George - Mikkeller ApS

beerdrifter

Germany

4.22/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked this up at my favorite beer store in Belgium, Dranken Geers. Deep black pour with beautiful mocha colored one finger head that fades pretty quickly with decent lacing. Loads of roasty malt in the nose with hints of chocolate, peat, alcohol, and burnt espresso. The chocolate really comes out in the taste. Roasty malt, caramel, cocoa, molassess, and alcohol round it out with hints of smoke, espresso, and a touch of dark fruit. The mouthfeel is slightly thick and a little flat, with a nice bitter hop finish that helps balance the sweetness of the malt. The alcohol is present throughout, but it is 11% afterall, and it doesn't really hurt the drinkability. It's obviously a sipper, and it warmed me up nicely on a cold fall day. Yet another solid offering from Mikkeller!

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2011 17:28:20 | More by beerdrifter

UCLABrewN84

California

3.64/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Bottle shared at GRG1313’s tasting.

Pours an opaque black with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. No lacing on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa, wood, and alcohol aromas. Taste is much the same with cocoa and alcohol flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of woody bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is pretty good beer but I think it tastes better than it smells.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2013 00:56:15 | More by UCLABrewN84

schnarr84

Alberta (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

03-25-2013 08:12:39 | More by schnarr84

GRUUMSH

Belgium

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%

02-26-2013 09:51:44 | More by GRUUMSH

MordorMongo

Indiana

3.75/5  rDev -8.1%

02-09-2013 03:25:06 | More by MordorMongo

mitlinks

Switzerland

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

01-31-2013 20:06:39 | More by mitlinks

bostonryan

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%

01-25-2013 17:16:34 | More by bostonryan

t0rin0

California

4/5  rDev -2%

10-29-2012 01:33:08 | More by t0rin0

BeerHunter76

Texas

4/5  rDev -2%

10-15-2012 01:30:21 | More by BeerHunter76

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

4.45/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a huge dark brown foamy head with good retention and some light lacing. Aroma of black chocolate with light roasted coffee and some light vanilla notes. Taste is also a great mix between some huge black chocolate notes which are well balanced by some vanilla notes and some light coffee notes at the end. Body is super full with limited filtration and good carbonation with no apparent alcohol. Very well done with some super good vanilla notes which make this beer very drinkable and complex at the same time.

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2012 19:38:14 | More by Phyl21ca

Cstromberg57

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev -2%

04-04-2012 01:46:33 | More by Cstromberg57

lbour

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%

02-06-2012 22:51:38 | More by lbour

crnipeter

Slovenia

4.03/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Even the highest pour gives birth to just one fifth of an inch thin vestige of deep tan head atop of the highly viscous, opaque black body.
Nose is firm sweet-malt with caramel character embedding pronounced fruity esters of plums, prune and raisins.I get orange peel, and there are distant chocolaty
notes and perhaps faint coffee from roasted grain/malt, while alcohol is incredibly well masked considering the ABV given.

Very thick, velvety smooth and viscous with fine carbonation, the beer starts sweet on the palate, exhibiting prominent dark fruits. The initial sweetness gets quickly overwhelmed by intense burnt malt-flavor, warming alcohol and leafy hops with appurtenant bitterness that all linger into the aftertaste.

In short, a rough-edged well-hopped and very warming imperial stout with pronounced esters and burnt-malt/grain. (250 m bottle l without BB indication that has been cellared for a year, into tulip.)

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2012 23:57:01 | More by crnipeter

whartontallboy

New York

4/5  rDev -2%

01-16-2012 03:32:01 | More by whartontallboy

emdawg

New York

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%

01-01-2012 05:43:12 | More by emdawg

LSUPT

California

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%

12-25-2011 23:11:23 | More by LSUPT

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Dinky little 25 cl bottle poured into a stemmed mikkeller glass. This brew appears black in color with a dark brown head about a finger strong that recedes down to a thin film across the top. As it recedes, it leaves some spots of lacing effect on the glass. A light swirl brings forth more than a finger of brown froth back to the surface. When held to the light, hardly any light permeates, but what does shows the faintest amount of brown clarity around the thin edges.

The smell of this brew is straight charred grain. It smells of charcoal mixed with a bit of citrus hops, tobacco, earth and licorice. More smells bring forth a bit of chocolate grain scents that mixes with more of a deep earthy and char feel than the usual sweet chocolate indications present in some stouts. The 11+% abv is felt with a slight tingle across the nose that seems accented by a solvent spirit almost like vodka.

The taste is as roasty and charred as you would expect based off of the aroma. Flavors of charcoal mix with very bitter burnt grain that imparts a flavor of chocolate, licorice and coffee all through the body. There is a pretty solid citrus element that mixes with some earthy notes and a touch of mineral components. The aftertaste is quite bitter with a flavor of unsweetened chocolate mixed with coffee that persists long after a sip is taken.

