Blondeaux
Mikkeller ApS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance – A cloudy dirty ruby red color with a thick light pink soapy head and substantial lacing. The head sticks around for quite a while.

Smell – A sour raspberry jam smell, and a hint of red wine. The smell is nice.

Taste – A very dry, sour taste, with no hint of sweetness. Kind of an odd mix of raspberry juice and red wine.

Mouthfeel – Has a very dry taste. I would have preferred some sweetness to complement the sourness. Leaves a somewhat bitter aftertaste. To this beer’s credit, I didn’t notice the 8.8% whatsoever.

Drinkability – Didn’t meet my expectations. I think this beer needs to add some sweetness.

A - Cloudy reddish with a bit of orange and pink with a finger of frothy white-pinkish frothy head. Fades normal.

S - Sweet and tart raspberries, oak, vanilla, sauternes, funky yeasts, grainy malts, Belgian yeasts, lemon zest, some booze.

T - Sweet and tart raspberry jam, other berries, oak, sauternes, vanilla, funky yeasts, grainy malts, Belgian yeasts, mild spices, lemon zest, some booze.

M - Medium bodied, moderate carbonation. Smooth with a tart and sweet finish.

D - Nice fruit beer. Good raspberry flavor and the Sauternes barrel is a nice touch.

 

 

Picked this up at City Beer Store today for $16.99.

Pours a concord grapeskin red with a thin cap of pillowy, well-retained off-white foam. Plenty of lacing clinging to the glass as the head fades away. Raspberry jam in the aroma along with sweet pastry dough, a dash of mint, and bubble gum. Alcohol is noticeable in the nose without overwhelming. Flavor-wise a tart raspberry steps forward first, almost reminiscent of a sour raspberry candy. Sugar cookie maltiness is here as well as a small vanilla/oak component. Just below spritzy carbonation, medium/medium-light in body.

Overall this reminds me of some kind of raspberry dessert. Think shortbread with a hefty spread of raspberry jam and a sprinkling of lemon zest.

 

Served in a snifter at Local Option.

While heading back to the Option to pick up some swordfish tacos for dinner, I accidentally dropped my bottle o' this. Finding it still entirely intact yet still worried about it, I made the executive decision to open it at the bar and share it with whomever wanted some. Cheers, folks!

This stuff pours a slightly hazy auburn topped by over a finger of light tan foam. The nose comprises light raspberry, Belgian yeast, clove, white grapes, very light oak, light banana peel, and the vaguest possible hint of what may or may not be buttercream. The taste brings in more of the same, though much of the spiciness is eschewed in favor of a pleasant sweetness (which I attribute, wrongly or rightly) to the Sauternes barrel. The body is a lithe medium, with a moderate carbonation and a sorta/kinda drying finish. Overall, a very nice brew, one that shows that sometimes the risky cost investment in a Mikkeller product can indeed be worth it, especially with the tastiness those barrels imparted here.

 

A: Poured from a 375ml green bottle into a tulip a hazy, dark reddish with a 2-finger thick pink fluffy head which leaves stringers of lace.

N: Juicy rasberries, white grapes and some mild funky, musty yeast.

T: Jammy rasberries and grapes. Moldy earth and wood. This is nice.

M: Semi-moderate body and moderate carbonation. Some prickles and slightly tart finish.

O: Really nice, fruit forward. Very bright and clean. Well done indeed.

 

Pinkish with a lasting head. Aroma yielding something of a sour berry expectation. It was tart, raspberries and strawberries to balance, tart enough to make it a sipper. Fuller mouthfeel. Tasty concoction, maybe it was the cartoon on the bottle keeping stores from ordering it. Different, nice.