Draft Bear - Mikkeller ApS

Draft BearDraft Bear

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BA SCORE
89
good
-
160 Ratings
THE BROS
100
world-class
-
read more »
rAvg: 3.97
pDev: 13.6%
Reviews: 114
Hads: 46

Ratings Help


Brewed by:
Mikkeller ApS visit their website
Denmark

Style | ABV
American Double / Imperial Pilsner |  8.00% ABV

Availability: Rotating. bottle (97), on-tap (16), cask (1)

Notes:
Brewed at De Proef Brouwerij, Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium.

Ingredients: Water, malts (pils, carapils and amber), light candy sugar, hops (amarillo and cascade) and lager yeast.
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Reviews

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Photo of northyorksammy
northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A good hoppiness that got me through perhaps 400 ml. and then I could take no more. Its fairly one dimensional, a lager and even bit of malt liquor taste in there behind a good hoppiness. Maybe a different day. Found at Premiere Gourmet.Light coloured body.
Had six months later and good head and hoppy aroma.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2008 05:31:20 | More by northyorksammy
Photo of BuckeyeNation
BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.03/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Polished pumpkin with bubblebee borders. A yeasty haziness would improve the look of the liquid. The gorgeous crown, on the other hand, needs no help at all. Following the pour, it settles out at four full fingers of cotton-like stickiness that is blasting the glass with lace. Brewed and bottled in Lochristi-Hufte, Belgium. Hmmm...

I love the fact that Mikkeller is in love with American hops and uses them like they're going out of style. The nose is redolent of sunny tangerine, musky peach, pink grapefruit and ganja. Amarillo and Cascade is such a wonderful combination where there's no strongly scented (and flavored) malt to get in the way.

It's obvious that Draft Bear is generously hopped. Unfortunately, unlike the best versions of the style, it isn't insanely hopped. This must be a pretty fresh bottle since the 'best by' date on the synthetic cork is December 2009. Ain't no way the beer will any good at that point. Don't age it... drink it!

This Imperial pilsner doesn't taste radically different from a DIPA. Sure, the lager yeast gives it a certain 'absence of esters' cleanliness, but otherwise the similarities are there. The malt sugars are helped along by candi sugar that, thankfully, doesn't produce a tooth-rotting sweetness.

The taste score isn't higher because the hops aren't quite bold enough. 50% more flavor and 50% more bitterness would have gotten it there with ease. Atop a sugar cookie-like base is a cornucopia of juicy fruit that includes tangerine, peach and white grapefruit. Amarillo seems more prominent than Cascade on the palate. Exceptionally well-buried alcohol is a big plus.

The mouthfeel almost reaches the next rung of the quality/score ladder. It's full and borderline sticky, with something less than a Belgian-like voluminousness. Greatness would have meant either bigger and more viscous... or lighter, creamier and fluffier.

It seems that Mikkeller is incapable of brewing anything but good beer (Stateside IPA, Struisse Mikkeller) and great beer (Beer Geek Breakfast, All Others Pale and Jackie Brown). Draft Bear belongs in the first group and is definitely worth a purchase for anyone even remotely interested in the style. What the hell is Draft Bear anyway?

Serving type: bottle

11-13-2008 22:04:46 | More by BuckeyeNation
Photo of mikesgroove
mikesgroove

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

light amber with a nice cap of white hanging over the top of the glass. Nice rich looking head of foam on the top of the glass here now as well, nicely done I have to say. Aroma immediately is a bit boozy with hints of grass, touches of hops, and a light fruit note that seems to pick up the warmer it gets. Interesting flavor profile as well here. Not at all what I was expecting. Hints of citrus, a touch of herbal, floral notes and a really nice and well laid out malty background. Quite nicely done

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2011 01:36:12 | More by mikesgroove
Photo of ChainGangGuy
ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.78/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours a clear, orange body with a full, frothy, white head.

Smell: Light pale malt aroma packed with notes of spice, booze, and citrus peel.

