It's Alive! - Mikkeller ApS

number1bum

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Part of NEPA BC split #16.

Pours a dark amber color with a couple inches of fluffy light tan head. Head is pretty light and bubbly, and settles slowly to a nice lace and leaves some messy stick.

There's a lot going on in this nose. At first is it a bit sour and funky, but then takes on some earthy hop characteristics. It's also quite fruity, with apples especially, and has some peppery spice. Spice really comes out more and more with each whiff, and there's just a ton of complexity here. I like it.

Taste starts off bready and earthy, then there is some spice, and then it's really all hops. The hops are really earthy and woodsy tasting overall, with a moderate level of bitterness in the finish. There is some of that apple and fruit flavor, but the hops really dominate this one. I don't get much of any sour or funk either to be honest. The yeast is mostly spicy and earthy, not tart or sour. I was hoping for more sour because it would have played with the hops in a really interesting way. But mostly this just tastes like a hoppy Belgian pale.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and pretty crisp, with a tingly carbonation. It gets pretty dry through the finish though with all the bitterness.

This is pretty good, but not spectacular. The nose is really complex and interesting, but that doesn't translate flavorwise as this tastes much more straightforward. For the price, I would hope for more.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2008 19:57:53 | More by number1bum

largadeer

California

1.9/5  rDev -48.8%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Appearance: Murky, slightly turbid amber, darker than I was expecting. A gentle pour leaves me with three fingers of head in my glass, which takes a few moments to settle. Head retention is good, but this one is overcarbonated.

Smell: Lightly funky, not overly so, with a sweet toffee backbone from the malt and a touch of herbal hops. Somewhat medicinal overall.

Taste & mouthfeel: Herbal, peppery, slightly tart up front. The malt base is very dry, but there's more bitterness than I'd like and not enough bretty funk or sourness. Like a rough, unrefined Orval with excessive bitterness. The finish is loaded with bitter herbal hops and dry husky grain. After half a glass all I could taste was bitterness - not terribly impressive. Most of the bottle went down the drain.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2008 22:14:14 | More by largadeer

mymrnngjckt

Pennsylvania

2.88/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

750ml poured into an unmarked chalice glass.

Beer pours a golden brown with a two finger head. Smell of hops and yeast are dominant in the nose. Some citrus notes and also a bit of clove perhaps.

The taste was unique. A hoppy beer with a sour beer aftertaste. Or is it a sour beer with a hoppy beer aftertaste. I don't know. The mouthfeel was very carbonated. The sour beer sensation, which I liked, seemed to go away the more I drank.

The beer is drinkable but not overlly impressive.

Not sure I would seek this one out again.

Serving type: bottle

08-02-2008 19:32:41 | More by mymrnngjckt

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.68/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Best By Date March 2012; Sampled July 2008
A soft pour easily produces over three-fingers of foamed that is a dirty, light tan color. The beer is a full amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, orange-tinged, light amber color when held up to the light. The aroma is very fruity smelling; aromas of berries, aromatic apples, sauvignon Blanc, some light zinfandel grape notes and some Asian pear are each noticeable. Funky, though not overwhelmingly so; it is more spicy than funky with ample notes of woody black pepper, cedar, ginger and clove. A backdrop of bready malt notes round out the complexity in the nose. Really it is the woody, peppery notes that make this such an interesting beer to smell.

Despite resting for almost ten minutes it is still incredibly well carbonated and it fizzes up as soon as it hits my tongue. The beer tastes fairly sweet which really accentuates fruit flavors up front. It then starts to get funky towards the middle and into the finish. The fruit notes remind me of currants, some generic berry notes, a touch of apple and some light pear. As to the funk, well this is dominated by huge phenolic notes that are a mix of some band-aide notes, lightly rotting vegetal notes and a curing plastic / acetone note that lingers on in the mouth after each sip. Underneath the strong phenolics is a solid, if not piquant, spiciness that provides flavors of pepper, fruity young ginger and lingering clove. At times the phenolics seem to contribute more of a spicy, wood-like character that is almost like cedar, but does seem to pick up a turpentine edge.

As the beer warms up it loses the harshest of the plastic phenolic notes, or perhaps it is just that my palate has become saturated. It almost becomes enjoyable from the beginning to ending of each sip, though the harsh, plastic phenolics never entirely dissipate. This is light and quaffable, especially for an 8% abv beer.

