Mikkeller Hop Series Challenger

Mikkeller
Formerly brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Copenhagen, Denmark

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Bottle (discounted) from Five Points Bottle Shop (Lumpkin St.) in Athens. Yeast, sugar, butter, and very little hops in the aroma. Deep copper color, huge (4-5cm) head, very rocky. Minor malty initial / mid has some caramel and rust / fairly clean finish, and aftertaste has little knife edges of menthol. Thin-medium body. Okay. Not quite what I was expecting. Very little hop presence. Maybe a bit too old, since I see that the first reviews of this beer date from about two years ago. BTW, this beer should be listed on RB in the "Mikkeller Single Hop" group

33cl bottle, Geers. - 4 or 5 experiments in, this Single hop series is beginning to delve its way in my long-term interests (and also: finances). Willamette, Cluster and Galena we the mysterious ones I got hold of first, and pretty much all flew below the radar of the more pronounced blended aromas of my favourite UK and US (I)PAs. This is the first one to make a bold, if expectedly unidirectional impression: aroma is rather contained and earthy, the hop flavours are earthy, zesty spice and above all thick fruity caramels like in a solid traditionally British pale ale. What impresses me most about this example is how well the full malt base (feature of the whole series) backs up and works in accord with this ESB hop. Nice to sample this series haphazardly and in very broad intervals: now only to come across the remaining contingent (and a budget to match) ...

Showcasing the Challenger variety, this beer has a cloudy, murky appearance with a bright orange color and a cream-colored head. It has an almost perfumy aroma, piney and spicy. This is really, really nice. Compared to other varieties of the Hop Series, the use of Challenger hops almost give the beer a thinner-feeling body. Bitterness is bold in the finish. It’s green, spicy, and delightfully bittersweet!

Bottled. Orange colour with a dense and creamy off-white head. Aroma is light bittery, malty, toasted and light caramel. Flavor has the same characteristics as aroma, also buttery hints are present. Smooth and dense on palate with a mild bittery final.

Dunkel hopfiger Antrunk, etwas getreidig, dumpf bitter. Mild, trocken grasig, monoton. Leicht bitterer Ausklang. 9/8/9/9/9/9

Bottle, july 7th 2012. Dark golden body, big frothy offwhite head. Aroma is lightly citrusfruity, and letting through more malt than others of the series, though I might remember thos others wrong now. Taste of caramel, apricot, again very light fruit notes, more earthy taste, but of course this isn’t a typical singlehopped ipa hop.

1st July 2011
Hazy amber beer, tidy pale cream coloured head. Softish dry palate. Mild floral hops. Mild tangerine and peach in a creamy malt background. Finishes with more peach. Nice mild IPA.

Pours dark amber, a bit hazy. The cap shows this has been brewed in April 2011 ! ! ! Danken Geers beer shop should check its stocks and shelf lives before selling old ales to customers. This was supposed to be a fresh hoppy IPA bro! Caramelised malt, toffe, nice soft bitterness. Great old English ale ... Too bad, I’ll taste it another time. Cheers

Bottle from Rehills, Newcastle. A cloudy orange-brown beer with a spicy, peppery hop flavour and woody notes on the finish.

Ambrato buona schiuma piuttosto persistente erbaceo radice discreto amaro asciutto media lunghezza leggero citrico non molto aromatico