This is a medium bodied brew that is very bold. It boasts a light to moderate amount of carbonation. The alcohol is not hiding at all in this brew but it really works with the other bold flavors present. The 8oz bottle size is very fitting here, I dont think having any more of this would be welcomed as I sit here and sip away, this becomes more of a chore as it warms up. Not bad, but honestly something that could sit for years in order to mellow out and blend together a little better.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2011 02:33:56 | More by stakem

crashingthrough

Ontario (Canada)

5/5  rDev +22.5%

12-12-2011 14:49:58 | More by crashingthrough

jlb502

California

4/5  rDev -2%

11-14-2011 19:31:31 | More by jlb502

Mar02x

Netherlands

3.95/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

For some reason or another I woke up at night. Now a couple hours later I am still awake and now I know why; I just have to drink something special. I had a look at my collection and selected the George, so lets give it a try.

A - Looks pretty damn good. A pitch black beer with a brown head that very slowly retracts. Looks a bit like 'the Messy', so its very promising.

S - Chocolate, oak wood, peat, roasted malts, espresso and some sweetness added to the flavor. Man I just can't stop smelling this beer, gorgeous.

T - To much peat and wood for my, it overwhelms the other flavors. Is was such a promise and now its lost. There is how ever some dark fruit to be discovered. I find it rather dry compared to the flavor.

M - Low to medium carbonation, a bit sticky. The bitterness and the alcohol come in the end. This beer has got the nicest warming after taste, its rare indeed.

O - It's a special brew thats for sure, but so close after the Borefts beer festival I must say its a bummer. The balance is off in this one.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2011 04:20:49 | More by Mar02x

gford217

Georgia

3.6/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

25cl bottle thanks to jbeatty.

Pours pitch black and has that typical mocha head that you always see on Mikkeller stouts.

Aroma is also typical for Mikkeller with the distinctive charred malt character with hints of smoke and bakers chocolate.

Taste has an interesting sweetness that I didn't get in the nose with some molasses coming out. There is still the ashy character that permeates the taste and leaves a smoky burn on the palate in the finish.

The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, kinda thick and chewy. Carbonation is fairly low.

This is another Mikkeller stout that didn't overly impress me. I love the Beer Geek variants but this one veers toward the Black Hole territory which is to say smoky and charred. Not bad but no my favorite.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2011 02:59:25 | More by gford217

Reagan1984

Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Big thanks to Masterski for providing this in a trade.
OK, so this mighty have the darkest head on a beer I’ve ever seen. Usually Imp Stouts have a dark brown or even a bronze/brown head. This one was almost the same black at the beer. Also, over time it got lighter and lighter as the beer apparently filtered out of it.. Yet a head remained. Ain’t NO light getting through this one… (I apologize to all my English teachers) Not much in the way of lace.
Aroma is all about deep dark roasted malt with some sweetness and black licorice.
Oh man, this is black licorice and soy sauce. Some prunes and other dark fruits. A moment of molasses later in the flavor.
Really thick with a sense of elevated ABV.
Even in a small bottle this is a beer to share. Just need a few ounces. Interesting.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2011 18:51:31 | More by Reagan1984

mmurphy525

Nova Scotia (Canada)

4.28/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle into a tulip

Pours a bitch black with a very very thin mocha coloured head that dissipates extremely quickly leaving behind a slight ring.

Smell is great full of chocolate, molasses, lots of espresso, roasted malts, and faint alcohol.

Taste follows the smell closely with chocolate, molasses, and rich espresso coming through. The roasted malts are also present with some slight char characteristics. This beer finishes with a nice hop bitterness with a little alcohol. Though the alcohol is detectable it is nothing near the 11.11 percent the beer holds.

This beer is thick, creamy, and very rich. Carbonation is low.

Overall this beer is excellent, very rich and full of flavour. Nothing overpowers the rest and everything intermingles to make one of the best Mikkeller beers I have had. I would definitely recommend this to any stout lover.

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2011 22:48:28 | More by mmurphy525

domtronzero

California

4.05/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A - Thick, viscous black colored with a tiny ring of an off-whitish head. No lacing.

S - Coffee, chocolate, dark fruity malts. Earthy hops in the background. Slightly smoky. Light alcoholic aroma is pleasant.

F/M - Rich dark malts, chocolaty, roasty, and loads of caramel and sweet bready malts. Over-ripened dark stone fruits emerge as the beer warms. Smoky phenols blend nicely with the other flavors. Lots of earthy hops with a firm bitterness, accentuated by the roasted malts. Thick oily mouthfeel with a slightly slick feel in the finish. Full bodied with medium low carbonation. Lingering dark malts.

O - Very nicely brewed stout. Hoppy, dark, rich and tasty. I like this beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2011 02:46:58 | More by domtronzero

thagr81us

South Carolina

4.38/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Massive thanks goes out to BRoss242 who shared this one with the group at the "Evening Wood" tasting graciously hosted by cmrillo! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller flute. Poured pitch black with a minimal brown head. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, roasted malt, wood, and smoke. The flavor was of sweet malt, roasted malt, BIG smoke, and wood. It had a very thick and heavy feel on the palate with mild carbonation. Overall this was a pretty good brew. You would never know it was weighing in at 11%+ though. There was no sign of the alcohol anywhere. Maybe it was covered up by the big smokiness??? Who knows... But I do know that it was quite nice on the flavor and aroma. Definitely worth giving it a shot if you can. You won't regret it.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2011 14:28:44 | More by thagr81us