Not a ton of bitterness, but the fruity, piney hop character flavors are certainly there. Mouthfeel is a little strong to start, but it mellows out as it warms. Overall, a very well executed beer, and a nice change of pace from the throngs of normal winter warmers. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled ( bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 12/16/11.

So I had never heard of Ølfabrikken before, but now that I’ve had this, I’m interested in sampling more of the Denmark brewer’s offerings. Indeed, Dave seemed to really enjoy their porter, which only makes me want to take another trek down to Maryland to get me some…

Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper 2010

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Yet another annual Christmas ale that is vintage dated with a different recipe every year. In this case, brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergsø is a bit of a perfectionist. It’s not a completely new recipe every year, but he does make small tweaks with each iteration. Details on the changes are sparse, but they generally seem to involve the spicing. Previous incarnations featured spices like cocoa, cinnamon, and coriander, but the 2010 version I had recently was apparently made with bitter and sweet orange peels and nutmeg. This sounds like it would be a big difference, but this is a huge, 10.9% ABV Belgian Strong Dark, so there’s a big backbone to overcome. Like a lot of great Belgian beers, you can taste the complexity of the spicing, but you can’t quite pick out what specific spices were used…

I bought this beer a while ago (early summer, perhaps?) and have been saving it for the holidays. So its time has come:

Mikkeller Santas Little Helper 2010

Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper 2010 – Pours a very dark brown color with a finger or so of light brown head. The aroma is very complex and quite nice. I’m picking up lots of vanilla, a little belgian yeast character and spiciness, maybe even some chocolate or roastiness. It smells like it will be full of rich flavors, and that is certainly born out in the taste. Sweet and spicy, with just a hint of that distinctive Belgian strong dark feel and spiciness. The twist here is the chocolate and roast flavors, which I typically don’t love in my Belgian darks, but it’s very well matched here. Just a hint of clean bitterness in the finish and aftertaste. Mouthfeel is full bodied but silky smooth. For such a strong beer, the booze is pretty well hidden. As it warms, it seems less Belgian and more Imperial Stout. Overall, a fantastic, well balanced but complex beer and a candidate for best Holiday beer of the year (though there are still some heavyweights to come)… A-

Beer Nerd Details: 10.9% ABV bottled (750 ml caged and corked). Drank out of a goblet on 12/10/11.

Well, I liked it enough that I picked up the 2011 version that same weekend, though I haven’t drank that one yet. I doubt it will make it to next year though!

Novembeer Club

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Another month, another beer club! For the uninitiated, beer club is just a monthly gathering of friends from work for dinner and, of course, lots of beer (and often other alcoholic wonders). We had an average turnout, but still lots of fun and we had so much beer that we couldn’t even get to all of it… A transitional period in terms of seasonal beers. Some leftover fall seasonals, some holiday beers, but the majority of beers were regular offerings:

beerclub-nov11.jpg

(Click for bigger image)

For the sake of posterity, some thoughts on each beer we tried are below. As usual, conditions were not ideal, so take it all with a grain of salt. Or as sacred scripture (as I’m sure you do with all my other posts). The choice is yours. In order of drinking (not necessarily the order in the picture):

