Mikkeller Big Worst Barley Wine
First batch 17.6% released Jan. 2010
3.6
224 reviews
Copenhagen, Denmark
Community reviews
Bottle shared at Darkness Day 2015, somehow forgot to put my entry in. This was a 2011 bottle. My notes: Flat. Oxidized. Garbage.
The scent is strangely enough most hop influenced, and you sense the flowered aroma hops very clearly. The taste is sweet and fruity. A little malt sweetness, but most sweetness released in the direction of dessert wines. It may have some character of sherry / port, but only with a greater emphasis on dried fruits such as fig and raisin. Gentle warming alcohol character which first comes after several minutes in the form of a slow rising hot starting of the throat. It is not the aggressive and provocative strong brew as you might expect, but instead a very characterful and extremely delicate beer that inspires hour long recess and full enjoyment.
Pours dark brownish copper, no head. Sweet sherry aromas. Medium to light bodies but viscous, sweet. Brandy, pear, plum. Abvs hide until the end
375 ml bottle from The Wine and Cheese Place. Original 17.6% vintage. Pours a cloudy amber - leaning toward a deeper reddish mahogany - with no head. Notes of booze-soaked cake, caramel, brown sugar, dates, toffee, raisins, and candied nuts. Really rich and boozy. Medium-bodied, with low carbonation and a sweet, warming mouthfeel. For a non-barrel-aged beer, they sure got some serious strength out of this one.
Sampled at an ESBLS tasting. It poured an orange color with a white head. The aroma was of alcohol, caramel, oranges and some pepper. The taste was of caramel, pepper and oranges with a lingering fruity finish.
Pours cloudy, honey colored from bottle to white wine glass. Little to no head. Aroma is honey, butterscotch, sour apples. Taste is sweet, honey, nectar, bready. Low alcohol taste, especially for the reported ABV. Smooth almost oily mouthfeel. Very good.
Big alcohol, very caramel. Caramel colour. OK drinkability even though shared, but with food.
"newer batch coming in at 18.5%. i saw a pic of batch one and this ain’t the same colors either. poured the color of a slightly darker malt liquor. smell is sweet, fruity, phenol, with a dose of herbal hops at the end. unlike anything i’ve ever had. no real barleywine characteristics in the look, smell, or taste, but a cool, unique beer. reminds me more of a muscat or ice wine than beer. alcohol becomes apparent as it warms, but it’s nowhere near as hot as Mikkeller Black, their next strongest beer. Worth a shot just for the experience."
37.5 cl bottle @ home. Pours hazy amber with some sediment and an off-white head that leaves a little lacing. Aroma and flavour are candy, sugar, oranges, caramel, and alcohol (but not necessarily as much as you’d expect at this abv) - with a slightly alcoholic finish.
A: golden honey? large pure white head? light-no carbonation/ huge legs
S: alcohol dried fruits/ small honey/ yeast
T: blackberry/ bitter/ dried fruits/ honey/ Alcohol
Body: big/ rich/ oily/ boozy/ warming
*better cold
Tasted 2010 Vintage Barleywine (17.6%) at Greg’s honey-themed beer gathering, thanks for sharing Vyvvy! It poured a copper colour, still, no foam nor lace. I really wanted to like this, but couldn’t. Cloying, sticky residual sweetness, some meaty biscuity malt underneath but masked by unpleasant oxidation, hot boozy aromas. Bummer, but glad for a chance to have tasted it at least.
2010 version - Pours tawny brown with no head. The aroma has brown sugar, caramel, toffee, English yeast, alcohol and bread. It has a thick rich body that’s smooth and has no carbonation. Starts with weird berries, caramel, syrupy sugar presence, alcohol and astringency. The finish has alcoholic berries and brown sugar. Interesting beer.
Wowsers kicks me in the face. Too strong to drink. I cant finish this. Thanks john.
375mL bottle, pours a dark amber with small bubbles as head.
Nose brings out lots of caramel, dark fruits and alcohol - very potent. Flavour screams dark fruits, with loads of dates, figs, toffee, port, grapes and loads of alcohol. Too much for me - the alcohol is overburdening, though it’s not really that boozy for the ABV. Complex and drinkable slowly, but it gets really harsh after a while. Not my thing at all.
