Mikkeller: Smack My Brewed Up! (Denmark: American Pale Ale: 4.9% ABV)
Visual: Hazy apricot flesh. Slight toffee touched thin head. Some trail of suds from the head.
Nose: Fresh lime hops. Key lime pie. Toffee and shortbread biscuits. Pineapple. Dried apricot. Still quite juicy.
Body: Pineapple. Tart and fresh. Grapefruit. Hoppy kick. Apricot. Custard. Lots of shortbread in a buttery fashion. Caramel.
Finish: Avocado. Good bitter hops. Toffee. Kiwi.
Conclusion: After a period of time away from reviews due to being what could be understated as “Under the weather” I return to a big bountiful Mikkeller hop bomb.
Lovely jubbly.
Big and biscuity with shortbread and bitter hops. It feels like what rooster’s IPA was trying for by providing a very biscuit laced base for tart pineapple and softer juicy kiwi flavours to bounce off. Using the base as a backdrop rather than a limit to the flavours. It keeps a lot of sweet toffee and caramel elements that soften the edges while still allowing good bitterness. The fruit has quite a bit of juiciness which again keeps the body from being too dry. Thick and feeling just the right side of hop oiliness in the texture for flavor and grip.
If I had to go for a flaw is that, for Mikkeller, it feels very by the numbers. Then again, considering I thought it was an IPA until I saw the abv that may be the twist in itself. The flaw then is just that it keeps very closely to spec in the interaction of flavours. High quality, and a showcase on how to use the hops, but it doesn’t surprise. A lack of surprise in a Mikkeller beer is a shock in itself. If I had to go for a more technical flaw I would say maybe a tad overly prickly in feel, but that is being very picky.
Frankly all the flaws mean is that it is a bloody good IPA like pale ale with a biscuit filled back. That is hardly a bad thing. A great beer and at a modest abv for the punch.
Background: Had to double check popular view on the beer style for this. I was leaning towards IPA but the abv seemed a bit low for that. When I saw people listing it as American Pale Ale I nodded along and went with that. Anyway, a beer from the self proclaimed Gypsy Brewers Mikkeller, well known for renting brewing space due to having no brewery of their own. This was made exclusively for Brewdog Pubs. When it first hit the taps I was sick as a dog so was worried it would run out before I could give it a try. Turns out I shouldn’t have worried, sounds like they have good stocks of it. I may still have had a slightly off sense of smell when doing the tasting notes but the vast amounts of hops seemed to quickly blow through that so I’m confident enough to stand by them. “Smack My Brewed Up” seems like a reference to the seminal “Smack My Bitch Up” By The Prodigy, a song so good it gets around my distaste for the word “Bitch” in that context.
