Mikkeller Texas Ranger Barrel Aged

Mikkeller
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Copenhagen, Denmark

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Pours black with a thin brown head; aroma of black chocolate, vanilla and whiskey - very nice; tastes initially of chocolate, then the chilli comes at you slowly at first, but you’re well aware of it by the swallow; heat and spice lingers on the finish; it’s not overpowering but it just doesn’t work for me; barrel aging is always a dangerous game and nothing I’ve tasted suggests chilli in beer is a good thing; the bourbon/chilli combo here is messy and feels like weirdness for weirdness’ sake.

375ml bottle. Pours a very dark brown, almost black, body with a nice tight bubbled frothy brown head that left some delicate lacing. The nose isn’t all that different than the regular version of this, still lots of chocolate malt and lesser roastiness, and the chipotle chili pepper that underlies it all. There’s a little touch of smoke and barrel character to this, but it’s pretty minimal, just a slightly medicinal note. The flavor (at least at this point, the bottle is several months old from the date of purchase), is dominated by the Porter notes of chocolate malt and light roast. The chili pepper is still in here, but the level is pretty subtle with just a light spiciness on the late finish. Minimal suggestions of the smoked malt. Hard to really pick up much character from the barrel treatment. Except for the light medicinal note on the finish, I don’t really get any barrel character. Medium to full bodied, very chewy and thick for this ABV, soft minimal carbonation level. Pretty enjoyable Porter, but I think the pepper was a bit more aggressive when it first came out (Didn’t rate it way back when).

375ml bottle. Pitch black colour with huge, creamy, fully lasting, superbly lacing, brown head. Complex dark malty aroma with notes of dark chocolate, treacle, roast, a touch of vanilla, some leather, cautious peppery hints of chili in the nose, hoppy overtones. Taste is initially dry, minimally soapy, later minimally sweet dark malty, hints of treacle and chocolate, a touch of vanilla, then again dry, roasty, minimally soapy, herbal hoppy overtones; lasting peppery finish. Compared to the regular version slightly disappointing in taste. As so often I can’t see any improvement by barrel aging; but after all in this, contrary to many other cases, better than annihilating the genuine beer.

Poura black with low deep tan head. Aroma is coffee, chili, smoke. Taste is chipotle sweet with a distinct smoke bitterness. Body is light and unbalanced. Prefer the normal one. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Draft. Black. Small brown head. Chocolate, spicy, roasty, subtle pepper, wood and bourbon. Nicely balanced and smooth. The heat flows perfectly. Lip tingling good.

Bottle: Black...reverse-cascade pour, dark brown head. Strong bourbon aroma, peppered meat. Taste is vanilla, chocolate, chipotle, black pepper.... thick..... Wonderful...nice sedate chile burn.

Bottle. 6.6%. Best before 15.06.13(?). Pours black with a khaki/brown head. Decent lacing. Aroma is somewhat roasted, with a tart fruity note mixed with a slight citrusy sourness. Not very porter-like, but rather nice. As it wams, dark fruit notes come out, as well as a hint of vanilla. Roasted flavour, a bit tart and wiht a light liquorice note. Dark fruit notes as it warms. Finish is dark fruits and coffee with a lingering bitter coffee note and a mild chili burn. Overall pretty good. 28.04.13.

A very good strong flavor of chokolate and coffee, with fruity notes like wine and a bit sourness. Dark brown in color with a white head.

In short: A surprisingly rich bourbonny small beer with mild hot spiciness. Very good.
How: Bottle 375ml, consumed with some age on it but still 8 months before expiration date.
The look: Black body topped by a large brown head with good retention.
In long: Nose has only light notes of the ‘hot’ spiciness of the base beer, Taste is loaded with creamy blackened malts, a lot of vanilla, rich caramel, woody bourbon, well integrated mild notes of ‘hot’ spiciness helping to distract from the sweetness, some peat, soy sauce, notes of creamy chocolate fudge. Very full body with a tickling carbonation. There aint’t many low abv Bourbon Barrel Aged beers out there, but this Texas Ranger Barrel Aged offers a corpulence and an intensity that can match that of most BBA beers twice its size. Quite different from the base beer, less spicy and with a better integration of the spices, less chocolaty, richer body and of course more vanilla and bourbon. I actually much preferred this barrel version over the base beer. I love beer, apparently I’m an obsessive beer drinker, but in reality when I’m at home I often go 20 or 30 minutes without even thinking about opening a bottle of beer, sometimes even more (depending on how long it takes me to drink the last bottle I opened).

bottled. Very black with a thick brown head. Very comlex and deep aroma, some dark chocolate, cocoa, smoke, oak and maybe some soy. Deep flavour profile, long bitter finish with huge amount of burn and smoke. Bourbon is not very obvious but comes very nice through in the finish. World class