Mike Loves Beer

So as promised here were are with the first of my hopefully weekly Big Beers, Small Thoughts.  Last night was Social Beer Night at Coffee District and was Valentine’s Day.  Since my lovely girlfriend is the bartender there I got to see her as well as enjoy some good brews.

I picked out a few of the ones that really stood out to me so here goes.

Three Floyds Alpha Klaus – This Christmas porter was quite dry.  A good deal of earthy hops and licorice to it.  The mouthfeel was a bit of a let down as it was quite watery.

Mikkeller Spontanale – Super sour and the type of sour I like.  Lots of tart lemon scents and flavors.  Quite acidic.  Probably my favorite beer of the night.

Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Stout – This brew is catching a lot of buzz for aging the beer for 2 years in a 23 year old Pappy Van Winkle barrel.  Super sweet with a lot of bourbon character.  Some hints of roastiness.  I think this beer is too hot and needs time on it.

Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout – To say I was looking forward to this would be an understatement but I ended up underwhelmed and actually very disappointed.  Sweet almost bourbon flavor.  Very little chocolate taste or smell.  Extremely watery and not what I was expecting from an oatmeal stouts mouthfeel.

There were more brews tried as well last night but these were some of the bigger ones that I wished to share.  Unfortunately last night I got super congested and got little to no sleep.  I’m feeling awful today so I’m going to go lay down.  Hope you all enjoyed.

Name – Santa’s Little Helper 2009
Country – Denmark
Type – Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Appearance – Poured a very dark brown with a good sized tan head that stuck around for a bit and left some lacing on the glass.

Smell – Hit with some piney hops that caught me off guard.  Under that is some sugary sweet smells.

Taste – Pretty complex but very odd.  There is quite a big hop presence that is not to typical of this style.  Pine hops to be exact.  Hints of cocoa, sugar, maple syrup and spices come out as well.

I’m going to assume that Mikkeller wants you to age this brew based on how strong the hops were in this.  Probably after time those mellow out and add another layer to the taste.  Wish I could have gotten another bottle after trying this to do just that but this was a popular one at the stores and we didn’t get many so it was gone pretty quick.  I will be sure to pick it up next year so I can age it and see if my thought is correct.

Overall Grade – C

Name – Mikkeller Cascade Single Hop IPA
Country – Denmark
Type – American IPA

Appearance – Poured a hazy copper color with a big white head that left a lot of lacing on the glass.

Smell – Citrus hops hit you right in the face.  Grapefruit, orange, pineapple.

Taste – Pretty much all citrus hops like the smell.  Not much in the way of a malt backing for those looking for one.

While I wouldn’t say it’s a hop bomb it is pretty much all hops but I’m not complaining.  I really enjoyed this new one.  We just recently got Mikkeller down here and figured I’d start with an IPA.  I know some complain about the over use of cascade hops but I love them.  I love the big grapefruit hop flavor they give.  So rightfully I got a kick out of this one.  Not as big as some other ones with the same type of hops but definitely enjoyable for someone that loves hops like I do.

Overall Grade – A