Taste: Bready pale maltiness, a hint of grain. Middling sweetness. Bright citrusy fruitiness. A spoonful of marmalade. Floral, spicy hops with a mild bitterness. Slightly boozey. Warming, bittersweet finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Actually, this isn't half bad, though it is a bit pricey. Still, though, I do recommend wrestling with the Draft Bear.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2008 18:34:24 | More by ChainGangGuy
Photo of brentk56
brentk56

North Carolina

4.55/5  rDev +14.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pours a clear golden color that verges on amber; the head is massive and rocky, leaving clumps of foam stuck to the side of the pint glass (I decided not to pour the beer into a pilsner glass so that I could better enjoy the aroma)

Smell: The malts and hops both come through with verve - the malts bringing taffy and toast, while the hops add a grassy but pithy charge

Taste: Taffy and toast, up front, but it doesn't take long for the bitterness to set in, with a surprisingly grassy character considering that we are dealing with Amarillo and Cascade); there is a citrusy punch, as well, which is to be expected; a hint of apple appears at mid-palate and lingers after the swallow; in the finish, just a smidge of the candi sugar can be detected, but it is the hops that leave the final impression

Mouthfeel: Medium body with crisp carbonation

Overall: Having had my share of disappointment with this style, I was expecting a beer that was boozy and sweet with a clash from the noble hops; this was more like a DIPA and, but for the mouthfeel; I might never have guessed it was a lager; no twang and no booze - just really well done

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2012 18:47:06 | More by brentk56
Photo of Phyl21ca
Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle: Poured a deep cloudy copper color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma of European dry hops is totally dominating. Taste is a mix between some huge dry and somewhat floral European hops and a huge malt base. Full body with some great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very well done for the style but this is a style that I have a hard tie to dig - I find beer tend to be too dry.

Serving type: bottle

07-09-2008 19:25:07 | More by Phyl21ca
Photo of BEERchitect
BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.4/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Adventurous and currous, this larger-than-life Lager pits assertive grainy-sweet flavors early against a dry and fleeting finish.

Draft Bear opens with a hazy golden color and good head formation/retention of stark-white foam. Low lacing on the glass.

Water soaked barley kernels give a grainy start but mixes well with softer breadier sweet notes. Herbal and grassy notes speak to the assertive hop additions. Red apples/bruised apples come to the forefront as the beer warms.

Bold Pilsneresque flavors give a grainy-sweet flavor up front. A mix of apples (red, bruised variety) give a part ester/part yeast taste. The beer makes a quick transition from its flavorful upstart and towards a fleeting and somewhat empty taste well before mid palate. Hop flavors of pine and fresh cut grasses sit just behind the sweetness and take over the beer as the malty flavors fade. Low aftertaste of soft grain/malt and moderate hop bitterness.

Medium-full upstart quickly empties out for a very dry and powdery shaddow of a beer. The dryness is amplified by hop bitterness and moderate alcohols. The dry finish is satisfying, but the empty mid stride certainly speaks toward American adjunct lagers.

An interesting choice that has a promising early taste and drinkable dryness in the end- just a bit soul-less in between.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2010 15:15:09 | More by BEERchitect
Photo of oberon
oberon

North Carolina

4.33/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into my Pilsnert Urquell glass a hazed honey golden with a large fluffy white head that stuck like glue to the glass as it settled very slowly.Big grassy and herbal hits the nostrils on impact of the pour then a honey sweetness as a well as some mineral shows thru just nicely balanced with a real pronounced hop profile.Wow the flavors of this double pils to me are up there with the Sam Adams Hallertau pils, big herbal-spicey hop along with some citric hop intermingling with caramel and honey malt is just great.A great beer and it will keep hopheads like me happy but stay somewhat true to styel,a great beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2008 22:08:55 | More by oberon
Photo of Mora2000
Mora2000

Texas

4/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a hazy golden color with a large white head. The aroma is pilsner malt with a mix of hop flavors including grass, pine and citrus. The flavor is orange citrus hops with some light pine notes and a strong backbone of pilsner malt. There are also a lot of grassy hops in the flavor. Low bitterness. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2010 02:05:44 | More by Mora2000
Photo of metter98
metter98

New York

3.98/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: The beer is hazy deep yellow in color and poured with a finger high frothy white head that has excellent retention properties and consistently left a quarter-finger high head covering the surface.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of spicy hops in the nose.
T: The beer has flavors of spicy hops along with notes of bready malts.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate with a little crispness and a low to moderate amount of carbonation. The beer has a light amount of bitterness and coats your mouth a bit.
O: This beer has some refreshing properties and hides its alcohol very well. It has a rather good balance between the malts and hops.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2012 23:26:35 | More by metter98
Photo of Gueuzedude
Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.9/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Best By Cork Date February 2009; Sampled March 2008
A vigorous pour yields a four-finger thick, light tan colored head that forms some structural mesas and leaves some crunchy lacing on the sides of the glass as it slowly recedes. The beer is a honey color, but shows a lightly hazy, orangish copper color when held up to the light. The aroma has a nice grassy hop character to it up from, but this is immediately followed by a mix of sweet malt and hop notes that contributes an almost honey-like, wild flower nectar aroma. Aromatic notes of orange blossoms, lemon zest, fresh mown hay, grassy grain, soda crackers and a distinct fruitiness that is like a cross between apricot and pear. The fruit notes in the aroma are quite interesting, though this seems to dissapate as the beer warms and I work my way through the beer.

