Review: Mikkeller Milk Stout

If you happen to be staring at this beer right now please don't hesitate to buy it. Mikkeller is a pretty big name, but at the same time it really isn't talked too much about like Dogfish Head. I've had probably around 3 beers or so by Mikkeller, each an every brew came correct.

Appearance: This brew had a very thick luscious light chai colored head, which is normal for a stout. The head was well over an inch (good stuff), and retained pretty long. The head smothers the glass, and retains a lot of stickiness (something I stared at for a while). Very dense black beer. No light penetrates. I'm really in love with this. 

Aroma: First impression is a dark chocolate bar high in cocoa. Slight sweet berry but very subtle. Some creamy sensations. 

Mouthfeel: The milk stout definitely had a unique mouthfeel. It had this very milky frothy feeling to it. It did remind me of milk but not in a bad way. Reminded of champagne qualities. The mouthfeel was definitely experimental compared to most beers that I have had. 

Taste: The taste leaves you with maltiness on your tongue. The beginning has a start of a very mild trappist styled beer (single). This mild robust flavor profile with malt, coffee, and dark cocoa. This stout was balanced. You dont get overwhelmed. There aren't really hops present. This stout is perfect. The finish is nice. There are lingering flavors of coffee,  and robust malty undertones. The strength of a stout kicks in the finish. So it is balanced, but towards the end you will get a good kick of flavor. Milk is just a name, so don't be intimidated by it.

Overall: This beer woke up my senses. Very smooth stout I would say. One of my favorites in a long time. I would recommend this one to anyone. I haven't felt this excited drinking a beer (excluding Russian Rivers) since the Brouwerij De Musketeers Troubadour (maybe a few other ones). 

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Grocery Store Beer: Deschutes Hophenge IPA

So usually I always review beers that are out of most individuals way (somewhat). I decided to pick one out of your average grocery store. What's better than reviewing a great beer, a beer you can almost pick up anywhere without visiting any sort of bottle shop.

First thoughts on this beer was that it would be interesting. The label is very down to earth, and friendly...if that makes sense? Deschutes is like Lagunitas, which is like Dogfish, but neither can be Dogfish. This is probably my second Deschutes in a lifetime. My first being their Black Butte Porter, which is ridiculously one of the best porters that I can remember trying. Anyways...

Aroma: This brew has your typical hoppy aromas. I get the usual grapefruit, but underneath that is a lacing of some lemon which was nice. The grapefruit aroma wasn't so much bitter as it was smooth.

Appearance: I'm use to seeing some pretty transparent IPAs, but this wasn't so much transparent, and crystal clear. This brew had the normal amber gold color, but slightly darker look to it. The head was this white latte like foam, and looked beautiful...Didn't last too long though...

Mouthfeel: Had the consistency of a soda a day later after it has been opened (all about preference).

Taste: Like the smell it gave my pallet a taste of grapefruit, a cut of lemon, and of course some array of over ripened tropical fruit. What killed me the most is that the 10% alcohol presence revealed itself. When tasting the finish you will not forget the presence of alcohol. On another note this felt like an IPA throughout the entire lifetime of the flavor, because there wasn't much malt presence. I would have like to seen a slight malt presence. Like I said the presence of the alcohol makes the drink fall apart, but hey some people wouldn't mind.

Overall:Overall: Not a bad ipa, but not too impressed. Alcohol dominance killed it. Other people would argue that this a great beer. If your not studying your beer than most of this wouldn't even come to mind. All in all definitely an interesting beer. I've probably mentioned this before, but if you run into Green Flash's IPA try it. If you want a more maltier IPA then go for Lagunita's IPA.

What I'm Looking At: Brasserie Cantillon Fou' Foune

The other day I visited a restaurant in San Jose, and one of the employees shared that same interest in sour ales as I do. If you walk into a local grocery store you might not even find a sour ale, because one they are too expensive most of the time, and two they aren't popular. Enough side tracking the employee gave me a sample of Fou' Foune by Brasserie Cantillon. All I can say it was great, and wished that I had a bottle so I could review it. So this bottle is on my list, and hopefully I can review it sometime soon. A sample opened my senses wide open, so it is no wonder why Beer Advocate gave it a 100/100.

