Cali Rare
Mikkeller ApS

 

 

 

Clear golden color with white head. Aroma has grassy, a bit dank hops, really fresh. Taste is also light, hoppy, slightly bitter and fresh. Body light to medium, kind of soft mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Nothing special but it's a well made, easy drinking beer.

330ml bottle. Best before 2016-04-11.

A: Hazy pale. Medium foam and retention.
S: Fresh citrus: lemon.
T: Lemon peel. Moderate bitterness. Dry.
M: Light bodied.
O: A slightly hoppy and refreshing lager.

330ml bottle - I suppose that this is indeed a relatively rare style of beer - and who do we have to thank for that?

This beer pours a mostly clear, medium golden yellow colour, with two fingers of puffy, rocky, and somewhat bubbly chalky white head, which leaves some sparse hoar frost lace around the glass as things evenly subside.

It smells of bready, doughy pale and caramel malt, white wine lees, red apple skin, and earthy, leafy, and mildly grassy hops. The taste is grainy, crackery pale malt, a fading bready caramel sweetness, muddled pome fruit, pleasantly testy yeast, a small stoney flintiness, and a laid-back leafy, floral, and weedy hop bitterness.

The carbonation is quite endearing in its playful and yet still supportive frothiness, the body a solid middleweight for the style, and generally smooth, neither yeast or hop in a particularly sloppy mood at this juncture. It finishes trending dry, the crackery nature of the malt, combined with the surprisingly steady hops, dialing us right in.

Not my favourite style, I gotta say, but I'm starting to suspect that I just don't like Anchor's yeast, as the steam beers from other breweries that I've tried have been all right, including this one from the brewer who never saw a style he couldn't re-invent. Here, as noted, the yeast and hops get along just fine, and the winner is my palate, and its evolving education.

 

for a style of beer that is called common, its a rather uncommon style in american brewing, and i was excited to see this one on tap at mikkeller bar in san francisco. it looks beautiful in the glass, with a deep brass glow and a tall white head, patient carbonation, and a wonderful aroma that suggests more vegetal hops than these usually have, and a more interesting yeast too. i enjoy the beer, easy drinking, all at the bar agreed we could happily do ten of these, but the malt gets a touch heavy and the overall flavor is a little generic. the yeast and the hops are the interesting parts, but not because they are flavorful and unique, but because they are present at levels not usually associated with the style. the real genius here is the balance between all the elements, and it being a fuller bodied, pillowy feeling beer. i think its really well made, and its a fun addition to the lineup here. a session beer all the way, maybe not the best example of what mikkeller is capable of, but then again maybe it is... depends what gets you off. a perfect example of the style in my opinion, i like it being more robust.