Brett Mikkels IPA
Surly Brewing Company

750ml brown bottle, sample from the brewery.

A great looking beer, from the lacing to the stunning copper hue. Brett funk with a semi-forward hopping meets a slightly hefty malt backbone in the nose. Deep smoothness with sufficient crispness. Wild herb medicinal funk from the brett, pretty much hopped like an IPA. Suggestions of green tea, star fruit, peppercorn, & melon rind. A little pungent in the middle, drys up real nice in the finish with funk, fruit, grass, & spice in the finish. Way too damn tasty, each sip opens another door ... pulls back another layer.

Tasted in a Spiegelau IPA glass from a 750 ml bottle on January 2, 2016. Look is amber gold with a thick off-white head and some lingering lacing. Smell is brett, pepper, tropical fruit and citrus aromas. Taste is papaya, pineapple, brett, orange citrus and pepper flavors. Feel is medium in body with a smooth and somewhat dry finish.

 

Hazy dark peach color with off-white head. Aroma has intense Brett character with farmhouse and floral notes. Taste follows with yeast notes, quite bitter up front with earthy hop notes. Light body but feels soft and is well carbonated. Quite rough on the bitterness but the yeast notes are really nice.

 

750mL bottle poured into a tulip
A: Brownish orange with a billowing head
S: Lots of brett, white pepper, some tropical fruit and citrus
T: Matches the nose though in a different order with tropical fruit up front (especially papaya and pineapple) then brett, then orange/kaffir lime then white pepper
M: Medium-bodied, a bit spicy
O: If you don't like brett keep your distance. If you do, this is complex and tasty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great nose: sour barn, lemon-curd, toffeed lemongrass—all wonderful. Big dry-malt sugars, with leathery and barn-floor-grain bite, but an underlying caramely creaminess. Wet-grass bitters, touch of spruce-sugar, a mere moderate head, but very smooth finish. Just a really good Brett IPA.

 

 

Found this in Waseca, standing alone and wanting to be consumed. So I took it and now am putting it out of it's misery.
Wonderful complex aroma that is mostly yeast based but a nice mix of sweet spiciness with a hints of funk and intermingling light fruit. Some of the malt base shows in support. Really nice.
Nice firm beige head over an amber/gold slightly cloudy body.
Equally complex flavor but more intense funk from the yeast and the hops show in the sudden show of bitterness and the long finish that has a nice drying component. The tastes linger on the tongue for a good long time and it's a nice mix of the drying, hop flavor and a smooth bitterness. This is after the first take. Yikes gonna' be coming with later drinks.
Moderately light body but enough heft to support the taste and ample adequate carbonation for style.
This is more than expected. Maybe some time has been good to this one. Probably has lost some hop character, but it still tastes grand, interesting and complex. Quite enjoyable.

 

 

750ml brown glass bottle for 15 euro @ Labirratorium Madrid. Brief notes below:

A: ~8cm wide head. 10 minute retention. Body colour is a clear orange-copper. No yeast can be seen within.

Sm: Obvious brettanomyces funkiness. Biscuity yeast. Pale malts. Subdued hop character - floral, tangerine, rind, zest.

The mix of dry brettanomyces and mild hop character is interesting, but leaves much to be desired.

Aromatic intensity is average.

T: Brettanomyces is evident - biscuity notes, mild funkiness, hay. Hop profile is rather subdued/weak for an IPA. Floral notes, zest, rind. No overt or imbalanced bitterness here, but more pungent and deep hop character would be nice. Not as assertive as I hoped for given the two excellent brewer(ie)s involved.

Balanced but lacking in terms of complexity and depth of flavour.

Mf: Dry, smooth, refreshing, light to medium-bodied. Well-carbonated.

O: Enjoyable and drinkable, but I hoped for far better given the two world-class breweries behind it. It's a fun experiment, but isn't worth its high price. Both breweries make excellent IPAs and sours; this is not excellent.

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

 

 

 

 

 

2016-04-01
750ml capped bottle served in a large mug. If there's a date on the bottle, I can't find it.

Pours an ambery golden with a medium head showcasing some lasting power. Medium to high amount of carbonation. Pretty nice looking beer. Smell is an odd fruity like old bananas maybe, some grassy/green characteristic, maybe something else moderately spicy (as in herbaceous) about it.

Taste is a little twist on the aroma -- more fruity, less greens, with a heavy herbaceous bitter finish. The hop profile is nice, I think -- it seems like a bright tropical theme, but it clashes somewhat with the funky yeastiness. Interesting, good, but not great.

Mouthfeel is dry and drying, resinous. Overall, pretty good.