The beer is still fairly well carbonated after sitting for the last ten minutes; it foams up a bit as it hits my mouth. There is a nice grain sweetness to this beer, but it is not so much that I would characterize this as a sweet beer. Lots of hop character helps to offset the grain sweetness; flavors of hay, herbal grass notes, and a touch of menthol. Towards the finish the hop character gets much more herbal, with an accented menthol note and it even gets a bit astringent and green; a sure sign of a hopped up brew. The bitterness is not overwhelming here, it is solid, noticeable and even lingers on for quite a bit in the finish; either some low cohumulon hops were used or it does not have an over-abundance of IBUs when compared to the malt. The malt sweetness accents flavors of wild-flower honey with a touch of bergamot and orange flower. While this is certainly not a light Pilsner, it drinks fairly lightly for a beer of its strength, capturing perhaps the intent of a Pilsner if not the actual lightness.

As the beer warms up it picks up some more sweetness and a bit of warming alcohol in the finish, though I will admit that over all the alcohol is fairly well hidden here. A pretty tasty brew; the hop character can be a bit green and grassy at times, but this is perfectly in line with an "imperial" Pilsner and certainly distinct from an IPA.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2008 04:30:53 | More by Gueuzedude
Photo of russpowell
russpowell

Oklahoma

4.43/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours an effervescent bronze with 4+ fingers of fluffy cream colored head. Insane lacing & head retention

S: Lemons, grapefruits, grassyness & soapyness as well

T: Grapefruit, a touch of booze warmth, grainyness & a touch of honey malt up front. Grapefruit, lemons & pineapple dominate as this warms, along with dryness, apricot & passion fruit. Finishes dry, fruiity, with hints of appleskins, buried in Grapefruitty hops & nice honey sweetness

MF: Smooth, medium bodied, creamy, great balance

Drinks pretty easy for the ABV, a very good take on the style. A little more hop freshness wouldn't hurt, but this is a keeper!

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2008 02:22:01 | More by russpowell
Photo of biboergosum
biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

330ml bottle.

This beer pours a clear, medium golden amber hue, with three hefty fingers of thin, puffy, foamy white head, which leaves a few broad swaths of flattened sudsy lace around the glass as it lazily recedes.

It smells of biscuity, bready pale malt, candy sugar, and a bitter citrus rind hoppiness. The taste is semi-sweet grainy white malt, some mildly honeyed orchard fruitiness, a strong earthy, herbal citrus bitterness, some ethereal musty yeastiness, and a moderate metallic alcohol twinge.

The carbonation is mild, yet a tad frothy, the body medium-light in weight, and generally smooth, with a slight boozy slickness tugging at the palate. It finishes mostly on the sweet side, though the big Yankee hops strive hard to make their case for a sort of teetering balance.

Definitely more approachable than most examples of the style that I've encountered, and still retaining that simmering malt-liqour-esque booziness. Here this is well attenuated by the healthy addition of those usual American hop suspects, Amarillo and Cascade, so much so that I more than once felt like I was just drinking a somewhat overly hot west coast IPA. Interesting, I suppose, and a 'good' version of a kind of unnecessary offshoot on the beer style evolution chart.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2012 03:22:34 | More by biboergosum
Photo of akorsak
akorsak

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A 750 mL corked and caged, foil-wrapped bottle from Capone's.

A: The pils pours with a brilliant golden straw color, radiating clarity with nothing more than a steady stream of bubbles in the middle of the glass. The head is sizeable on multiple pours and laces around the mouth of the glass.

S: The nose is pleasantly bitter with a focus on grassy, herbal hops. The aroma never overpowers but remains bitter throughout.

T: The pils has a grab hop flavor right off the bat. A citrusy rind flavor, somewhat grassy, starts grabs the tastebuds with that first sip. Maltiness tries to, but doesn't quite, match that hop zestiness. The lingering bitterness in the mouth is a great way to send off the beer, crisp and clean without a citrusy sweetness.

M: The crisp taste is not quite pilsner but entirely enjoyable. The grassy hops sit nicely on the palate.

