Mikkeller Barrel Aged Porter, poured into a pint glass from a 12.7oz bottle. This will be our first review of an import; and this one comes to us from Belgium. The story behind Mikkeller is that he is a Danish roaming brewer. He does not own his own facility and he actually uses other brewer's facilities to concoct his creations.
The appearance is of espresso: a very dark brown color with minimal head and lacing left behind. The viscosity is of used motor oil. This is so thick that if you tilt your glass it takes a good few seconds for the beer to make it's way back down the glass.
The aromas are reminiscent of coffee, chocolate, chili peppers, slight alcohol and slight oakiness.Being that this was aged in Speyside Scotch Whiskey barrels, there is definite smoky aroma that compliments the alcohol smell.
Above everything else that is going on in this complex porter, the taste is most dominated by smoky, chocolatey, chili peppery coffee flavor, with a semi-sweet finish that lingers mostly as a dark chocolate. With just a moderate ABV for a barrel aged ale and for as thick as it is this was highly drinkable and would go well with a nice slab of red meat.
If you are looking for a dark beer with more complexity than your standard porter, you should definitely give this one a try. There is just a ton of flavor in this one! Our score for style is a 9 and for personal preference also a 9.
MikKeller's beer sucks!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Beer Critic
You're so right. He's a copycat and a lot of the beers are so experimental they should never have been released. Most of his stouts are also cloying sweet. Overrated, over prized crap.
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