Draft Bear
Mikkeller ApS

Draft BearDraft Bear
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Mikkeller ApS
 
Denmark
Style:
Imperial Pilsner
ABV:
8%
Score:
89
Avg:
3.98 | pDev: 12.31%
Reviews:
131
Ratings:
246
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 07, 2021
Added:
Feb 15, 2008
Wants:
  33
Gots:
  19
Brewed at De Proef Brouwerij, Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium.

Ingredients: Water, malts (pils, carapils and amber), light candy sugar, hops (amarillo and cascade) and lager yeast.
View: More Beers
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by illidurit:
Photo of illidurit
Reviewed by illidurit from California

3.65/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Poured into a snifter. Muddy opaque goldenrod color with a medium-tall off-white head that leaves a film of fine lacing.

Fresh-cut pineapple aroma, pungent mango, peach juice. Some herbs and grass too.

Flavor is pale malt with orange marmalade, grains, and a bitter finish. I'm not getting hardly any noble hop spiciness like I expect from a pilsener. Tastes sort of like an aged DIPA.

Mouthfeel is nice and dry, maybe a little low on carbonation, some alcohol warming.

While this isn't a bad beer, the thing I like about pilseners is the noble hops cleanness and crispness, and this beer seemed mired in tropical fruit flavors. Upon checking the ingredients, I see that this beer is hopped with Cascade and Amarillo. Doesn't really make any sense to use zero noble hops and call your beer a pilsener. Stylistically this beer is way off, but hedonistically it's pretty good.
Nov 05, 2008
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.45 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Dec 07, 2021
 
Rated: 3.47 by Houborg1 from Denmark

Mar 31, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by Robertas from Lithuania

Mar 18, 2019
 
Rated: 4.18 by hogrider from Florida

Aug 11, 2017
 
Rated: 3.92 by smithj4 from New York

May 21, 2017
 
Rated: 4.5 by redfox405 from Virginia

May 01, 2017
Photo of GratefulBeerGuy
Reviewed by GratefulBeerGuy from New Hampshire

4.44/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
1pt. O.9 fl. Oz. Bottle. Silver foil>cage and cork

The color is an orange hued, golden-amber with a mild haze. Good carbonation, lively look with short, bubbly off-white cap. Some very sticky lacing is impressive.

A sweet amber malt aroma, candy, sour and tangy yeast, green veggies, herbal blend, slightly spicey. Kind of a strange but interesting nose.

The flavor is a bit of surprise concidering the "imperial" style of this lager. It really tastes much more like a very traditional amber lager. A semi, honey sweet malt, quickly followed by a very herbal, spicey and dry hoppy bite. The hops also seem to give a very primal, woody-acorn type bitternesss which is actually very excellent. The spicey herbal bite dominates the palate in a way, but then the light and sweet malt tends to dance all around it. The pils/lager yeast is also very interesting giving the sour>earthy and tangy effect.

Overall, concidering the style, the balance and flavor's are in excellent control. It comes across as very traditional instead of big and wild. Amazingly easy quoff, the 8% abv seems almost impossible concidering it's rather laid-back approach. The quick buzz let's yoy know, it's no joke though.

The feel is of medium body, jazzy till the very end, with an earthy, semi-dry feel that packs a very nice crisp bite at first sip. Finishes long and malty. Not slick or heavy but gentle.

I'm very surprised by this brew and what it offers. The lable only says "DraftBear" and then is tagged with the "malt liquor" stamp. I like not knowing what I'm in for! Pleasantly surprised, but Mikkeler is usually no let down. High grade stuff right here.
Dec 19, 2016
Photo of Marius
Reviewed by Marius from Netherlands

3.75/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle at home. Clear orange pour with a tall off-white head with good retention. Notes of grapefruit zest, bitter generic hops, pilsner malts, some tropical fruit. Medium bodied with low carbonation and a bitter-sweet finish.
Dec 11, 2016
Photo of jamesroses
Reviewed by jamesroses from Argentina

4.46/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
33cl bottle

Appearance: golden, builds a big head of tiny/medium bubbles. Lots of carbonation.

