Hues
Mikkeller ApS

HuesHues
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From:
Mikkeller ApS
 
Denmark
Style:
Gueuze
ABV:
5%
Score:
91
Avg:
4.08 | pDev: 9.31%
Reviews:
25
Ratings:
105
Status:
Retired
Rated:
May 17, 2021
Added:
Jul 15, 2014
Wants:
  9
Gots:
  21
Spontaneous Fermented Beer Aged In Hungarian Oak Barrels.
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Ratings by Alieniloquium:
Photo of Alieniloquium
Reviewed by Alieniloquium from Florida

3.63/5  rDev -11%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
375 mL bottle poured into a snifter. Clear orange. Small white head that doesn't last. Smells oaky and sweet. Smells like a very sweet lambic. Tastes of toasty malt, sweetness, lambic tartness. Lots of oak in the finish. Low carbonation. Medium body. Pretty authentic lambic flavor. Too sweet to be truly great, but I appreciate it nonetheless.
Jul 25, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.67 by groleau from Canada (QC)

May 17, 2021
Photo of kitch
Reviewed by kitch from Hong Kong

3.9/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A 375ml corked and caged bottle with a best before date of 27th March 2024. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.

Appearance: A dark rusty orange amber colour with a very thin white head that disappeared immediately and left no lacing.

Aroma: Funky, apple cider vinegar, green apple, grape, oak.

Taste: Sour, musty, wet oak, apple peel, vinegar, lemon juice, with vinous notes.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.

Overall: Reminds me of the Spontan series, and much like Betelgeuze, I grew to enjoy it more and more towards the end.
Aug 01, 2020
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

3.88/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Reviewed from long-standing notes. Poured from the corked and caged 375mL bottle into an El Catador teku glass. I wrote down that I drank it on 8/11/14, but that can't be right since I also marked that I bought it at a local bottle shop on 8/15/14. Based on where the review is written in my notes, I believe the correct date of consumption would be 8/11/17.

A: Up front - there is not much "pop" as the cork is removed. Pours a mildly hazy darkish gold with minimal visible carbonation. A small white head forms but disappears quickly.

S: Tart lemony citric acid, barnyard and funk, and oak tannins. Some vinous character and notes of stone fruit/apricots. The oak character grows as it warms.

T: Moderately sour up front – mixed lactic, citric, and less acetic acids. Vinous with dry oak tannins, and lemons and apricots. Cracker malts with just a hint of toast. A mild funk (less than the nose) on the back end. This finishes dry between the oak and tart acids.

M: A light body, with relatively low carbonation sensation albeit more than the appearance suggested (read: adequate here). Alcohol presence is low.

O: A fine beer, though nothing mind-blowing. A nice but not overbearing level of sourness that's balanced by the dry tannins. Some subtle fruit flavors, though I don't believe this is a "fruited" gueuze. This doesn’t do much particularly wrong, but it just kind of exists next to you as you drink it. I’m sure I would likely regret what I paid for it if I could remember what that was, so likely I won’t be doing it again. But it’s just north of fine.
Mar 22, 2019
 
Rated: 4.06 by mattreitz49 from Florida

Sep 09, 2017
Photo of mothman
Reviewed by mothman from Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2014 bottle. Fizzy off white head. Fades away. Dark burnt gold color.

Sour green apples. Pear notes. Oaky and funky. Some brett. Grape flavors and tannins. Light lemon acidity.

Light bodied. Nice carbonation.

Very easy drinking with lots of flavor. I am impressed Mikkeller could brew a 'gueuze' this well.
Feb 21, 2017
 
Rated: 4.15 by MarkyMOD from Colorado

Jan 13, 2017
 
Rated: 4.49 by golf4collet from West Virginia

Sep 30, 2016
Photo of Stevedore
Reviewed by Stevedore from Oregon

4.24/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2014 vintage. Cork and caged bottle.

Poured a clear golden-yellow body, one finger white head, good retention. Didn't really look geuze-like, but I'll take it. Bits of lacing as well. Smells of cobweb, funk, apple cider vinegar, bit of lactic acid, vinous qualities, touch of oak, light wheat sweetness. Impressive. Flavour follows the nose, with a nice apple cider vinegar acidity to it; not insanely mouthpuckering but does a great job of imparting a clean complexity to it; a bit of white wine dryness, musty funk, overall a more than solid tasting geuze profile. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, crisp and slightly dry, good carbonation with a smooth acidic finish. Overall, a very nice geuze that has a fair bit of complexity and acidity to it; depending on the price it may be worth picking up again.
Sep 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4.21 by cyrushire from Florida

Aug 26, 2016
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

3.19/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
PACKAGING: Green glass bottle with gold foil covering the hood-and-wire cage (that itself houses the cork). Colourful label art. 2014 vintage. Best before: 27/03/24. 12.7 fl oz format.

