Vesterbro Pilsner
Mikkeller ApS

Copenhagen 9/7 2020. 33 cl bottle from Helsingør Vinhandel, Bramstræde, Helsingør. Pretty chaotic label with Keith Shores little man with the black hat painting on a heart-shaped patch on a wall. A bit too old: Best before February 2020.

Pours slightly unclear golden yellow with a medium-sized white head. Settles as uneven, lumpy layer of foam unable to cover the surface of the beer. Crawling up the sides of the glass. Massive lacing.

Aroma is medium intense with a malty sweet odor and some citric notes. Sweet pale malts, hints of caramel, cardboard. Sour citrus and lime.

Light carbonation. Thin, oily, lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is medium intense with a medium strong sweetness followed by a slightly stronger, citric bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter. Finish Is rather dry.

Nice lager with a notable hoppy touch. Good intensity despite being a bit too old.

 

 

Pours hazy amber into a glass from a bottle. Offwhite head is very sparse, puffy, with poor retention; sudsy thin lacing left on the glass.

Aroma is sweet, leafy and clean. It gives a little pale malt, grassy hops, and a little yeasty spice in the background. Flavour is very much like the nose; bright fruit, some zingy watery blood orange, floral vegetative bitters, some sweet nectary malts, and grainy yeast underneath. It's a rather nicely balanced pils, the fruit and malt coming together to produce something that's neither brazen nor in your face but flavoursome without the baggage. Botanic, wholesome, and zippy like a lighter red IPA.

Mouthfeel is run of the mill; crisp yet a tad oily with not much in the way of drying. It's tangy and silky all at once.

I'm sure there will come a day when Mikkeller let me down, but thankfully is it not this day.

Clear orange color with off-white head. Although my bottle is quite old, it still has a pretty intense hop aroma with floral and fruity notes. Taste follows with lots of juicy hops and moderate bitterness and clean malts. Soft body and carbonation. This beer does not feel at all like a pils, more like a session IPA. For me this is a plus, I like quite a lot that it's clean, hoppy and easy drinking.

 

330ml bottle - don't care about the Copenhagen suburb here, but rather how much this approximates the given style.

This beer pours a mostly clear, medium golden amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy and generally bubbly ecru head, which leaves some stellar craggy, layered cloud top lace around the glass as it evenly recedes.

It smells of grainy, semi-sweet crackery pale malt, mixed domestic and tropical fruit esters, a bit of innocuous yeast, and powerful, yet at the same time gentle leafy, weedy, and spicy grassy hops. The taste is more grainy, crackery, and slightly doughy pale malt, further muddled, but agreeable orchard fruit notes, a decent hard water chalkiness, ethereal wisps of Continental gasohol, and more leafy, floral, and kind of laid-back grassy hop bitters.

The carbonation is rather low-key in its plain and understated frothiness, the body a sturdy middleweight, and smooth enough that one can easily forgive the trespasses of those otherwise genial hops. It finishes off-dry, but not by much, as the crackery malt and still good to go hops start to pull away with it all.

A pleasant simulacrum of a veritable Bohemian pils, lots of just the right flavours going on, and the drinkability matrix is duly red-lined. Maybe not quite as crisp as it could be, but hey, there's always room for improvement, and if not, I guess I'll just be movin' on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served on-draught into 20cl stemware at the Mikkeller Bar in Copenhagen, Denmark. Reviewed from notes taken in July 2011. Expectations were quite high given that this is me favourite brewery in the world, but I was hesitant because Mikkeller sometimes messes up light beers.

A: Pours a one finger head of fair cream and thickness, but bad retention (especially for the merely average ABV). Colour is a semitransparent gold.

Sm: Cream, bittering hops, and barley. This is no ordinary pilsner. A mild strength aroma, but a subtle one.

T: Bittering hops, cream, nice (indistinct) fruit ester hops. Maybe honey and amarillo hops. The complex layering buries the notes while subtly bringing them together. It's well built and balanced. A good lesson could be learned from this beer: notes don't have to be heavy handed and bold if they're balanced and subtle. Ye Russian Imperial Stout obsessors ought to drink this one for that reason.

Mf: Smooth and wet, complementing the flavours of the body and the style nicely.

Dr: Very drinkable, of average ABV, and of excellent quality. Sort of a cop-out with the amarillo hops, but nicely executed. It certainly pushes the boundaries of the style.

Pours a pale gold colour, mild haze with small ring of bubbles marking where the head may once have been. Lace is OK. Looks alright I guess. The hall was nice and clean.

Smell is lovely and fruity. Plenty of passionfruit, fresh and seedy. Tangy with slight rosewater note, green peppercorn and lemon. Fresh, clean, excellent.

Taste is light and fruity. Quite sweet upfront with hints of peach and passion. Gets more floral midway with a nectar note, orange peel and a hint of sherbet. Really quite fruity - pips 'n' all - with a lovely profile, just clean with a sweep-under of hop bitterness at the back.

Decent body, with a bit of a pull but mostly clean.

Great pils - hoppy bitterness but clean and fresh. I could drink this all day.

On-tap at the Local Taphouse during their Mikkeller Tap Takeover. #6 of 20.

Pours a hazed but very bright golden colour, with a ring of filmy white. Light body, crisp carbonation. Looks pretty great, and perfectly in style.

Nose is gorgeous: crisp, clean, green hops, with a touch of earthy grain to give a slight organic twinge to everything. Crisp, fruity peach, melon and bright citrus characters come through beautifully. It's fresh, bright and lovely. Reminds me of the awesome pilseners coming out of New Zealand.

Taste is similar. Bright, fresh and clear, with a pleasant biting citrus finish and loads of cleansing bitterness. Body is very light, and very suitable for the style, although they could almost get away with a little more.

Exceptionally drinkable. This is a lovely pilsener, and one I would be happy drinking very, very often. I wish this was my local beer.

On tap at Mikkeller Bar. I was hesitant to try it but the bar keep recommended it and I am really suprised it only has one review since it is always on tap. From notes.

A - Golden and bright with a small island of head and a ring around the top. The head retains as a cap and leaves mild lacing. Best carbonation I had from Mikkeller bar as it was streaming up the glass well. Seems right for a pils.

S - Very citrusy. Not saazy like a traditional pils. Smells almost like an IPA. Slight bread or toastiness is present also.

T - A grassy, citrusy and earthy flavour is there. It seems a little too mild for a Mikkeller beer. All nice, if not a little light, but quite nice nonetheless.

M - Fairly strong carbonation. Light to medium body and a light bitterness that is stronger than a typical pils is there.

D - This beer is a great pils for sure. Flavour is a little mild for what I expected but I could drink this all day. Tasted great, I just wanted more. Do not be shy to try this if you get to the Mikkeller Bar.

On-tap at the Mikkeller pub in Copenhagen. This and the Vesterbro Wit are apparently on-tap at all time at the pub and the pub is also the only place you can taste them.

Pours a hazy golden color with a 1.5-finger white head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of crisp pilsner malts with hints of breadiness. Also present are good amounts of herbal and slightly leafy hops.

Tastes similar to how it smells, although the hops aren't quite as intense. Smooth and mildly sweet pilsner malt flavors kick things. Midway through the sip earthy hop flavors provide bitterness more than anything, and the ending is crisp and mildly bitter.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with moderate carbonation.

Drinkability is very good. I finished my glass quickly and could easily have a few more.

Overall, although it doesn't fit neatly into any specific genre of pilsner, it's very easy drinking. Very tasty and worth a shot.