Tuesday 8 May 2012

Mikkeller In May
8. Mikkeller 1000 IBU Ultramate 4.9%


I'm not going to muck about here. When you get a beer that says 1000 IBU on it you know your going to get bitterness, that or it's ironic, being a backlash against some of the mega-bitter beers being produced for bitterness sake (hop, hop, and hop again ad infinitum).
This is most definitely the former.
It pours a deep honey-orange with just the faintest touch of yellow, a little transluceent with rocky beige head that quickly dissipates. The aroma is intense orange pine hops. If you've ever opened a bag of dried hops then you'll know the smell, it's that wonderfully intense fresh, green almost wet aroma that makes me salivate, it's one I really love. It's briefly smooth over the tongue, which surprised me, with some pleasant pine and orange marmalade flavours, rich and fruity. Then it begins. Slowly at first, a dry creeping pine bitterness builds, sucking at your tastebuds drawing out the moisture. The astringency doesn't stop, relentlessly building, steadily planing your tongue with a hop-edged cutting tool. This beer defines bitter.
However, and this is a big however, it is actually quite a thin beer and while the bitterness is beautifully and painfully intense that's really all there is too it. I wish it had delivered in taste what I had imagined from the aroma, but I guess that would be missing the point. I've never had a beer this bitter and I like beers that push boundaries and this most certainly does, I while I don't feel let down I just want a bit more balance, roundedness and flavour.

4 comments:

  1. I had 1000IBU Light on draft at Norwich Beer Festival last year and I'll be honest, I couldn't handle it. I could taste nothing but bitterness.

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    1. I certainly won't be having another beer tonight, I simply wouldn't taste it. My tastebuds are shot.

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  2. This Friday, Arbor Ales are brewing a 2012 IBU beer to celebrate the London Olympics.

    That may well be a rather interesting drink.

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    1. If they can find a way to make it fully flavoursome alongside some harsh bitterness then I'd be more than willing to try it.

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