Peace
Mikkeller ApS

I believe this and the other listed are the same beer, so I filed this under both.

This was much better than expected. Mikkeller is often hit or miss, but this one was interesting in a good way. The coffee plays a supporting role to the bold bourbon flavor. Drinks basically like a Belgian candy-sugared Quad with a hefty bourbon kick and a slightly dry, roasted finish. I'm curious about the base recipe, as this tastes like what I imagine a BBA Monk's Brew would. Outstanding.

A: Poured into a snifter to a ruddy reddish brown topped by a finger and a half of dense cream colored head that fades to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of dark fruits and toffee with hints of coffee. Not picking up any bourbon barrel though but there may be some slight caramel and vanilla
T: Taste is dark fruits, toffee, and bready malt with some hints of coffee and slight spices. Whispers of barrel aging at times as well. Swallow is more dark fruits, toffee and coffee with some lingering bourbon barrel notes and spice.
M: This beer has a mouthfeel that is on the lighter side of medium with carbonation that is slightly prickly and a drying finish.
O: Overall this one is not bad but it does leave some things to be desired. I don't know how long I have had this one but the coffee is pretty much gone if it used to once shine brightly. If this didn't say it was barrel aged on it I probably wouldn't know so some of those flavors may also be from the power of suggestion. Not worth hunting down but worth a try if there isn't anything else around that interests you.

 

 

 

 

 

belgian strong with coffee. cool beer, a pricey bottle at their sf location. for a lot of reasons its an amazing beer, although hard to drink the whole bottle because it gets strong and sweet. orangy reddish and brown in color, not overly heady but with a nice lazy froth to it, off white. some haze but it still looks bright in the glass. more of a traditional belgian type base for these guys, sort of an abbey ale yeast base to this, nothing funky at all, some sweetness, caramel and candy sugar maybe, i had no idea this was so strong when i got it either, warm but not hot in aroma. the coffee is cool, adds a neat earthy roasty layer, making a somewhat common style base here into something very original. its integrated super well, and if there is one thing we know mikkeller can do, its make coffee work in anything, and they do it again here. a nice caramelized base, but it is a little thin in texture for how much booze its trying to hold up, and it comes short a little for me. the coffee lingers with balancing bitterness though, so the sweetness doesnt really bother me, even though it is quite pronounced. i liked it less and less as i drank it though, it got heavy on the alcohol, real strong and weird, the novelty of how different it is wore off, and the relative lack of carbonation made it feel tired or tiring. definitely have a buddy to share this one with when you crack it. i cant really see this needing a barrel, but they do a bourbon version as well... clever beer overall, another recipe than could only have come from mikkeller!

 

 

 

Pours deep, translucent, reddish brown with more than a finger of head. It settles into a relatively thick layer of suds. Really impressive head retention. 4.25

Smell: The initial pour presents some bourbon and sweet malt, but once it settles, it smells mostly like the unique, earthy/spicy Mikkeller hops that are so prominent in some of their other beers, like the Black Hole Stout. 4.0

Taste: Like any good Belgian-style beer, it has the candied fruit, caramel, and bread flavors. The coffee is just barely noticeable on the finish, but you really have to look for it. If I hadn't read it on the bottle, I probably would have missed it or maybe thought that the mid-palate earthiness was coming from hops instead of coffee. The bourbon is also fairly subtle, adding a nice vanilla/oak sweetness. 4.0

Feel: Slick and a little sticky but also a little bit watery. The alcohol is definitely noticeable. 3.75

Overall: Kudos to Mikkeller for releasing this beer to support the fight against pancreatic cancer. It's quite a nice Belgian beer with the bourbon-barrel aging adding another layer. I only wish the coffee came through a little clearer. 4.0

 

Really cool idea: a beer brewed to fund raise for, and honor, Pat Clinch. The beer is a Belgian Abbey ale brewed with coffee and comes in a 750 ml bottle, the vast majority of which were distributed to Nebraska. The beer's production makes for a touching story and chances are if you land a bottle, you already know it. If not, give it a google.

Pours rich dark copper / light brown color with generous and persistent head. Smell is what you'd expect from an abbey ale: plum, raisin, caramel, malt sugar with slight touch of coffee. Taste follows suit: oats, dark fruit, sugar, and slight coffee presence at the end. The coffee is done so so well. You can smell the abv a bit, but not taste it. The mouth is really excellent, smooth, creamy, superbly and subtly carbonated.

Mikkeller deserves big props for producing this beer period; more so given its quality. I'd love another. Folks in NE don't miss out on this. And go huskers.