Aromas: fresh, piney and grapefruity, oranges, tangerines, sweet malty backbone with honey notes. Very nice and balanced.

Taste: full of flavour, sweet grapefruit punch with lots of finishing and refreshing piny notes. Tastes like a really good american IPA with the sweetness of great belgian golden ales.

Mouthfeel: feels very rounded and full of flavour. Alcohol not noticed. The sweet grapefruit aftertaste is simply great. Fruity burps 30 minutes after drinking it.

Overall: not sure what an Imperial Pilsner is. To me this was like a sweeter Duvel, with a stronger fruity taste, piny hop notes and no spiciness. Great great beer. The label is cool too!.
Sep 17, 2016
Photo of Bruno74200
Reviewed by Bruno74200 from France

4.26/5  rDev +7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Imperial pilsner? It's my first from the style and I can tell I like this one even though I don't think this is a benchmark. It's very balanced with a sweet grain presence, fruity esters (pear, pineapple) and herbal and piney hop. Definitely drinkable and not boozy at all for the high abv. Great beer Mikkeller
Jun 20, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by tazzman from Florida

Feb 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.79 by mytu420 from Romania

Feb 07, 2016
Photo of ZBowden
Reviewed by ZBowden from Florida

4.18/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Pours hazy tan orange with foamy beige head, smells strong citrusy at first then strong yeast slight malt, tastes of sharp crackery malts with slight orange peel very warming on the throat rather full mouthfeel high carbonation hot lasting finish.
Dec 09, 2015
 
Rated: 3.93 by TedStrosser from Pennsylvania

Aug 15, 2015
Photo of Monkeyknife
Reviewed by Monkeyknife from Missouri

4.03/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Poured from the bottle a deep bright orange-gold color with three fingers of off-white meringue on top. Tons of sticky lacing left behind.

Aroma of sweet pilsner malts, grape juice and herbal notes.

The taste was classic pilsner with green grapes, scandy sugar, sweet pilsner malts and herbal/salty notes in the finish. The almost-9% abv is very well hidden.

Lighter bodied and very sticky with a sharper carbonation.
Jul 28, 2015
Photo of mynie
Reviewed by mynie from Maryland

4.56/5  rDev +14.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
On tap at Mikeller and Friends in Iceland.

Didn't know what this was when I ordered it, and the slight language barrier between me and the bartender made it difficult to discern. Iceland is weird: the clerks are maybe the most linguistically competent on earth, as each appears to be fluent in Icelandic, English, German, and French. But this polyglotism results in some understandable shortcuts, especially among those who work with tourists. Precision in difficult in the most clarion of conditions, and when you're tipsy, standing in the middle of a packed bar the size of an American den, trying to convey flavors over a language rift, you defer to the most generic of signififers.

"Got some hops," he said. "Lots of alcohol."

As such, I figured it was a medium-strength DIPA, and was impressed with its bitterness, which was pronounced in such a way as to avoid pallet-wrecking, as well as its alcohol, which was not at all present. It could have been more adventurous for its style, I figured, but overall it was very good.

Discovering that this is an impy pils, however, has caused me to revise my assessment. They absolutely nailed the style. Starts out with large weediness and American hops, sunshiney and chaotic, but then it coheres near the middle into a malange of citrus and dandelions, smoothing out by its end to leave behind practically no aftertaste.
Jul 02, 2015
Photo of pat61
Reviewed by pat61 from Minnesota

4.75/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
L: Golden Amber, 3” crean colored foam collar, fairly uniform bubbles, fluffy, rocky, a lot more hop in the foam than in the beer.
S: Spicy hops and pilsner malts.
T: There is a light malty sweetness in the body that contrasts with the bitter hop flavors in the foam. As the head collapses, the flavors mix and balance.
F: Full body, medium carbonation.
O: The separation of flavors in the foam and body and how they mix and balance through the course of the drink make this beer stand out. Very nicely done.
Jun 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by Matt141 from Texas

May 20, 2015
 
Rated: 4.13 by kybeerdrinker from Kentucky

May 19, 2015
Draft Bear from Mikkeller ApS
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 246 ratings