On Mikkeller Coffee IPA

Sometimes a drink can be a game. Take a drink, find out what's in it, and, if you're in to it, try and recreate it yourself. It's a nerdy libation; methodically breaking down a completed unit into its constituent parts to see what ticks. Reverse engineer a drink.

While this may take some time - and many "test samples" - taken alone, I have some help with my latest tasting, Mikkeller Coffee IPA. I know, of course, there must be coffee in there. But Rate Beer also tells me it contains Tomahawk hops, and flaked oats. The hard part, as it turns out, is finding the coffee. Like an adult version of Where's Waldo, the coffee hides itself among many similar flavors.

Coffee IPA pours a dark orange color with a persistent, just slightly off-white head reminiscent of soap suds. Aroma is of hops - citrus - though not at all powerful. No coffee, yet.

The first sip doesn’t bring the coffee forward either. It’s playing hide and seek. I check behind some hop bitterness... no, it’s not there. Next comes some caramel sweetness offsetting the moderately intense bitterness from the Tomahawk hops. Then, at the end, after the sweetness leaves, the bitterness returns, but in new form: coffee. It’s delicate. If tasting blind, it may be easy to miss. But that's part of the fun.

Coffee shows up again in the body. The smooth, thick mouthfeel may be from the flaked oat, but it also supports the feel of a morning cup of espresso. Slightly oily and lingering.

Overall, this is a quality IPA and while hunting for the coffee was fun, I’d prefer something a bit more upfront.

On Southern Tier IPA

I like labels. I've talked about their affect on me before with my post of Milten Gaither's label design for Brooklyn Sorachi Ace.  Labels say a lot about the beer you're about to spend your hard earned money on. Good labels - and packaging, in general - should tell you everything you need to know about the product. I'm not talking just about the name, or the description, or the logo on the front. The colour and the shape*. The texture, the size, and even the smell all play a roll in telling you what's inside. 

 So what does Southern Tier's packaging say about their IPA? Their labels tell me they are very particular about their products. There is nothing on the label that doesn't belong. The simple color scheme makes the 6 packs easy to find on the shelf. Just look for the sea of green (IPA, 2xIPA) or purple (porter) and you're on your way. Southern Tier is very pragmatic and efficient. Nothing is wasted. Everything in it's right place**. If there is a hop addition or a malt used, it has a reason. Nothing is just for the hell of it. The packaging has an organic look. Not to say that their beers are organic in the eyes of the USDA, but they portray an image of care for the environment in a down to earth, practical way. The consistency from beer to beer and from case to bottle to tap tell me that Southern Tier is detail oriented and I can expect that attention to detail to extend to their recipes.

The aroma starts with pine resin and earthiness. Like a walk through a redwood forest. Burnt orange color with a dense head that lingers.

Bitterness is well balanced with a touch of caramel (and honey?) sweetness. Pine and earthy flavors cary through from the aroma. Some minerals appear in the tail. Moderately long finish that isn’t overly sweet or bitter.

The balance stays throughout, never tipping from one side or the other, like a skilled tightrope walker. The medium body feels thick from the hops. I’ll be licking the insides of my mouth for a while.

Overall quite an enjoyable beer whose strength lies in its balance.

*good album, btw.

**good song, btw.

On Mikkeller Single Hop: Simcoe

Simcoe is the name of the game today. My third in a series of reviews of Mikkeller's Single Hop Series (one and two here) showcases the Simcoe registered trademark hop.  Simcoe® can be a hard hop to get. Select Botanicals Group, LLC, the owners of the Simcoe® varietal, have only licensed three farms to grow the hop, all in Washington.

Simcoe starts with spices (pepper), earthiness, and some pine. A bit odd considering the citrus power of Simcoe hops, but the age may be a factor in this. I can't read the code date on the cap, but Rate Beer lists this as a retired style (get it while you can).

The color is dark redish-orange. Reminds me of the color of 70s carpet or upholstery. Moderate head retention leaves thin wisps of bubbles across the surface. In the mouth, caramel malt and piney hops give way to some citrus before mild alcohol finishes the show. The beer is medium bodied with medium-high carbonation. A bit oily.

Overall, this is the best of the single hop series I’ve had so far, but I do wish I had it fresher.

Single hop series reviews:

Sorachi Ace

Nelson Sauvin

On Mikkeller Single Hop Sorachi Ace

Next up in my Mikkeller Single Hop Series tastings is Sorachi Ace. This is my second exposure to Sorachi Ace; the first being with Brooklyn Brewing's Sorachi Ace. Common to saisons and IPAs, this relatively new hop from Japan is probably known most for its intense lemony aromas. With alpha acids over 10% it can easily be over bitter, but I think Mikkeller has done a good job to keep it in check. 

 The beer pours a cloudy, burnt orange color beneath a shallow carpet of white foam. Lemon and honey infiltrate the nose with a bit of warm biscuits. Not unlike a crumpet with lemon curd. 

Alcohol gives way to flavors of lemon and a bit of grass. Strangely, malt flavors are more apparent in the aroma than the flavor. Hints of grapefruit linger in the finish. This beer is medium bodied and exhibits lively carbonation with generally good balance that tilts to the malt side for an IPA. 

Lingering sweetness borders on cloying but doesn’t quite cross that line. This is my second exposure to Sorachi Ace hops, and the flavor is growing on me. I see this beer pairing well with whitefish or sushi.

