Monk's Brew (Red Wine Barrel Aged With Raspberries) - Mikkeller ApS

Infamous7100

Ohio

4.15/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: pours a deep and opaque brown with a half finger khaki head. Nice retention and lacing. Hints of ruby do make themselves evident as well.
S: fruit forward! Raspberries are quite evident on the first whiff and its aroma is eeriely similar to a wine. As it warms, the tart raspberry aroma subsides a bit and mixes beautifully with sweet malts, sugar and other dark fruits. Complex and fantastic.
T: not to state the obvious, but its quite tart. However, as it warms, the sweetness of the malt does well to cut the tartness a bit and provide a suitable balance. The sugary notes and vinious qualities resemble a slightly less sweet and more carbonated port wine. Not as boozy as a 10%double abv would normally drink.
M: creamy, slick, carbonated. Not as full bodied as other quads I have tried. The finish is dry, but bittersweet. Its unique and pleasant.
O: not your typical quad, but I love the interpretation. Let this one warm a bit before you drink it as the warmth really brings out the sweetness that provides levity and really makes this brew work. Highly complex and very enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2012 18:39:27 | More by Infamous7100

Trilogy31

California

4.3/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Cloudy chestnut brown with thick puffy foam that leaves chunky lace in its wake. Beautiful nose of intense raspberries (chambord, jammy notes). A touch of funky earth, bakers chocolate and some bramble along with a balsamic note before the beerbegan to warm. The taste brings beautiful sweet and sour raspberries, mexican oregano?, plum and raisin with a slight sherry rancio note and a vinous almost chateaunuef du pape character in this beer, really enjoyed its complexity and i am struggling to come up with descriptions. Very refreshing and hides its abv well with a slight sourness and good carb cleaning up for the coming sip. Well done and as usual i just wish his beers weren't so expensive.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2013 03:00:02 | More by Trilogy31

brown2cu

Ohio

3.9/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: pours a dark red and is topped by an off white head. There is some spotty lacing around the glass as well.

S: the smell is heavy raspberries as well as some woody notes. I can't detect a lot of specialty malt as well as alcohol. Therefore, it's fairly one dimensional to me.

T: a lot of tart raspberries; almost wine-esque. There is also a lot of malty sweetness that brings the tartness down.

M: Full bodied, dry, and silky.

O: a wonderful beer; my first from mikkeller.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2012 05:00:17 | More by brown2cu

jlenik

New Jersey

4.58/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

a: pours an incredibly dark amber brown, hints of dark ruby can be made out in light. brownish red head comes and goes

s: oh! I get a lot of fruit notes at first along with some acidity from the wine barrels. this is definitely a dessert beer (or not in my case!)

t: Lot's of raspberries upfront, acidity, dark malt sweetness, dark chocolate flavors, and a bit of oak finishes the taste.

m: This is one smooth beer. Alcohol is very well hidden and the raspberries and wine barrel aging really put this beer over the top!

o: I'm always hesitant about Mikkeller but this one blew me away! Price is high but I would totally pay it again.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2012 21:37:46 | More by jlenik

TheBeerCarl

Idaho

3.88/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: The beer pours a disturbing cloudy brown like liquid chocolate or Mississippi River water. It has a thin light brown head. Could use more head.

S: Prunes is the first thing I smell but then it kind of morphs into a marinara tomato sauce like smell with some heat. The lingering notes are of dough, yeast and some floral notes. Weird but intriguing.

T: Über intense tart raspberry with some earthiness to back it up which fades to citrus and bitterness.

M: A good medium bodied mouthfeel with sharp carbonation that supports the tart raspberry flavor.

Overall this was an intense quad, very flavorful but tasty nonetheless!

Serving type: on-tap

11-24-2012 09:13:49 | More by TheBeerCarl

mtlasley

2.63/5  rDev -33.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A deeply murky reddish brown pours to the glass and obscures light almost completely. A two and a half finger head is a light mocha color and really sticks around.

Overwhelming. There's a ton of "barnyard" here and it's really hard to get past. There's a strong vinous taste following this with almost no sweetness present. This scent is decent but it's a bit too much.

Lots of wine like tartness up front followed extremely quickly by a strong dirt and hay flavor. The wild here is overwhelming all the other flavors. I still pick up some dark fruit flavors on the end but there's no sign of raspberries here and I'm let down.

Thick and sticking.

A bit too strong on the wild notes and too hodgepodge for me to really enjoy. She's a trainwreck.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2012 02:42:17 | More by mtlasley

BeerNotes

Ohio

3.54/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A: Dark, dark brown with the slightest ruby hint. Khaki head. Very light lacing.

S: Fresh raspberries and red wine mixed with champagne. Oak. Hints of black cherry. Very effervescent on the nose.

T: Holy hell, this is a difficult beer to describe. There’s so much going on. Mixes of raspberry, plum, fig, and cherry. There’s a subtle sweetness that turns a bit sour near the end.

M: Very prickly. Bubbly like a champagne. The mouthfeel reinforces the aroma. Dry at the very end.

O: The fact that this is a beer astounds me. Supersedes any lambic I’ve had. It has so many wine/champagne characteristics. The alcohol is masked almost completely until the very end, but you can feel it on the way down. The only hint of grains comes up front, but dissipates quickly. The finish is unlike almost any other beer. That being said, I wish it had just a touch more beer to it; something to really let me know what it is I’m drinking. It’s really delicious, though. An excellent dessert beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 18:25:17 | More by BeerNotes