Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine Red Wine Barrel Edition

Mikkeller
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Barley Wine
Copenhagen, Denmark

Serve in Snifter

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12.7oz bottle from west lakeview liqours. pours a murky orange-copper with a thin, bubbly, off-white head leaving sticky, dripping lace on the glass. aroma is great with big notes of vanilla, sweet oak, and toffee backed by fresh, piney, hop esters, red berries, and tart red wine with hints of gingersnap cookies, brandied figs, and sweet malts. flavor is damn tasty as well, but a bit tame compared to the aroma, with sweet oak, vanilla, and red wine backed by toffee candy, pine esters, and sugar cookies with subtle touches of raisin, fig, and cake crust. palate is full bodied with smooth carbonation and a sweet, dry, fruity finish. overall, a pretty tasty brew.

A malty beast of a barley wine that probably would have been better suited to age in a non red wine barrel. Huge nose of candied figs and Cabernet. A shapely body flows over my tongue and reminds me of the cloying palate of a heavy red wine. Figs, oak, black cherries and truck loads of caramel malt dominate the flavor before morphing into a strangely out of place oaky, red wine finish. Strangely unique and in need of a few tweaks.

12.7oz bottle picked up at WLV poured into my Rodenbach Grand Cru glass... Pours a medium brown with lots of brick notes, medium clarity. A huge light tan head rises up to fill half the glass, great retention and lacing. Uglyish body hurts a great head here... The aroma is awesome, the beer is extremely malty with tons caramel, whopper malt, some oak, and a light red wine finish. This is outstanding except for the finish turns a bit fruity which doesn’t go with this... The taste is a let down compared to the fantastic nose, the maltyness is mostly gone replaced with more oak, a touch of sour and red wine. The finish is really flat with oak, alcohol, and a hint of hops. Really really disappointing. I can’t recommend this right now especially at the price. Heavy seas had a red wine barrel aged beer that was a little better than this.

UPDATED: MAY 31, 2011 Thanks Jay for sharing this messy thing. Boozy, sweet, lots of sweet caramel. Cannot really tell that this is aged in a red wine barrel over any kind of virgin oak. Not bad, but why bother?

Bottle that I took to the Saturday night hotel tasting after EBF. Pours a lightly hazed amber with orange highlights and a thin beige head. Not a lot of wine on the nose, but there is a faint hint of wood. Big sweet malt and toast. Loads of oxidized malt, toast. Hot alcohol, more oxidization. Slightly tannic wood and booze.

Pours a hazy ruby into a snifter. White head with little retention leaves pot lacing as it recedes to hug rim. Dark, dusty oak and pit fruit aromas. Sweet port and hot oak from front to back. Dry, sweet oak finish.

Murky dark red pour with a fluffy beige head. Lace, thick. Aroma was big caramel malt, sweet, notes of vanilla, some wood and then some vinous notes. Very intriguing and quite delightful. Flavors were also vinous, very wine like. Not as sweet as I expected although caramel made an impact. Lightly bitter finish, woody and slightly dry. Big wine in the finish. Mouthfeel was super viscous, lightly carbonated but fitting. Not as ’profound’ as the bourbon but absolutely fantastic. Yet another outstanding brew from Mikkeller.

not as amazing as the bourbon edition, which i had first. i wonder which red wine it was. what grape goes well with barley? i guess i could try it at home, various beer + wine combos.

Bottle. Haven’t had Big Worse all that fresh before, so this is the first time I’ve had it with this giant Big Foot-like piney hop thing going on cleanly (even though I know it’s barrel aged). Pours a slightly murky brown with a very sticky sudsy light tan head. Wow, this works way better than I was expecting and the barrel jumps out a lot more than it did in the Blake Hole series, unbelievably awesome aroma, big pine, huge huge barrel and vanilla, almost picks up some whisky-like qualities from the big barrel, some red berries/fruit, alcohol is perfect, lovely caramel, o man this really reminds me of... so familiar. Flavor starts sweet, caramel, then pine, coconut, big woodiness, red fruits/berries, warming alcohol (but in balance), this is like a great freaking American hoppy barreled barley wine, avoids the plasticy quality that I’ve found in the regular Big Worse a few times before, quicker finish though which is maybe the only downfall so far. Medium/full bodied, fluffy sizzling carbonation, quick clean finish. Love it. Can’t wait for the bourbon!

Bottle 37,5 cl. Pours reddish – red rather than amber – with a slight haze with an off-white head and a nice curtain of lacework. Tart barrel aroma, some acetone. Medium body, some sweet caramel and oak with a dry and slightly tart edge. Some heat in the finish. 160111