2016 – Mikkeller Christmas Calendar

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Date Beer Style Notes
1 Hoppy Lovin’ Christmas IPA 4.25: Calendar begings with a familiar face. But with an IPA this good, I don’t really mind.
2 1000 IPA IPA 3.5: On day 2 the repeat rate is 100%. Lowered the rating from last year, mainly on account of one-dimensionality, it’s a bitter beer but that’s about it.
3 Black Imperial stout 3.5: strangely mentholic when cold, and blunt rather than smooth when warmed up.
4 Nuclear Hop Assault DIPA 4.5: a fruitily hopped IPA, with a label that’s a homage to Dan Lilker’s crossover band from the late eighties.
5 Stick in the Ear IPA 4.25: easy west coast IPA.
6 X-Mas Wish Gluten-free IPA 3.25: probably finest gluten-free beer tasted so far, a citrusy hopping on a stable baseline of malt.
7 No Cow on the Ice IPA 4.25: fourth IPA in a row, thankfully this one is good too, and the hopping is tropical for a change.
8 Porter Porter 4: archetypal dry porter, encountered previously.
9 Deception Session IPA IPA 4: smooth and easy, but somehow hollow.
10 Beer Geek Breakfast Imperial stout 4.25: another familiar beer, neither the coffee nor the oats are overwhelming in the taste.
11 I Will Call This Piece… Lager! Lager 3: it’s a lager, a fine lager, but nothing more than basic lager.
12 A Red & White Christmas Winter ale 3.5: yet another repeat, hoppier and less witty than remembered.
13 Spontanfaro Faro 3.5: my first faro, sweet rather than sour, which is nice.
14 Crooked Moon dIPA DIPA 4.25: a fine double IPA indeed (my notes are seriously lacking details).
15 Ramen to Bíiru Belgian blonde 3: a disappointingly watery blonde / golden ale (in the first can of the calendar so far).
16 Drink’in Passion Berliner Berliner weisse 2: way too sour, the passion fruit has been punched acidic.
17 Trippel A Trippel 3.75: a very traditional tripel (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
18 Ginger brett Belgian IPA 3.75: not much ginger in the mix, but there’s definitely a whiff of wild belgian yeast in the bouquet (and taste).
19 Grapefruit Dead DIPA 4.75: best so far, a riotously fruity IPA (with a great can design as well).
20 Expedition Stout Imperial stout 4.75: a surprising guest beer – one of the finest stouts tasted this year, so I don’t mind the lack of connection or repetition.
21 Raspberry Trippelbock Doppelbock 4.25: the second best raspberry beer so far, with the scary ABV hidden completely in the taste.
22 Dry Stout Stout 3.25: a very dry stout indeed.
23 Spontancherryframboos Sour ale 2.5: way too sour for me, the sweetness gets suckerpunched by the acid and the beer never recovers its balance.
24 Recipe 1000 Chardonnay Strong ale 2.25: winey and sour, not my beer at all. Didn’t much like the original, and the chardonnayed version isn’t really an improvement.