Mikkeller Hop Burn High

Had this before with its cousin Hop Burn Low down the pub, but now for review in bottle format.

This is one of a duo of beers, and another of Mikkeller's education lexicon of beer varietals. In this case, the Hop Burn High is fermented using ale yeast, while the Low uses bottom fermenting lager yeast instead. It's also pushing out 300 IBU, which explains the hop head on the label and his leather-eyed stare of dazed contusion.

It's a nice looking beer and sings of mandarin out of the glass - oddly enough, didn't get that drinking it on tap. There's some sediment here but probably to be expected given the weightiness of hops and malt in this 10% monster. That heaviness does carry through on the mouthfeel which is big bold and heavy. It's kind of oily pine and sticky without delivering quite as much hop character as you might expect - this could be the result of the distance travelled, though it's a relatively young bottle nevertheless.

I found the alcohol in this becomes really apparent as soon as it warms even slightly. Not bad, but you get the feeling if it wasn't Mikkeller it'd be nothing near what it's rated. Hard going at times, this is bold, brave and interesting but ultimately outshone by a distance by other efforts. 6.0

Mikkeller 1000 IBU

So. A beer with theoretically 1000 IBU.

To put that in context, Palate Wrecker tops out at 149. Safe to say it's a hop forward sort of brew then.

What this beer does is hops, pine, pineapple, malt, a nice heavy body, hops, and pine. What it doesn't do is really convince you of its supposed manic extremes - no-one is going to claim it's not a bitter beer, but it's just not that much far and away above a lot of other hop driven double or imperial IPAs.

Compared to its cousin the admittedly unbalanced 1000 IBU Ultramate this comes across as almost tame due to the fine balance it projects. Part of it is the human capacity to detect and process bitterness and astringency I'm sure - it's often said humans can only really detect up to about 100 IBU on average - but it's also a direct product of the malting and balance Mikkeller derives in this brew. This is a good thing for the beer as a whole - you'd certainly drink more of this 9.6% monster in a sitting than the 4.9% ultramate - but it does somewhat lessen the insanity and with that, some of the fun.

With that said this is a pleasant beer you'll certainly enjoy if you're a hop-head and an enthusiast for these sorts of drops.  8.0

Mikkeller American Dream

OK, another Mikkeller "lager" to try - and this time it comes with the dubious accolade of being the top rated lager on ratebeer to boot.

I have to admit on first tasting as per the photo above, this beer really failed to impress. Could be either a bad choice of glass, a less than top quality bottle, or just some sort of bad mood I guess (the beer obviously, not me). I got a less than impressive nose, mid malt and pepper, ever so slight passionfruit, and a bit of lingering, slightly earthy bitterness.

Tried a second time, this beer was a bit of a revelation, putting me in mind of a hybrid cross of wet hopped Little Creatures Pale Ale and Feral Hop Hog with a crisper finish. Both of which are great, but .. neither of which are lagers. So we arrive at the very same impasse. I don't think this is a lager, it's either a pale ale or an IPA in terms of style. It's tempting to think that by this logic, anything with a bit of hops or flavour to it will be automatically disqualified as a lager, thereby preventing anything with character from appearing.. but beers like Knappstein provide an exception to that rule.

So.. this is a nice beer and delivers a lot of flavour for its low %. And you should drink it, assuming you get a good bottle, and assuming you're not really after a lager per se. 7.5

Mikkeller Big Worse Barleywine

After loving Boogoop I was fairly amped for this beer.

Hmm.. poured without a great deal of head and a powdery mid-brown colour. Not the most attractive beer initially. Boozey nose, sweet malts, sugar, raisins.

It's pretty hot in the mouth too, the alcohol very evident to me, certainly more so than in comparable abv barleywines tested previously. But at the same time there's a slight lack of roundness in the mouthfeel. Flavours mirror the aroma, not much hop astrigency to back up the raisin cake character, bit heavy and sweet to my palate.

All in all then.. a bit of a disappointment to be honest. There are better options in the barleywine space. 6.0

Mikkeller Amarillo Single Hop IPA

A showcase of the Amarillo hop variety, a stalwart of powerful US IPAs.

Looks fine in the glass, and the lacing clings nicely to the sides. The aroma actually comes off pretty well rounded with elements of peach and grassy pine.


This brew is typically balanced for a Mikeller IPA with a malt presence that is evident from the first sip and remains pretty much the whole way through. The amarillo washes in after that - bitter without being overwhelmingly so, few pine needle notes, fruity and on the sweet side. Peppery notes come through toward the end and provide a spicy front of the mouth finish.

Canvassing opinion on this found people split between very good scores and just average. Personally, the hophead in me says this beer could do with a bit more bitterness still, to really give it a bite and lift the malt heaviness a little. As it stands however it's a balanced introductory IPA and a good way to start to piece apart the various strains of US hops. 7.0

Mikkeller / Three Floyds Boogoop

Growler time! And what better way to start than with 2 whole litres of a barleywine that clocks in at 10.4%?

That's 16.4 standard drinks right there, so even with a couple of people, depending on the character this could well have been a struggle. That it vanished with no trouble other than a lingering feeling of sorrow was a very good sign.

Pours beautifully this, attractive orange colour and a creamy lasting head that roils and furls. Aroma presents big hops, backing malt and various fruits, all really well balanced and enticing. Full marks for presentation.. this is mouthwatering.

