Struise Mikkeller (Elliot Brew)

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours clear coppery with a fairly thick buff head. Aroma features caramel, fruity and hoppy tones. Fruity flavor has firm woody hop and subtle fresh malt notes. Mouthfeel has average fizz and body. One of my beer pals won this at a HMOG and generously shared it at Ale Alpharetta.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This brew pours with a slightly cloudy, golden-orange body topped by a thick, off-white head with lots of lacing left behind. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a nice hop note and is full of spice, some citrus and a little sourness. Definitely a different take on a IIPA. Medium bodied, smooth yet slightly warming.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

this is a really cool, bitter (but exceedingly well balanced) brew. the aroma is full of grapefruity hops, but also a touch of yeast and quite a bit of sweet malts and a bit of spice. after getting through the several-inch-thick head, which will probably still be there tomorrow, the body was quite smooth as well. went down easy. the citrus hop taste was preceded by a big malt backbone, but finished bitter and a little dry. bittersweet sugary hop aftertaste...nice beer, although as always with Mikkeller, a bit pricey!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

A reasonable pour quickly produces an almost four-finger thick, pale, tan tinged, off-white colored head in my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip. The beer is an orange tinged, amber color that shows a lightly hazy, orange-tinged, copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma has a big, grassy hop character to it that is a mix of hay, dried grass and even a touch of mustiness. There is also a fair amount of citrus here, most notably grapefruit and lemon zest. Definitely spicy smelling too, almost like a Tripel actually & I would guess that a characterful Belgian yeast strain was used; this has a peppery nose, a touch of ginger, an earthy spiciness and some soft clove towards the finish. The nose of this beer is quite aromatic & pretty darn complex, especially when compared to a typical IPA profile.

Thick and chewy, with a full, textured heft; the beer is not quite as sweet as the body might suggest, but it certainly has enough sweetness to well accentuate fruity hop notes of lychee, ruby-red grapefruit and bergamot. The sweetness and citrus fruits are cut through by a spicy, woody, black pepper note, some spicy-warming alcohol towards the finish, sweet young ginger that mixes in with the citrus, earthy almost coriander like spice notes, some light clove and a touch of spicy phenolics towards the finish. As the beer warms up a bit it accentuates hop notes of hay & grass, though these still play a secondary role to the more dominant citrus (the opposite of the aroma). It is probably the addition of the candi sugar, but this also has the dangerous drinkability of the best double IPAs; light enough & with the massive hop character this would not be mistaken for a Barleywine.

Opposite of many American IPAs this actually has more of a grassy herbal edge in the nose than it is in the flavor, which has a big, citrus-hop component to it. Definitely a Belgian interpretation of an American, amped-up IPA; I really like the added complexity that the spices and yeast bring to this beer, yet these notes don't distract from the hop focus that anything with the name IPA should have. Definitely a tasty brew and one of the better double IPAs I have had in the last year or so.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Tasted at Noogfest 4.0 (2008). This Imperial IPA pours an orange gold color from a 33cl bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is fruity, malty and citrus hops. A medium bodied Imperial IPA. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are citrus and grapefruity. A medium bitter IPA. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Not sure about the story behind this brew but can't wait to try it. Aroma on this brew is interesting with some Belgian yeast coming through as well as some strong spice and dried-floral overtones mixed with caramelization and bitterness. Appearance is a golden amber in color when held to the light with a massive head on top that is ever expanding an d a pillowy, white in color and creamy and leaves lacing on the glass. Mouthfeel is medium in body with peculiar spicy complexity as well as balance with a palate that is creamy and very soft and delicate. Flavor is of Belgian yeast and spice with some tropical fruit as well as dried flowers and an aftertaste that is dry and sweet and a finish that is a tad funky with no alcohol coming through at all. Overall, interesting take on a DIPA and very good but I still want to know more about the story of this brew.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Bottle from SL. The pour was golden-straw, nice initial head, retention, lacing. The aroma was strong citrus (grapefruits, light lemons), pils malts, grassy (saaz?) hops, sweet breads. The flavor followed the aroma, although the hops certainly didn't live up to the advertised IBUs. Came across a bit like an ale version of an imperial pilsner in many ways, sulfur-like pils malts residual character, honey, yet a firm balance of candi-sugar derived sweetness was also there, and of course the yeast strain used and ale-ness didn't leave this nearly as crisp and clean in the finish. A pretty nice brew, but it didn't stand out from other Belgian Strongs that have been highly hopped before (Houblon was better, Hop It was comparable).

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle courtesy of fonefan: Poured a dirty hazy beige color ale with a super huge foamy head with excellent retention and some great lacing. Aroma consists of Belgian sweet malt with an interesting mix between some floral hops and some citrusy hops. Taste is an interesting mix between on one side: spicy yeast and medium sweet Belgian malt base with on the other side some very nice floral hops with a medium citrusy grapefruit bitter ending. Full body with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. It kind of reminds me of Triple Chouffe with less intensity and a more balance approach.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Very hazy pale reddish brown with a rich and sticky white foam. Floral hops, pine-needles, melon and Seville oranges in the aroma with notes of caramel and fudge. Smooth and really aromatic flavour of bloodgrape, watermelon, pine-needles and yeast with a sweet malty backbone of caramel and brown sugar. No signs of the high ABV content. Long bittersweet finish of peaches, pine-needles, mild grapefruit, melon and yeast. Unique and dangerously quaffable.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled. Deep hazy orange colour, huge white head. Aroma is really flowery and fruity. Flavour is really hoppy, slightly yeasty and a lot of fruity notes. Kind of APA meets tripel. Really pleasant. Gets even more balanced after the yeast is poured in from the bottle.