Saaz Single Hop IPA - Mikkeller ApS

TheQuietMan22

Iowa

3.6/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Serving type: 330 ml bottle. “10111204” is printed on the bottle cap, and I can only assume the first six letters represent the bottling date (probably day-month-year).

Appearance: Poured into a pint glass. The color is cloudy amber with specks of floating sedimentation. Three fingers of dense, meringue-like head dissipated very slowly, leaving trails of foam along the side of the glass.

Smell: Saaz hops! Just kidding. (I would have never been able to identify the hop variety unless I knew.) It is almost all hop bitterness, which is the point. Astringent pine and floral hoppiness, and grapefruit and lemon intermingle with the two. Very vinous and a touch boozy. It has a pepper spice quality, too. Light malts and caramel emerge after the beer has warmed.

Taste: Very subtle, but the finish is very Bohemian; the tail of each sip and the immediate aftertaste reminds me of Czech lager. The flavor does not register for a moment or two, and when it does it is much more floral and grassy than the smell leads on. It is a little barnyard-like. As it warms, the vinous and pepper qualities emerge at the front of each sip, but fade as the floral qualities take over. A hint of lemon citrus pervades.

Drinkability: I like the idea and applaud Mikkeller for the effort. The result is a little different, but kudos to education. I hope the experience stays with me.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2013 04:16:28 | More by TheQuietMan22

IanSpindler

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +9.3%

02-26-2013 22:02:35 | More by IanSpindler

suspect

New York

3.75/5  rDev +2.5%

02-13-2013 13:41:25 | More by suspect

jvillefan

California

3.2/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: A very hazy golden brown with a off white lace that did not last very long.

S: The first aroma was not hops as you would expect from a single hop IPA. It was a bready lagery aroma that was very disappointing.

T: Lager like taste matches the aroma. There are subtle hop bitterness with very subtle pine in the background.

M: A little heavy with great carbonation.

O: I am a big fan of Mikkeller's Single Hop Series but this one is very disappointing. I would not recommend this beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2013 01:49:54 | More by jvillefan

beerman999999

New York

4/5  rDev +9.3%

12-30-2012 16:13:08 | More by beerman999999

tehzachatak

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +2.5%

12-29-2012 03:39:19 | More by tehzachatak

Sunn

Iowa

4/5  rDev +9.3%

12-25-2012 01:41:35 | More by Sunn

kojevergas

California

2.85/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

11.2 fl oz brown glass bottle with standard pressure cap served into a Uinta pilsner glass in me gaff in low altitude Los Feliz, California. Acquired at KnB wines near San Diego for $5.99. Mikkeller is my favourite brewer in the world, so I have high hopes. That said, his other single hop brews have been pretty disappointing. I'm hoping this is better. 6.8% ABV confirmed.

Served straight from the refrigerator. Poured with standard vigor as no caroonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a healthy two finger khaki colour head of some nice cream. Fairly hick. Retention is average. Colour is a hazy nontransparent fairly vibrant copper. I'm getting wary; I prefer my IPAs clear. No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show.

Sm: Dry grapefruit, butterscotch, clean malts, and floral hop character. A rather mild, simple aroma.

T: Nicely floral, but the hops fade as it approaches the third act, culminating in a weak finish. Clean malts lend it a simple understated backbone to showcase the hops. A tinge of grapefruit, and even a hint of pine up front. I didn't know the hop profile of Saaz as well as I do now. It's a bit more complex than I previously thought; I always regarded it as entirely floral. Light toasted malt lends it a bit of body and some needed complexity. It's quite simple, and structurally it isn't all that sound. The empty third act is a real shame. All the flavour's up front. Not subtle or impressive. It's not unique or special. No yeast or alcohol comes through. Pleasant.

Mf: Lightly buttery. Very clean and pleasant, but I'd stop short of refreshing. Not at all oily. Coarse and dry - overly so on both counts. I could go for a bit more smoothness. Suits the flavours decently. Light to average presence on the palate. Some nice cream. Far too dry on the finish.

Dr: Drinkable and enjoyable for the style. An interesting experiment and very educational, but not a fantastic all around brew. One of the better beers in the series, but still a bit pedestrian.

C

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2012 04:22:28 | More by kojevergas

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.85/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours amber with a small head.
Nose shows herbal and spicy hops, along with some earthy notes and a lot of caramel.
Spicy and herbal flavours too, reminiscent of tea leaves. Nice crystal malt perfectly balances out the assertive bitterness.
Could use a bit more carbonation.

Serving type: on-tap

10-01-2012 10:15:59 | More by CrazyDavros

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

3.73/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed from session notes.

Poured into a goblet a hazy coppery-orange with a three finger height snowdrift of solid creamy head that gets stuck to the tip of my nose and leaves tremendous spiderwebbing inside the glass.

Smells of pulpy tangerines, lighter amounts of mandarin oranges, light dusting of white pepper, and a -really- deep musty earthiness.

The flavor is almost completely dry grassy and herbal-centric. Only the tiniest ghost of that luscious citrus from the nose translates into the taste! Bizarre! The deep musty earthiness maintains a solid presence from start to finish, where it loiters as the last flavor to leave the party. First flavor in, last flavor out, I suppose.. There is a bare-bones sort of biscuit malt scaffolding in place to hold the hops in place, but it is obviously not the main focus here. Still, I'd hesitate to call it Imperial levels of hopping, it is far too subdued. But that's the difference between hop strains, some are simply more aggressive than others.

Medium body and carbonation levels. Creamy texture.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2012 19:10:36 | More by WastingFreetime

mrfrancis

Kentucky

3.48/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a hazy, murky amber with an enormous, puffy white head.

S: Very soft and subtle on the nose, with aromas of minerals, biscuit, grass, herbs, and orange.

T: Notes of lemon, lime zest, orange, biscuit, caramel, minerals, fresh herbs, straw, and grass wash across the palate. The finish is dry and lingering with persistent flavors of lemon, orange, grass, and herbs gliding down the throat.

M: Medium in body and dryish, but becomes sappier as the beer fades. Carbonation is firm, but not forceful. Alcohol is barely noticeable.

O: This is an interesting ale, and should intrigue a number of drinkers, largely because Saaz (and noble hops in general) are rarely used in American-style IPAs. Still, with a theoretical IBU of 30, calling this an IPA is more than a bit of a stretch. In the end, this is an interesting ale, and I'm glad I gave it a chance, but while it's far from bad, it's still not much of an IPA.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 14:52:38 | More by mrfrancis