5.0% ABV. "Spontaneous fermented beer aged in Hungarian oak barrels."

APPEARANCE: No gush upon opening.

Head comes out as a thin off-white cap of 2 minute retention. No lacing as it fades.

Body is a clear honey gold of average vibrance with no visible yeast/lees within.

Looks decent for a gueuze, albiet far from special.

AROMA: Spot-on for the intended style, with obvious acidity and a neutral (wheat and pilsner) malt core. Barnyard notes of straw/hay, green apple, and wood. It seems a bit heavy on the young lambic - which is to say it's not sour enough. There's plenty of wild yeast funky twang in there, but little sourness (sourness is maybe a 3/10 in terms of intensity). Not too cereal-emphatic, which is always a risk even in what many consider to be the best expressions of the style.

Aromatic intensity is light. I detect no hops or overt alcohol.

TASTE: Meets the meagre expectations created by the aroma, failing to bring enough sourness to the table or to commit fully to evoking oak, but going heavy on the style's signature barnyard notes and funky twang. Heavy on apple cidre vinegar and green apple. Generally well balanced albeit lacking in terms of depth of flavour and intricacy. I do like it, but it doesn't capture the barnyard subtleties and the nuances of spontaneous fermentation as fully and expressively as the style demands.

Flavour duration is above average. Flavour intensity is true to style.

TEXTURE: Acidic. Undercarbonated. Smooth, parchingly dry, light-bodied, unrefreshing. Lacks the lactic smackiness I love in a great expression of the style.

OVERALL: While it comes closer to nailing the style than the vast majority of non-Belgian attempts at it (De Proef not counting as strictly Belgian per se here given Mikkel's oversight), Hues is ultimately an underwhelming brew in a style that's extremely difficult to master. While superior to the expressions of the style put out by lambic producers with bad reputations (not to name names, but, well, fuck it...De Troch), it won't dazzle discerning drinkers familiar with the best the style has to offer from the likes of Drie Fonteinen and to a lesser extent Tilquin, Girardin, and Cantillon.

C+ (3.19) / ABOVE AVERAGE
Aug 17, 2016
 
Rated: 4.75 by wmlwwmusa from Massachusetts

Jun 07, 2016
Photo of Harrison8
Reviewed by Harrison8 from Missouri

3.93/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a foggy opaque deep orange with a thin, fizzy white head. Head disappears quickly, with little to no lacing left behind. Aroma is sharp, with notes of grape, citrus, and a slight metallic hue. The flavor profile disappears quickly, but before doing so gives a sharp taste of citrus, grapes, and oak all with a slight metallic tinge. Mouth feel is bubbly and harsh. Otherwise, it has a middle of the road consistency. Overall, it's a fun beverage, but not something I would go out of my way to pick up. It certainly has some interesting characteristics. The packaging is quite nice.

Served in a 12oz snifter.
Jun 05, 2016
 
Rated: 4.06 by dfhhead25 from Pennsylvania

May 24, 2016
 
Rated: 4.09 by BMart from Pennsylvania

May 24, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by Sweffin from Wisconsin

May 21, 2016
 
Rated: 3.44 by AlexFields from Tennessee

May 17, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by IckyT2012 from Florida

May 05, 2016
Photo of emerge077
Reviewed by emerge077 from Illinois

4.15/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
2014 375ml

Cork pops quietly, emits a wisp of gunsmoke. Pours placidly, with an accumulation of foam, but not a substantial head. Fizzles away after a minute. It struggles to show much carbonation, and gives the impression of an unblended lambic. Color is on the darker side of orange, verges on copper.

Aroma is slightly metallic at first, bummer. As it warms, some nice citrus and oak comes through to redeem it. Oak character is unique, likely a result of the Hungarian oak barrels used. A light nutmeg spice and vanilla becomes present, some sandalwood and lemon pith.

Lemony and oaky taste, fully lactic and citric, puckering and clean. Tart verging on sour. No acetic acid present, no vinegar notes. Approaches the profile of a traditional Gueuze, and certainly more enjoyable than some of the mid-tier ones out there. Supple feel with a mellow carb level, tannic and gripping dry finish. Nice stuff, I think this may be better than most of the Spontan- series i've tried, it has a little more nuance and complexity going on.
Apr 14, 2016
 
Rated: 4.06 by Andrea_Netherlands from Netherlands

Mar 30, 2016
Hues from Mikkeller ApS
Beer rating: 91 out of 100 with 105 ratings