  • Tröegs DreamWeaver Wheat – A very solid Hefeweizen from semi-local Tröegs. I’ve actually had this a few times before, but there’s nothing particularly unique about it. A really nice example of the style though. B
  • Amager Julebryg 2008 – Dark color, with a wonderful aroma that is filled with crystal malts and caramel flavors (and maybe some subtle spicing). Taste is a little more roasty than I was expecting from the nose, with some coffee and maybe a little chocolate apparent. Full bodied but smooth, a really nice beer. It feels more like a solid stout than a holiday beer, but it’s good either way (Beer Advocate calls it a dubbel, which sorta fits, but I probably wouldn’t have guessed that from the beer itself). The bottle sez it was spiced, and it was certainly complex, but nothing particularly stood out (this is actually a good thing). Brewer Amager warrants further exploration. B+
  • Guinness Black Lager – This feels like a more crisp, carbonated version of Guinness’ famous dry stout with less roastiness. It’s an easy drinking beer, but the flavor seems oddly muted (perhaps because of the other brews of the night). Nothing wrong with it, but not a particularly special beer either. C+
  • Abita Turbodog – A great name for a beer that turns out to be a standard brown ale. Certainly nothing wrong with it and a solid example of the style, but not particularly special either. B-
  • Wychwood King Goblin – According to the bottle, this beer is only brewed under a full moon. It’s got that typical Wychwood style label which is fantastic. Unfortunately, the beer doesn’t quite live up to the branding. Lots of head and perhaps as a consequence, a little too light on the carbonation. Not quite flat, but it wasn’t a good mouthfeel at all. Taste was hoppy, but not in the typical American pale ale way – perhaps this is more of an English pale ale (BA has it pegged as an English Strong Ale). Not a horrible beer, but not something that I could really connect with either. I don’t know, Wychwood beers seem to be hitting me the wrong way lately… C
  • Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale – An interesting example of the style as it seems to emphasize the pumpkin more than the spices (which are still there, but not anywhere near as prevalent as they typically are in pumpkin ales). Smooth, tasty, and easy to drink. Nothing revelatory, but a good example of the style. B
  • Ommegang Cup O Kyndnes – One of my contributions for the night, this is a really interesting combination. Basically a Scotch ale brewed with Belgian yeast, it features the hallmarks of both styles. Unlike a lot of style mixtures, I think these two styles complement each other well. Very sweet and malty, with that typical Belgian yeast character coming out in a prominent way. I actually have another bottle of this sitting around, so look for a full review at some point…
  • Fegley’s Brew Works Rude Elf’s Reserve – Another beer I’ll probably review separately, but I will say that this is a hugely alcoholic (10.5% ABV) spiced beer. Kinda like an overspiced pumpkin beer without any pumpkin (I had one of these earlier, along with a pumpkin ale, and found this one sharing a lot of the pumpkin spices)… Look for a separate review sometime this holiday season…
  • Dana’s Homebrewed Dubbel – A nice dubbel style beer, only recently bottled, so it could probably use some more time to condition, but it’s still pretty good. Nice traditional Belgian yeast character with a medium body. Easy to drink.

We didn’t get to try a few of the beers in the picture, including Troegenator, Hoptober, and Amish Four Grain Pale Ale. All in all, another successful outing for the beer club. I’m already looking forward to the next installment, as we will most likely be drinking all Holiday beers (aka, my favorite seasonals).

Before, During And After Christmas Beer

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Yet another Gypsy brewer? Apparently! Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø is the man behind Evil Twin, and he is, in fact, the identical twin brother of Mikkel Borg Bjergsø (better known as Mikkeller, probably the most famous Gypsy brewer). Strangely, they haven’t collaborated on a beer yet, but perhaps someday… Evil Twin has only recently made its way to the US, but many of the beers have been much sought after. Jeppe doesn’t seem to be quite as prolific as his brother, though he seems to be just as experimental (though sometimes those funky experiments don’t quite work out so well).

The bottle for this one sez: “You might think this Christmas Beer is a Christmas Beer. But actually it is something so non-Christmassy as a classic Imperial IPA.” Then at the bottom of the label, it says “Best before next Xmas.” Well, there goes the during and after Christmas part, but hey, at least he’s owning up to the weirdness of the beer’s name (unlike those tricky Sierra Nevada folks).

Evil Twin Before, During And After Christmas Beer

Evil Twin Before, During And After Christmas Beer – Pours a very nice orange color with some yellow peeking through and a finger or so of white, fluffy head. Smells sweet with lots of fruity citrus hop aromas and even a little pine. Taste has a nice, strong sweetness to it, plenty of that pine and citrus in the flavor as well, with the bitterness coming out in the slightly sticky finish and aftertaste. Carbonation is a little lighter than usual, but still appropriate, and you get a nice biting hop character, not to mention some warming alcohol character. Overall, an above average DIPA, certainly something I would try again (perhaps during or after Christmas?)… if I could afford it! A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (500 ml). Drank out of a tulip on 9/17/11.

Another day, another great Gypsy beer. And another hit on my wallet. I guess that’s bound to happen when a brewer makes small batches and doesn’t actually have a brewery (and then we import the beer from Denmark). I’ll most likely be keeping my eye out for more Evil Twin, but I don’t expect to be going too far out of my way for this stuff…

Triple Feature: Mikkeller Single Hop IPAs

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So, you know single malt Scotch? Yeah, single hop IPAs are nothing like that. What they are, though, is a really fascinating look at one of the key ingredients in beer: hops. The concept is simple. A brewery comes up with a solid IPA recipe, but instead of a mixture of different hops, they use one single hop variety. In this case, Mikkeller brewed a series of 12 beers, each with the same recipe… except for the hops, which change with each beer.

