in my glass today is mikkeller’s stateside ipa
pours with an insanely abundant head (on a vigourous pour), which remains all lacey and creamy on the sides of my glass as i prepare for the first sip
i dig the green striped label and the hoppy aromas wafting toward me
first sip is bitter
like a little too bitter
second sip is better, i’m adjusting to the bitter
7%, water, malt (pilsner, munich and caramunich), flaked oats, hops (chinook, cascade and centennial) and ale yeast
bet its the flaked oats that provided the creamy head!
the bottle says: “Our love of American microbrews inspired us to make this IPA. It’s brewed with generous amounts of aromatic American hops to provide significant freshness and bitterness with lot of citrus notes, which are nicely balanced by the sweetness of caramel malt.”
still tasting more bitter than i am sweetness of caramel malt
but finding it more drinkable the further down the glass i get!
the website is in danish, but a handy translator thinks it says this:
“Mikkellers success is the result of the brewerys focus on making boundary pushing beer, where quality always comes before quantity. In other words, uncompromising beer, where alcohol content, hop volumes and bitterness does not exist.
On this site you have a list of the beers released in bottles and kegs. Some of them are made in collaboration with some of the best breweries in the world.
Besides the ones on this side we have released a number of specialty beers and limited releases at beer festivals in Denmark etc.”
really, the further i get down the glass, the more i am loving this ipa
bitter, schmitter, its delightful!
these are the people who have teamed with brewdog to make the i hardcore you ipa, mixing mikkeller ipa with brewdog ipa – brilliant idea. i’m hopeful one day i’ll get to try it!
mikkeller has this to say about the collaboration: “Today it finally arrived – the long awaited I Hardcore You IPA, a collaboration-brew between Mikkeller and BrewDog. This beer is a blend of BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller’s I Beat yoU.
This is possibly one of the best IPA’s you ever get to taste.
Cheers.”
and brewdog says: “Question: What do you get if you blend Hardcore IPA and I Beat You together and then add even more dry hops?
Answer: I Hardcore You. Introducing a new type of collaboration. Coming Soon from Mikkeller www.mikkeller.dk and BrewDog. Oh and a completely new type of collaboration too!
I Hardcore You is a 9.5% Imperial India Pale Ale, an international collaborative effort between 2 of Europe’s most rock ‘n roll brewers. This beer is a blend of BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller’s I Beat You (2 of my favourite beers). After the blending, the beer was then dry hopped a further twice. Making I Hardcore You a beer which has been dry hopped four times, or maybe even six times. We kinda lost count.
As far as we are aware this is the first collaboration of this type anywhere in the world. The first time a collaboration beer has been made by blending beers from the respective brewers together. This is a one off brew with a small amount available for a limited time only. You can buy yours here:http://www.brewdog.com/product.php?id=58
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