Øl Nagelfar
Mikkeller ApS

A - Pours a murky dark brown with some reddish tint. No real head.

S - Aroma is burnt sugar, raisins, plums and piney hops.

T - The taste is brown sugar, raisins, plums, toffee, vanilla, piney hops and good amount of bourbon heat.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Sticky mouthfeel with a prickly drying finish.

O - Pretty solid BBA Barleywine.

 

 

 

 

a real tasty barleywine here, pretty classically styled to me, not a whole lot of innovation or anything going on here, but a sturdy and flavorful malt driven beer thats nice this time of year. i found this far less dramatic than a lot of other mikkeller barleywine types in the past, but i like its relatively simple nature. slightly lighter in color than anticipated for me, copper and shiny, pretty clear, with a half inch of khaki head from the tap quickly receding. lots of grain character in aroma and flavor here, bready biscuity malts, molasses, honey, maple, lots of sweetness up front, and an interesting fruitiness as well, raisin and dried red apple to it, along with some slightly metallic minerals and a big wash of alcohol at the end, it tastes like its supposed to. the sweetness doesnt linger too long, and the minerals in here as well as the booze help to lighten it a little, shorten the finish, and promote some of the more delicate nuances from the grain. subtle cherry, fig, and toffee here as well. medium body but feels somewhat light for the style and all the alcohol. overall a nice barleywine, a beer to share, and another successful strong ale from mikkeller. i enjoyed this quite a lot, as relatively conventional as it is...

 

 

Pours a deep auburn color with a thick billowing light tan colored head that settles ever so slowly into a frothy mass.a mix of leafy and fruity hops over top of big caramel and alcohol in the nose...liking it so far.More malt driven on the palate but there is a big splash citric and leafy hops in the finish,it's boozy and racy to say the least.Why is this rated so low?To me it's an American strong ale at it's best,big hops and big alcohol.I know the bottle says barleywine and it is in the best American since of it,maybe others had a bad bottle or I had a better bottle but I love it.It gets a bit chewy and slightly sweet but that's a good thing.

Obviously a high alcohol burn, as per the style. It actually does a decent job of hiding any offensive flavors that can arise with this style, but doesn’t add a lot of the good flavors either. There’s moderate toasty malts, with a slightly dry hoppy finish to it, but overall it’s fairly bland for the style and comes across as mostly just ethanol flavored. I would like to see this barrel-aged as I think it could be really good then, but would not recommend it as is.

This one is a total sipper.

I didnt get anything too exciting on the nose and even thought to myself "Yep, smells like a barleywine." It pours a dark, reddish, translucent brown with little head. It feels a lot less syrupy than I had expected. Fairly well carbonated and lighter mouth feel than most barleywines Ive tried. I was taken aback by the combo of sweet and boozy though. I wouldn't go so far as to call this one "rough," but you definitely need to take it slow otherwise you'll get overwhelmed.

I wasnt a fan of allowing it to warm a bit in my glass; drink this one right out of the fridge.

A: Pours a clear medium to dark mahogany in color with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate amounts of garnet red + chestnut brown colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall sudsy foamy tan head that slowly reduces to a couple of small to medium sized patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a medium thick ring at the edges of the glass. Significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of toasted + caramel + toffee malts with a moderate amount of sweetness, moderate to strong aromas of fresh + slightly ashy oak, light to moderate aromas earthy + herbal hops, and light aromas of dark dried fruits (date, prune, and raisin).

T: Upfront there are moderate to strong flavors of toasted + caramel + toffee malts with a moderate amount of sweetness and a moderate amount of dark dried fruits (date, prune, and raisin). That is followed by just shy of strong flavors of fresh + slightly ashy oak and light to moderate flavors of earthy + herbal hops. Light amounts of bitterness from the hops and a long lingering woodiness/oakiness in the finish.

M: Medium to full bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Hints of alcohol warming in the finish.

O: Very interesting, a slightly different take on an American Barleywine with the wood, dried fruit, herbal, and earthy flavors. Definitely a slow sipper but still enjoyable. Perfectly enjoyable on a cold snowy night after a "snow day" here in NC.