There are typically 3 additions of hops during the brewing process. First comes bittering hops – these are added at the beginning of the process. Boiling these hops for about 60 minutes will release the alpha acids contained in hops, which results in the bitterness in beer. Alas, such a long time boiling also destroys most flavor and aroma from the hops, hence the next 2 additions: Next are taste hops, which are typically added about 45 minutes into the boil and impart a completely different character to the beer’s taste (the 15 minutes of boiling time is not long enough to release alpha acids, but it’s just right for imparting various fruity, floral, etc… flavors to the beer). Finally, there are aroma hops, which are added near the end of the boil (typically around 5-2 minutes remaining) and impart the proper hoppy smells. There are, of course, lots of other ways to do it (continuously hopped beers, beers with an additional dry hopping step, styles that only take one or two hop additions, and so on), but the above is the most common process.

Hops are fantastically variable when it comes to bitterness, taste, and aroma, so for hoppy styles like an IPA, brewers will combine those various characteristics to create something unique. Some hops have lots of alpha acids and are thus great for bittering, but they’re also lacking strong flavors or aromas. Some hops have great flavor and aroma, but low alpha acids. Some hops are ideal for only one piece of the puzzle. Other hops can be used for everything. If you’re brewing an IPA, you might grab that high alpha acid hop for bitterness, but use a different hop for flavor/aroma (since those hops aren’t boiling long enough, the alpha acids – whether high or low – don’t matter much). And so on. The neat thing about a single hop beer is that you can get a really good idea what characteristics that hop imparts on a beer, and thus you can start picking them out in other beers. Of course, I’m only having 3 varieties tonight, and 2 of them ended up being somewhat similar, but still, it’s a fun exercise (and these 3 were all great).

Mikkeller Nelson Sauvin Single Hop IPA

Mikkeller Nelson Sauvin Single Hop IPA – Apparently a New Zealand hop that doesn’t get much play in the US, but from what I’ve tasted tonight, it would match well with the standard west coast US hop profile. Pours a dark amber, almost brown color with lots of fluffy head and tons of lacing as I drink. Smells citrusy sweet, maybe pineapple or grape, and just a hint of toffee. In other words, fantastic aroma. The taste is a little more straightforward, much less of the citrus/pineapple, bitterness taking more of a center stage here, but it ends up being a well executed IPA. The mouthfeel is also pretty standard stuff, but it works. B

Beer Nerd Details: 6.9% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank from a tulip glass on 6/18/11. Bottle cap had “23/12/11” on it – perhaps a drink by date?

Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop IPA

Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop IPA – Simcoe is an American variety (relatively new, and it’s even trademarked), often described as a souped-up Cascade hop, it’s got higher alpha acids and very strong flavor/aroma characteristics. Interestingly, I’ve already had at least one other single hop Simcoe beer, that being Weyerbacher’s excellent Double Simcoe IPA. This Mikkeller version pours a lighter color than the Nelson Sauvin, but with that same big fluffy head and lacing. Smells sweeter, but less citrusy and more piney. Again, maybe a little toffee. Also a fantastic aroma. The taste on this is more complex though. That pine and slight citrus from the nose are present in the taste, and the bitterness is better matched to the rest of the beer (either that, or my palate has adjusted – certainly a possibility). Mouthfeel is standard IPA stuff, like the Nelson, but overall, this beer seems to fit together better. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 6.9% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank from a tulip glass on 6/18/11. Bottle cap had “5161010” on it – no idea what that means, and it’s a different format from the other two…

Mikkeller Amarillo Single Hop IPA

Mikkeller Amarillo Single Hop IPA – Another relatively recent American discovery (also trademarked!), this one seems related to the big C’s of American hops – Cascade, Centennial, and Columbus. Not as high in the AA as Simcoe, this one is still pretty high and apparently makes a great bittering hop. It became so popular in the US that there seemed to be a bit of a backlash a while ago, but that’s how this stuff goes (I expect a similar backlash to Simcoe in the near future). Pours a similar dark amber color with lots of fluffy head and lacing. Smells strongly of caramel and maybe toffee, with a bit of citrus peeking through. Taste is also filled with caramel and toffee – it’s delicious, really. Some citrus too. The bitterness lingers in the finish a bit. It’s somewhat more dry than the other versions, and the mouthfeel is maybe a bit fuller (but still medium bodied). Overall, an excellent beer, my favorite of the night. Interestingly, from what folks say about the flavor of Amarillo, I’m not sure this one really strongly shows off the flavor/aroma characteristics, but perhaps it just matches really well with the single hop recipe, accentuating the caramel/toffee flavors (which were present in all three beers, but only really prominent in this one). Whatever the case, this one is a winner. A

Beer Nerd Details: 6.9% ABV bottled (11.2 oz). Drank from a tulip glass on 6/18/11. Bottle cap had “04/11/11” on it – again, perhaps a drink by date?