Single hop series reviews:

Nelson Sauvin
Simcoe

On Mikkeller Nelson Sauvin Single Hop IPA

Mikkeller out of Denmark has been performing a great service to aspiring beer afficianatos for quite some time now with their Single Hop Series.  This will be the first in at least 4 posts on Mikkeller's single hop series.  The idea, for those of you unfamiliar with Mikkeller's devotion to this project, is to brew the same exact beer and only change the hops.  From the label:

"For each version, the single hop  variety was used in the same weight for bittering, aroma, flavor, and for dry hopping.  All 18 varieties of single hop ales in this series were brewed the same week, from the same batches of malt, using the same yeast and fermentation temperatures." 

This differs from the Sam Adams Deconstructed project because the Deconstructed series of IPAs highlights the best of each of the hops in the Latitude 48 beer.  To highlight each beer, they do not necessarily use the same hoping rates for each of the different varieties, but instead make changes to best suit the individual hops.  While this likely creates a more appealing beer as a whole, it somehwhat diminishes the controlled study of a single hop beer series.

With the Single Hop Series we have a great library to evaluate the character of individual hops.  Additionally, the Single Hop Series can be used to evaluate malt character.  By evaluating not what changes, but what stays the same, it is possible to tease out malt qualities.

Nelson Sauvin starts with an unidentifiable berry candy aroma. Apple bars and  bit of funk bring up the rear. Appearance is a cloudy, burnt orange. The dense head recedes quickly. Heavy yeast sediment coats the bottom of the bottle. The flavor brings some caramel malt sweetness which gives way to an odd wine-like character. I like it, but it’s hard to pinpoint. An astringent hop bitterness continues in the long finish. Some alcohol warmth lasts in the back of my throat long after the last sip.

I think this bottle got some age on it from it’s trip from Belgium to Illinois (or I’m late to the party). The code on the top is 5??1010. If fresh, it would no doubt be better. The Nelson Sauvin hops are quite unique and I look forward to seeing them used more widely in the future.




Single hop series reviews:
Sorachi Ace
Simcoe

On Atwater Grand Circus

I had never heard of Atwater Brewery before today, though they have been around since 1997.  I needed something to go with my giant burrito I purchased across from my local wine/craft beer store and this can caught my eye.  The retro-style printing on the can from this Detroit based brewery was reminiscent of PBR, but inside was an IPA.  Intrigued, I made my purchase.  At 4.2% ABV Grand Circus is definitely on the light side for most of the American craft IPAs that many of us have come accustomed to, but more in line with standard British versions.  

Some light earthy hops and sweet corn in the nose. A touch of caramel. Shaving cream foam sits on top of a crystal clear light amber sea of beer. The head lingers for a long time, lifted by the constant bubbles from beneath. 

Taste is light with little hop flavor. I get mostly bready malts and some undefined fruitiness. Bitterness is a bit overpowering with no flavor backbone. Seems to be bitter for the sake of being bitter. Light bodied and goes down smooth. 

Overall it’s not that great of an IPA if you are looking for complexity and powerful flavors, but it would be good session beer for watching a ballgame or having a drink with "the guys". This paired well with the spicy burrito I had for dinner. Something to complement the food without getting in the way.

On Pairings With Apple Pie

Fall weather means fall activities and fall food which is what brought me last weekend to an apple orchard where I picked up an entire bushel of apples. Now, since I live alone using all these apples has been a challenge. Between apple butter, apple bars, and just plain eating them, I have done a good job at conquering the 20+ lbs of apples. But of course you can't have fresh picked apples at your disposal and not make apple pie. While most people agonize over whether to use golden delicious, Jonathan, or Fuji, my main concern was beer pairing. 

My thoughts first turned to a nice, thick stout. Stout is a classic pairing with deserts. The thick, creamy texture of a nitro-poured stout complements many dessert textures, while the bitter, roasty flavors contrast and play off the sweetness. While this is a nice thought, stout is still more of a winter beer. Perhaps this beer is more for leftover pie after Christmas dinner. My second thought (which was actually Karen's thought) was for an unconventional choice: heffeweisen. The spicy clove and banana phenols could play well with the cinnamon and nutmeg in the pie. But again, wrong season. Fourth of July, yes; first Autumn chill, not so much. The search continued with IPA. Something in the British region, perhaps. A bitter backbone to stand up to the sweetness of the pie. Some floral and mild dark fruit aromatics. But no, American pie¹ and British beer just doesn't feel right.

I finally settled on Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale. This beer gives the hoppy bite of an IPA without being too overwhelming and lends a nice caramel sweetness that complements the apples quite nicely. Plus, it's seasonally and culturally relevant, and tastes amazing. Score. Now that I had my beer I could make my pie. The beer was integrated into the pie in two different ways. I replaced the water in the crust with the beer and also added a tablespoon to my whipped cream topping. I thought about soaking the apples in the beer but thought that it would make things too bitter and be a waste of a perfectly good beer. I don't think the beer added much to the crust, but it gave the whipped topping a subtle bitterness that I didn't quite enjoy at first, but ended up liking in the end.

Crust:

Not exactly homemade... let's just say it's a secret recipe from my Aunt Betty.

1 egg for egg wash

Filling: 

6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced. (I used Fuji and golden delicious)

3/8 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon

Whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 cup sugar

For the pie:

Form the pie crust according to the box's Aunt Betty's instructions replacing the water with the Harvest Ale. Combine filling ingredients and place them in the pie. Cover with the top crust and crimp the edges with a fork. Beat the egg and brush over the top crust for a nice golden brown crust. Cover the top of the pie with aluminium foil and bake in a 400°F oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes until the crust turns golden brown. Set aside to cool.

For the whipped cream:

Chill your stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Add the heavy cream and whisk on medium high (7 on a Kitchenaid) until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, vanilla, and beer. Whisk on high until stiff peaks.

¹ Yes, I'm aware that the all-American apple pie isn't American at all... it's British, but that doesn't mean it doesn't feel American... at least to most of us on the left side of the Atlantic.