Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine

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

Underwhelming. Lacks the thick oomph of great barley wines. Candy sugar nose. Very high alcohol but doesn’t taste all that malty. Weirdly watery. Hugely bitter aftertaste. I"m not a fan of this.

2/10/2009: Mikkeller Big Worse Barley-Wine Style Ale has a murky ruby-amber-brown color. There is a bit of slow carbonation trying to make its way up through the thick liquid, but no sign of a head, crown, or veil on the surface. The aroma is both sweet and bitter revealing the high levels of both sweet, caramelized and toffee maltiness as well as evidence of an abundance of hops. There is a whisp of alcohol wafting out as well. The flavor is sweet and malty, but not overly thick. Also, the hop flavors (scant dried apricots, prune) and bitterness is much more reserved than I would have expected. At this point the flavors are fairly well balanced, but nothing spectacular. Surprisingly, the alcohol is well-guarded unlike it is in the Mikkeller Black Hole. For the alcohol content, this beer is far too easy to pour down the throat, although it does start to heat up as it warms up. The body of this beer is also a bit thinner than expected, but tolerable. Overall this is a decent barleywine, but not as good as I would have hoped and definitely not work the price. This sediment seems to be what I have come to attribute to to all Mikkeller beers: good, but not great and overpriced for what it is...

12.7 fl. oz. corked (14/08/11) and caged green punted bottle (12% Alc./Vol.). Rating #389 for this beer.

12.7oz bottle. Pours a cloudy, deep copper color with a small beige ring. Sweet nose with hints of candied apricot, plum, fig, and sweet malts. Flavor is also very sweet with candied fruits, caramel, maple syrup and sweet malts. A very light hop presence in both the flavor and nose to balance things out quite well.

i’ve been wanting to try this one for a while and figured it would be a good cubject for my first ratebeer review. it pours a light mahogany with minimal head and the bouquet is mostly oak and dark fruits with a lingering grapefruit. the first sip was almost exclusively tobacco and raisin but other dark fruits and oak character stood out, especially fig and pear with a caramel backing. overall provided for an enjoyable session while i watched sportscenter, though maybe i should have taken blom’s advice and thrown on A Fistful of Dollars just to set the scene more appropriately.

Golden in color with an average sized off-white head. Aroma is of fruit, hops, and caramel. Taste is hoppy with caramel, cinnamon, raisins, plum, and honey.

Pours a dark amber color with a modest off-white head. Sweet malty and hoppy aroma with hints of caramel and pine. The flavor is sweet malt and caramel with some dark fruits, and a long hoppy slightly bitter finish and aftertaste. It makes me think of a Barley Wine, combined with a DIPA. Personally I prefer the botlle version rather than tap.

Light reddish mahogany color with a whispy cover of off white head. Big alcohol soaked raisin aroma. Light feel. Taste of fleshy dark fruits, raisins, then wood, rum, alcohol and citrus hoppiness. Great stuff.

Aroma is sweet caramel, nutty, some alcohol, and fruit. Taste is hoppy, caramel, some oak and vanilla. Not extremely complex, despite what the guy below me said. Definitely taste the caramelized pils malt and the citrusy, orangy dank hops. Just well balanced and well made. Enough going on to be interesting. Some stinging, medicinal notes come through too. Fantastic b-wine. I don’t know how graceful age would be to this.