D: At 8%, this is a big pilsner in a big bottle. One at a time is enough for me but this one does go down nicely.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2008 01:53:07 | More by akorsak
Photo of RblWthACoz
RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a slightly fogged orange gold with a creme head that leaves a fair amount of lacing. Flavor is a bit sweet and fairly smooth. Carries a bit of a bite to it that only has a touch of alcohol to it. Massive complexity here? No. Slight hops are here, yes. But not a whole lot really when you look at it. The strongest part of this beer is its smooth qualities. There is a bit of a tart edge to it. Feel is better on carbonation than liquid, but still nice. Overall this is very drinkable. Nothing crazy, but pretty smooth with a barely noticed alcohol.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2008 03:36:21 | More by RblWthACoz
Photo of Wasatch
Wasatch

Utah

4/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml Bottle
Silver Foil
Caged/Corked

Pours a very nice golden orange/yellow color, nice carbonation, nice one-finger creamy off-white head, with lots of nice sticky lacing to follow. The nose is malty, with some yeast, and slight hop note, slight citrus. The taste is malty, yeasty/hoppy, very slight citrus note. Medium body. Drinkable, a very nice brew, not as hot as other Double Pilsners.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2009 01:44:46 | More by Wasatch
Photo of corby112
corby112

Pennsylvania

4.53/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a cloudy golden amber/ orange color with a huge, foamy off-white head that settles into a lasting lace. Aroma is nicely balanced with hints of citrus peel, hops, crisp fruit, pine and malt. Very quaffable and excelently balanced, with a complex flavors. Nice malty backbone balancing out sweet crisp fruit, lemon and orange peel, and a nice citrus/ floral hop presence that lasts throughout. Alcohol warmth in the finish.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2008 06:51:59 | More by corby112
Photo of johnmichaelsen
johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.03/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Got to try this side by side with the Danish Dream. Clearly these two beers are cut out of the same cloth.

The draft pours a rich gold color with good head retention and lots of sticky lacing. The nose is similar to the Danish Dream, but is not as "candy-ish" or sweet. Still, there is some serious bitterness on the nose, which is replicate on the palate. However, this beer is a bit more complex, with some honey, pepper and dry ginger ale. Like the Danish Dream, the finish is surprising bitter (albeit not quite as dry). Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a pretty long finish. Alcohol is pretty well disguised, thought the beer seems on the boozy side after the Danish Dream. Nevertheless, this is yet another very fine beer from Mikkeller.

Serving type: on-tap

01-08-2010 23:14:52 | More by johnmichaelsen
Photo of lacqueredmouse
lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at the Local Taphouse in Sydney during their Mikkeller Tap Takeover. #7 of 20

Pours a bright and slightly hazed orange colour. Body looks fluid when tilted, but it has a depth and a thickness to it which traps carbonation. Head is very fine and pretty full. Looks very decent.

Nose is light and bright, but with a thicker roundness to it, suggesting the extra body. Hint of booze to it, and enough hops to pick it up and lift it properly into pilsener territory.

Taste is bright and pilsenery, for the most part, with hops doing their job well. However, later in the palate, the alcohol comes welling up, giving a slightly biting and raw heat that doesn't really do it any favours. Green and crisp, and in standard pilsener territory. And then bam! Too much heat.

It's a bit of a shame. It's a nice pilsener, that is somewhat ruined by ramping up the ABV. Could have been better.

Serving type: on-tap

08-23-2011 03:43:03 | More by lacqueredmouse
Photo of DoubleJ
DoubleJ

California

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Another Mikkeller beer that has been showing up in Orange County. 750 ml corked and caged bottle, on to the beer:

Brilliant bold gold color in the body. The head on top is thick, luscious, and has outstanding retention...still very thick as the beer is consumed. The nose catches hops, hops, and more hops. Notes of fresh pine emerge alongside a light, crackery malt.

One sip, and you're hoppy side is satisfied. Plenty of hops. Hop bitterness, hop herbs, hop oils, a squirt of hop juice, tropical flavors. The hops really pull through in the beer, though never overbearing or out of place. A bit of of rubbing alcohol is felt in this strong pilsner. Not heavy, smoooothe, goes down without much trouble.

Imperial Pilsners are always an adventure. This one is no different. Worth trying, but very pricey at $14.99.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2009 04:31:48 | More by DoubleJ
Photo of beerthulhu
beerthulhu

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Poured a dark, rustic orange that was accompanied by a solid 2 finger frothy ivory-tusk colored head that displayed amazing retention and was nearly fully lasting for the course of the drink. A thick spongy and foamy lacing adheres to the sides of the glass vessel in stratified fashion.

