Elements of Four
Mikkeller ApS

real special stuff, thought i might be done with baghaven beers since they stopped production there and these were always so rare anyway, so this felt like my lucky day encountering this one, a malbec grape wild beer, incredibly complex and unique beer, a great showcase of this varietal, and in some ways as much wine as it is beer here in this bottle, apparently made in collaboration with an operation from argentina, way cool, maybe thats where the grapes come from? it pours a murky deep pink to light ruby red color, short and short lived head, a little lighter on the carbonation than it could be, but i think that leans into the wine aspect a bit, and when considered as such seems sensible, but i do like a bit more effervescence in beers like this generally speaking. neat nose, tart and tannic, both from the fruit and from the ferment, i believe the grapes and wort were fermented together, a little sulfur, deep minerality, almost iron and blood to the grapes, volcanic and distinctive, black cherry and even cranberry fruit character too, lots of oak and funk, decent acidity, port wine, kind of old now it seems, slate and wet rock, cherry medicine, a little tickle of alcohol. the flavor is all of this, insane fruit depth and terroir in here, very vinous, some tartness from the skins maybe, some bitterness to offsetting the mid palate sweetness this retains, plum and prune, raisin, cherry cola, and a bit of red wine vinegar too. lovely funk, wild and mature, light spiciness, moving towards dry, a little sandpaper thing to the texture without it being sedimented or messy in any way. not a lot of bubbles really, but it slows this way down and the flavor is awesome so i dont mind. neat beer, woody and old and interesting, tons of grape character and earthiness around the fruit, dynamic and delicious, thankful to have been able to drink this!