Thursday, April 23, 2009

Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine

It seems as though the Scandanavians are becoming a mini-powerhouse in the world of craft brewing. Mikkeller, which I believe is Danish, has built a pretty solid reputation for themselves here in the US with an embrace of the extreme beer style that has provided the reputation of such vaunted brewers as Dogfish Head, Hair of the Dog, etc.

This particular barley wine is made on the more traditional malty-side, with quite an intense malty thickness to the palate. Luckily this is coupled with a nice crisp dry finish that rounds out the structure to a relatively balanced equilibrium. With orange peel and general fruit cake notes in the palate, despite being 12% ABV this is smooth, balanced and drinks very well, albeit you'll want to keep this at a sipping pace. Not the best barley wine I've had, but a very good example, and tasty enough to prompt me to indulge in future brews by Mikkeller.

Very Good to Very Good+
$12 for 375ml bottle at City Beer (San Francisco)

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