S: Dried orange peels with light hay notes first are detected. A very nice wildflower and orange blossom scents add subtle highlights with some underlying sweet candi-sugar and spicy notes. The overall aroma was soft and perfumy and one I wished I would of displayed more of a showing but made a nice impact none the less with its subtle nature.

T: The flavor starts off with tart tangerines, grapefruit and a light mildew nature. Sharp sour citrus and lemon grass soon fades allowing a sublte malt and candi-sugar sweetness to soon take over. Lingering alcohol fusels were noticeable with a slight sour fruitiness of pears and bananas. Light musky hay and herbal notes along with a peppery spiciness rounds out an otherwise very good flavor.

M: light to medium in fullness and was very smooth on the tongue. Soft carbonation wit a dry lingering lemon-alcohol fade finishes things out here.

D: Definitly an intriguing flavor, with some booziness and mildew nature of sour citrus and sweet candi-sugar all combining to make this a must try. There was some noticeable booziness at times that makes this an honest sipper that is a good thing because I wanted this beer to last as long as possible.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2008 22:08:37 | More by beerthulhu
Photo of kojevergas
kojevergas

California

2.68/5  rDev -32.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

1pt 9.4 oz brown glass bottle with a cork reinforced by one of those four prong twisted metal caps served into an imperial pint glass in high altitude Denver, Colorado. Reviewed live. Note that Mikkeller is me favourite brewery in the world. I believe I'm new to this style of beer but I could be mistaken.

A: Four finger head of lovely soft cream lacing, great thickness, and really good retention. Colour is a cloudy transparent copper. Very appealing.

Sm: A strong scent of souring hops, cream, and milk (I know). Rather pleasant and appealing.

T: Stilted strange cream alongside some weird soft ester I've not encountered before. The cream carries through as an undercurrent through the finish, which is pleasant and aids the otherwise overburdened unobtrusive barley body. It is a bit imbalanced, and the middle act lacks inspiration unfortunately. That said, it's built pretty well and is refreshing.

Mf: Smooth and wet, with a touch of unwelcome coarseness right on the finish. Doesn't really complement the flavours of the body, a disappointment coming from Mikkeller.

Dr: It drinks very well for the relatively high ABV, but doesn't deliver promising or inspired flavours. The middle sags in its blandness. I was very disappointed as a Mikkeller fanatic, but in fairness Mikkeller always does better at darker stronger beers than this. Moreover, it's wildly overpriced.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2011 06:40:16 | More by kojevergas
Photo of Brad007
Brad007

Vermont

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a nice, mild golden color with a huge-ass head into my glass. Lots of lacing. Wow.

Lemongrass, grain and citrus in the nose. Definitely a big ass pils here.

Holy crap! A little too cloying for my liking. Bitterness is almost intolerable as well.

Lots of lingering citrus bitterness.

Wow. Drink this at your own risk. Mere lesser mortals would not make it past the first sip. I, on the other hand, have conquered this ale like many others. Go forth and be brave, young padawan.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2012 03:46:31 | More by Brad007
Photo of Derek
Derek

British Columbia (Canada)

4.28/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Best before 13/12/09.

You don't typically find Amarillo & Cascade hops in a pilsner, so it's a little odd for the style... though I guess it's an american style.

A: Hazy, golden-bronze; huge, fluffy white head, great retention & lacing.

S: Huge peach, tangerine, nectarine, marmalade aroma. Definitely smells more like an IPA than a Pilsner.

T: Tangerine, nectarine, marmalade, grass and hints of biscuity malt. Much more Amarillo flavour than cascade. Assertive bitterness; alcohol is subtle. Yeast profile is extremely neutral.

M: Well-attenuated, moderate body has a dry, crisp finish.

D: Very drinkable for its strength.

Very well-crafted and brewed. But a double pils?

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2008 20:37:13 | More by Derek
Photo of Georgiabeer
Georgiabeer

Georgia

3.85/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours golden with a big, rocky, pure white head that sticks around. A bit hazy. Smell is slightly sharp and hot with alcohol, pilsner yeast, some bready notes, and some earthy hops. Taste is similar. It has more of a lager tang from the yeast and isn't as clean as a pilsner. It is also not as exuberantly hopped as the Sam Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. Tastes more like a high quality malt liquor to me- which is what the bottle says. The bready notes are still there, but they are a bit buried by spicy, earthy hops and the lager yeast as well as some caramel and buttery notes. A little prickly going down. Not bad, but not exactly my cup of tea. Nothing really remarkable here, and it is still a bit raw.

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2008 03:13:22 | More by Georgiabeer
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Draft Bear from Mikkeller ApS
89 out of 100 based on 160 user ratings.