Like a lot of Mikkeller beers, these are sometimes outrageously overpriced (I got mine for around $6 each, which is pricey, but a lot less than $10-$12 each, which I’ve heard people complain about), but lucky for you, Mikkeller isn’t the only one playing with single hops. Heck, even Sam Adams released a case of their Latitude IPA with 5 single hop beers (and the original Latitude, which uses a combination of all 5). Unfortunately, Sam has never been particularly well known for their IPAs… but then, I’ve not had any of those, so I shouldn’t talk. I do think it would be an interesting experience to try them though, and from the above, it does seem instructive.

Double Feature: Royal IPAs

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So everyone was all excited by some sort of Royal Wedding last Friday? Sorry, us Americans don’t really understand or care about that sort of thing, but there were a surprising number of beer-related stories to go along with the wedding (also, April 29 is apparently the anniversary of Hitler and Eva Braun’s wedding). Beer nerds got deservedly uppity at the Royal pronouncement that Beer was not “an appropriate drink to be serving in the Queen’s presence at such an occasion.” Scottish brewers Brewdog had already made light of the whole affair with their beer called Royal Virility Performance, a 7.5% ABV IPA containing, among other things, herbal Viagra, chocolate, horny goat weed, and “a healthy dose of sarcasm.” (Apparently a few bottles were sent directly to the royals – I wonder if they consumed them behind closed doors…)

Yeah, Brewdog’s beer smacks of a publicity stunt, but that didn’t really bother me, and in light of the Royals’ disrespect, I actually think it’s pretty awesome. So in honor of the wedding, I cracked open a few beers made at the Brewdog brewery. Not that I was watching any wedding coverage. No, to match up with the two beers, I decided I’d catch up on the first two episodes of Game of Thrones (it’s quite good so far!)

Mikkeller I Beat yoU

Mikkeller I Beat yoU – As previously mentioned, Mikkeller is a self-described “gypsy-brewer”, meaning that he travels all around the world, brewing his beers on other brewery’s systems. This one was brewed at Brewdog in Scotland, and according to their site, “the instruction for the Scotsmen was clear: we need shitloads of hops in this one!” And a shitload of hops, this has. According to Beer Advocate, it’s also got quite a variety of hops as well: Herkules, Centennial, Warrior, Amarillo, Simcoe and Columbus hops (maybe more). Indeed, the title of this beer is a nod towards the International Bitterness Unit (IBU), a unit of measurement used to quantify the bitterness of beer, though I don’t really know how many IBUs this has.

It pours a nice dark orange color with a finger of head and some lacing as I drink. The smell is complex, with fruity citrus, some pine and resin notes and maybe even a little caramel. The taste is very sweet with that hoppy bitterness kicking in about midway through the taste and following through in the finish. This beer actually reminds me a lot of Weyerbacher’s Double Simcoe IPA (which makes a sort of sense, given the similar ABV and the use of Simcoe hops). Carbonation is a little low, but that leads to a smoother mouthfeel and a relatively easy drink for such a high ABV beer. It’s a very complex beer, and some of that comes out even more as the beer warms. Excellent IPA, though perhaps not the best. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9.75% ABV bottled (12 ounces). Drank out of a tulip glass on 4/29. Hops: Herkules, Centennial, Warrior, Amarillo, Simcoe and Columbus (and maybe more). ?? IBU’s

Brewdog Hardcore IPA

Brewdog Hardcore IPA – Pours a bit darker and maybe more amber than orange, it’s still very similar. The nose is not quite as complex, but still quite solid, with a similar smell. Taste is not quite as sweet, and the bitterness is a little more front stage, but not by much. There’s less complexity here, but it’s still quite a good DIPA. It’s perhaps suffering from the comparison to the Mikkeller beer, which is indeed quite similar. I’ll give this a B+, but the difference between these two beers is perhaps less than the difference in ratings implies.

Beer Nerd Details: 9.2% ABV bottled (12 ounces). Drank out of a tulip glass on 4/29. Hops: Centennial, Columbus, and Simcoe. 150 IBU’s

Apparently there exists a collaboration beer between Mikkeller and Brewdog where they basically mix batches of the two above beers, and then do some extra dry hopping. It’s called I Hardcore You and if I can find a bottle, I’d like to give it a shot!

I also have a few of Mikkeller’s single hop beers, where they basically use the same IPA recipe, substituted different types of hops for each batch. This will be a very interesting experience. From single-hopped beers I’ve had in the past, I can say that the amount of difference between those beers can be quite astounding.