This almost has a Jekyll and Hyde flavor personality (thankfully the aroma is all nice, funky, goodness); up front it is quite fruity, smooth and tasty, but towards the finish it starts to get wild, harsh and phenolic. In the end I would balance this a bit more towards the pleasant notes; even in the finish there are solid, good tasting, flavor contributions, all of which ultimately save this from being un-enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2008 03:55:29 | More by Gueuzedude

GbVDave

Illinois

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

Poured from a 25.4oz bottle into a DT tulip.

Cork dated: 11/03/12

A: Pours a relatively clear, coppery-gold color. Sitting on top is a frothy and bubbly, off-white/light-orange colored, three finger head that leaves a healthy webbing of lace behind.

S: At once, fruity and funky. Aromas of apple, tart berry, apricot followed by a distinct, dirty, funky, Brett smell. Also noticed were aromas of caramel, toasted sourdough bread, and lightly toasted malt.

T: Upfront flavors of green apple, funky Brett, tart berry, caramel, and bread dough. Rounding out the flavors are dry toasted malt, yeasty spiciness, and bitter, dirty hops.

M: Pretty dry. Any sweetness brought to the table by the caramel and fruit is reigned in by the spicy Brett, astringent hops, and dry & toasty malt profile.

D: Better than expected. This beer is meant to be consumed at warmer than cellar temps. I was able to pick up a lot of subtle details of this beer the warmer it got.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2008 00:37:16 | More by GbVDave

ccrida

Oregon

3.25/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

750 ml bottle poured into my large Gulden Draak tulip, It's Alive! is copper with a large, off-white head, fairly slow settling and some what rocky, with pretty heavy, sugary looking lace. Darker then I was expecting, or prefer, but nice head, which is really the main thing I'm looking for here.

Smell is good and funky, with traces of caramel and hops that I wasn't expecting, as well as wafts of alcohol. It gets sweeter as it warms, tropical fruits, although I served it at cellar temp. An 'interruption' let it warm to room temp.

Taste is pretty acrid, very peppery, with a musty note from the brett that is a bit moldy. Not to exciting, the bitterness of the hops is amplified by the bugs, although the (unusual for the style IMHO) richness of the malt helps temper that. I wish I had aged this for another year at least to let the bugs do their thing and develop some complexity, I expect they'd soften the sharpness of the yeast and hops. Still, it grew on me as I worked though the bottle and let it warm up, but that also made the ABV more apparent.

Mouthfeel is actually on the thinner side, well a bit watery but medium bodied, with a drier finish, a bit sharp.

Drinkablity is not to stellar at this point, just not too exciting or tasty, a bit thick, very bitter and lacking depth. For the price, you'd be better served to sit on these for a while. The cork had a nice pop, but the beer barely moved. I'd hope with some time under it's belt, it would overflow a bit!

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2008 00:12:26 | More by ccrida

Crosling

Colorado

3.58/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Darker orange color with a long lasting foam, but it doesn't have the mountain-like froth of Orval. Aroma is pleasant, similar to Orval, but doesn't quite have the full aromatics of the original. Flavor is spot on in terms of the trappist pale style...this is a beer style hardly ever replicated because it's hard, but they nailed it, imo. Flavor is a lot like Orval, dry and hoppy, with a little touch of brett. I'm not crazy about the beer, but it's a good recipe and well brewed.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2008 17:06:22 | More by Crosling

DarkerTheBetter

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

An Orval clone with some Brett added for fun.
40 reviews on RB, mine's the first on BA. Hmmm...

This one pours alovely peach color with a touch of amber. The head is a sustained rough 1/2 cm film that is sustained by a field of bubbles from the bottom of my tulip. On the pour, the head exploded quite a bit, so take your time.

There's a sweet and creamy base with touches of nectarine, dinner roll and strawberry that takes on a touch of white flour dryness to transition into a crisp green peppery yeast. There's a tart plumb skin that nestles into the pepper. I'm really not sure where I sit on how the tart and the pepper get along, but I think I like it!

The flavor starts with a touch of dry caramel and a bit of dry bread crust and an ambiguous fruitiness but is then pounced upon by the peppery, doughy yeast with a bit of tart plumb skin on the sides of my tongue. This really doesn't fit nearly as well as it did with the smell. In the finish, the plumb changes from tart to acrid and blends into the peppery yeast and just sits there. I fell that I almost need a chaser for this one.

Feels dense and present, but very slick and clean with a playful carbonation.

I'm a bit confused by this one. I'm not sure what else to say.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2008 00:56:09 | More by DarkerTheBetter