Lovely mouthfeel to this, it's as heavy as befitting a beer of this girth but easy drinking too, warms the throat without bashing you about with its alcohol at any point. Notes of orange fruit and malts start the profile, followed by a wash of bitterness. All really top drawer stuff, very classy.

In short, bloody delicious. Just wish there was more.. 9.5

Mikkeller Beer Hop Breakfast

Mister Mikkeller and The Philosopher's Stout.

Similar character to its twin in terms of the quality pour and body, but this certainly lashes with a lot more bitter grassy hops embedded in the ol' cat o' nine ales. Quite bitter and aggressive, bit confronting but certainly well made at 7.5%. You don't get any alcohol, just all the beautiful layers the gypsy embeds in these beverages.

If I had to choose, I'd go with the Beer Geek Breakfast instead. But this too was a quality drop and well recommended for those who enjoy hoppier stouts. 8.0

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast

Hohoho, back to Mikkeller in what seems to be his natural habitat: dark beers.

Given the name of this we made sure to test it in its own natural habitat also: breakfast.

It's a pretty angry looking pour with a small but violent ochre red-brown head, and indeed an angry nose on it too. Absolutely flat out of the bottle; no hint of bubble. Roasty flavours dominate with a backbone of coffee and a bit of dark choc. The feel is slightly abrasive on the throat though, probably due to the big bitter hop content there is in this beer also. It all feels expert though, as if the roving gypsy's really enjoying himself here, having fun with his pet sport.

Next time, I'm putting this up against some bacon, egg, bbq tomato, and hashbrowns. I'm certain it will shine. 9.0

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Edit: after putting away some more of this and finding myself thinking about it constantly I'm bumping it up to 9.5. Do yourself a favour, seriously.

Mikkeller Wet Hop Kellerbier

Here we go again ..

This is supposed to be a wet hopped version of a cellar beer, which can apparently be either top or bottom fermented and thus take on varying characteristics in line with an ale or a lager.

This takes on most of the characteristics of a bad pilsner to me. Weak head, sour citrus nose, 5.5%, transparent and bubbly, big lager taste, very fizzy. While I'm not closely familiar with this style (is anybody?), the other kellerbier effort tasted was far and away better than this with a unique character and a pleasing, if polarising, graininess.

This is barely better than a macro Any Beer. 1.5

Mikkeller Green and Gold

A beer approached with the same trepidation as other Mikkeller efforts. And this time he seems to be wearing a green turban on the label.. what the hell are we in for today?

Turns out this is an IPA style beer of some description, quite dark coloured for at 7%.

Sweet fruit hits first in the taste, then lingering stonefruit style bitterness. The sweet bit at the start and the rest are very separate to me though.. like the name of the beer is some precursor to the wholly discrete taste palate. Bitterness a bit nectarine-like.

Can't say I rate this much.. it's a bit too sweet and a bit clumsy. 6.0

Mikkeller Burger & Bun US Burgers LA Lager

Righto Mikkeller you've got me again. How can you not buy this?

So. A lager ?

Well no, not really. This may have been made in the style of a lager in terms of the brewing process perhaps, but the style of a beer is not just how it was made, but the expected flavour profiles and execution also.

This is a good beer, with steam beer tea edges, and balanced malt and hops. It's gently carbonated and settled. Baffling as with most Mikkeller efforts, but tasty.

But I'm not going to rate it as a lager. And to top it off I'm not sure how well this'd suit a burger either.

In conclusion, wine is deathly boring compared to beer. 7.5

Mikkeller Texas Ranger

Well now this is different, even for Mikkeller. Nah scratch that it's just another stroke of genius (?) from the Dane.

This is absolutely beautiful to look at. Solid, pitch black, attractive mocha head, soupy and velvet. Smells delicious too, real quality presentation to this stout reflects the quality of brewer, and the quality of content.

Mouthfeel's brilliant too, the taste develops like a king stout throughout, top quality. But then you think, why is the back of my throat burning? And look it up on your phone. And realise it's filled with Chipotle peppers. The effect is pretty interesting. It's really quite spicy this, tastes of roasty jerky bbq, and it gathers down your throat rather than front of mouth. The beer itself is a bit like chili chocolate - two things I like, and together they're interesting, but actually flawed because they are not complimentary flavours.

It's hard to know what to give this. It's brilliant beer but just not my favourite thing. It seems there are two barrel aged versions of this also .. wow. The concept alone is mindblowing. 8.0

Mikkeller Jackie Brown

Mikkeller town once more. I'm putting the place for these as Denmark but it's a bit laughable given his strategy of gypsy world beer domination.

What the hey I'm just gonna copypaste the description I found:

Mikkellers tribute to the foul-mouthed stewardess Jackie Brown from Quentin Tarantino’s movie of the same name. It’s a roasty, chocolaty brown ale with hints of coffee and licorice. Being a Mikkeller brew the malts are inevitably complimented by a great amount of hop bitterness, aroma and flavour.

That's pretty much spot on for mine. This is strongly, offputtingly brown, but agreeable complex while maintaining a lovely drinkability due to the bitterness. Great stuff. Want more as soon as possible. 8.0

Mikkeller Thoerst IPA

Mikkeller's Thoerst, on tap at the Sail & Anchor.

This is a solid IPA with a herbal pine aroma and a nice frothy head. It's fruity sweet at the end but somehow the flavour profile is a bit different to the norm. Bitterness is integrated throughout though; it's clearly well crafted and balanced.

There's something, different, about this beer and it's hard to put a finger on it. It's not brilliant but certainly intriguing. 7.5