*It isn't considered a sour ale rather a lambic.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/388/5281

Review: Knee Deep Brewing Hoptologist IPA

First thoughts on this was that I was going to get that awkward bitter IPA taste that I kept running into when I first got into crafts. Never had anything from Knee Deep Brewing until today.

Appearance: In my opinion this beer produced a weak head that fell down way to quickly, although it was slightly sticky. The head was this thin champagne like foam that was essential white, and nothing short of it. The color was an amber mixed with this burst of red (could have been the lighting who knows?) I was slightly turned on by the clarity of this beer. The liquid was 100% transparent, and free from anything that shouldn't be there. I mean it was CLEAR.

Aroma: Grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit, and that is it. You can't really miss it.

Mouthfeel: Head reminded me of foamed milk from a latte. This beer felt water like, and was smooth as far as texture. Nothing special.

Taste: Well grapefruit. If you ever have smelled hops by itself this is exactly what you will smell. Every now an then you will taste this cut of honey that adds some sweetness. The finish was nice. The hoppiness lingers in your mouth for a while. Always appreciate a lasting finish.

Overall: This review is short, because I really wasn't intrigued by anything about this beer. My reviews usually end with either "get it" or "don't get it." Don't get it. This was a very bland beer. I wasn't at all impressed with the characteristics of the hops in this beer. I will admit a beer with 102 IBU, the malts an hops came together well. This was well brewed, but it was missing complexity in every category. I would much rather tell you to go buy  Green Flash Brewery's IPA.

Short Review: Dogfish Head 120 Minute

What makes a beer more enjoying is when you don't feel the need to review it while you are out. Still enjoying analyzing liquid in a cup though. Anyways Dogfish Head is a brewery everybody has heard about. If you are drinking any beer as a matter of fact you should know this name. It is still a good micro brewery despite that popularity. Just because something becomes goes big doesn't mean it becomes made (correlation not causation).

In case you didn't know 120 minute is a triple IPA. Like the other minute IPAs 120 is roughly the IBU amount. IBUs stands for international bitterness units. Some bottles of beer have this number, and some don't. As another beerhead told me at work "anything past 70 you are getting into some bitter stuff."120 also stands for the amount of time the hops were boiled...120 minutes.


Appearance: The appearance came off as almost any other IPA a vibrant goldish color. I always like to refer it to apple juice, but with a very crisp fog to cut the ambient light. At some point describing color of an IPA can be repetitive. This beer was definitely carbonated. Bubbles were rising for quite a while, and took a few minutes to end. Like the beer I had a while ago (Russian River Rejection) this is nowhere near as carbonated, but nonetheless it was carbonated more than your average beer which is clearly seen. Lacing was pretty sloppy in my opinion, but what I loved was that fact that it was so sticky. Even when the glass was done you could just see the lacing stuck to the glass, which was attractive in a non-weird way.

Aroma: I was outside, and by the time I started smelling this I couldn't get a hold of the aromas. I can say that the first impressions reminded me of overly ripe tropical fruits bunched together.

Mouthfeel: I haven't had IPAs in forever. The mouth feel was actually amazing. The feel wasn't a thick stout or porter, but it wasn't water either. The carbonation kind of distracts you from the true feeling of the beer.

Taste: Like I said I was outside enjoying myself so I didn't spend too much time. I thought the taste was very complex. I am pretty big on transitions between flavors from start to finish, and this beer does a good job transitioning. The first sip you feel a heavy touch of hops, then it transitions to this maltiness, and that maltiness blends out an blends in to this hoppy flavor again. As I described it in scratch, "a very safe collision."This is a triple IPA, so the feel of the beer isn't suited for everyone.

Overall: If you don't already know me then you know IPAs are not my choice of beers most of the time. All bias aside this was a great triple IPA. My friend wants this beer all the time, and that is coming  from someone who just broke pass that whole "beer is disgusting" phase. Dogfish Head delivers no doubt with this. The transition between maltiness and hops definitely tells you the malts an hops were balanced. I am a little sad I wasn't in doors so I could have been more specific with a lot of this. I am a sucker for lacing, and the lacing residue left after drinking this was beautiful. Last but not least the ABV was around 15-20%, and you don't even get a hint of alcohol on your palette, which is a good thing!


Note: You won't find this anywhere at anytime. If you see it, get it, and drink it.