To Øl / Mikkeller Sleep Over Coffee IIPA

A mouthwatering combination brew here between young start-up To Øl and their past master Mr Mikkeller himself.

As mentioned previously, coffee plus IPA just sounds like a brilliant combo to me, though I'm yet to be wowed by one. This of course ups the stakes - at a remarkable 10.5% it's well and truly in imperial territory.

It's good looking too, heavy amber colour and strong lasting head. Aroma is just what you'd want here, malt driven, hops not evident to allow the coffee character to shine through. It's double percolated coffee castoff style aromas here rather than fresh beans but it works in nicely with that malt backbone.

Delicious malty imperial flavours up front, which meld into a lovely coffee finish. Despite its mighty heft, there is no alcoholic bang to it - instead it is smooth as you like, and delicious. It's hard to call it a definitive IIPA as such as the hops are bit-part players, but the label does acknowledge that it is the hybrid spawn of a strong ale / barleywine / IIPA and to me, I'd prefer to see boundaries broken for the sake of the beer experience rather than slavish adherence to styles.

All in all great beer: a concept proven. Any beer that has me looking forward to trying it again like this one has to be highly recommended. 9.0