Bottle @home, pours amber almost brown, slight carbo so almost no head. Red wine, sweet dessert wine on the nose with earl grey tea. Bananas, fruit cake, dates and prunes. Huge alcohol kick and slight burn.
Bottle, 375 ml corked. From trade with Papsoe. It’s almost clear in the glass, dark amber in color and with a small, beige head. There’s alcohol, caramel, chocolate, dried fruits and a faint orange note in the aroma. Some roasted hints too, but in the far back. The flavor is pretty sweet, it’s full-bodied and warming on the palate, with flavors of caramel, chocolate and dried fruits. Bitter, sweet, warming and alcohol tasting finish. Overall, nice indeed, but a bit too warming. Considering the ABV it isn’t bad at all, but the beer is still a tad too hot. 130405
Pours a clear dark amber with hardly any head and no lacing. The aroma is big and sweet with caramel malt and some butterscotch along with some booziness. Caramel malt sweetness is prevalent in the taste with a bit of citrus and obvious alcohol that is warming and increases the sweetness. Slick mouthfeel with a medium body and low carbonation. Big sweet and boozy flavors but not much else. Brought to mind cough syrup which isn’t what I want in a beer.
Tap at Holy Grale for Zwanze Day 2013. Pours clear amber with a medium white head. Aroma of malt, creamy sweetness and some fruit. Malty flavor with slight banana and alcohol before a syrupy finish. Not my thing.
Another delicious barleywine. Mikkeller has done a nice take on the American barleywine. Really tasty treat and while this is difficult to find in the Norhtern NJ/New York City I won’t hesitate to pick another up when I see it.
Draft(2010). Peach, grappa, and yeast aroma. Hazy golden yellow with small head. Very sweet grape juice malt flavor. Boozy finish. Okay - a bit cloying.
too strong, however a very big barleywine, malty caramel alchoolic taste. warm!
Bottle @ Mads, 10 / 8 2013. Red wax, 18,5% alc. version. Looks like carbonated apple juice (in a good way), amber, small white head that quickly disappear, leaving sugary curtains when swirling. Aroma, sweet malty, honey, wine like, apples, alcohol, . Taste, first i can’t believe how well the alcohol is hidden the taste, it does have a warming alchoholic ending which is great, this is awesome, sweet malty wine like flavors hits first, then some warming apple vanilla notes, then a spicy alcoholic warmth kicks in. Like warm appke pie! . I love this beer and it is quite hard to describe. Leaves a warm malty oily aftertaste. Good mouth feel.
17.6 version
Foil and corked and caged
Dark, clear, orange amber color. No head at all. Thick and syrupy looking. Big ABV legs.
Nose is dark fruits, lots of brown sugar, some sherry or oxidation in the nose, or is it nail polish remover?
Cardboard and dark fruit taste. Interesting mix. Bread, alcohol, and melted brown sugar. Slightly thin really.
Lots of heat in the palate. Tongue is quite numb after a few sips. Sweet, slick and syrupy. No carbonation. Just really all over the board and not in a good way.
Slow sipper and and not that great make for a bad experience.
Barley wine as an experiment. All colours are involved. A liquid is strange, strong, stinky, alcoholic, earthy with nose of last century old wooden barrell and old aluminium pipes. I think you need to drink more overpriced bottles to recognize what animal you drink. B@H
12.7fl oz wax sealed bottle poured into a pint glass. Cloudy orange with a small white cap. Aroma is candy sugar, honey, biscuit. Flavor is honey, honey, biscuit, alcohol kick, and honey. Wow. Majorly sweet. Alcohol very warming. Definitely a slow sipper.
This one is cloudy orange with a little head the dissipates quickly. The aroma is honey. Taste very very honey sweet with an alcohol finish. It flows across the palate slightly sticky. Overall way way to sweet for my taste.
Copper and clear in color with a thin wisp of foam. This is definitely a boozy barley wine. Strong caramel and toasted malts do nothing is diminish the alcohol flavor, aroma, or finish. That said...I really liked it.
Sample from bottle. Aroma strong, pears, malt, booze, wood and some salty notes. Taste is surprisingly well balanced. Alcohol is pretty well hidden. Wood, malt, sweetness, toffee.
Bottle, courtesy of yngwie. Pours amber with a tiny off-white head. Aroma of malt, alcohol, some oxidized notes, nuts, caramel and fruitiness. Flavor is sweet and warming with some alcohol, malt, caramel, oxidized notes, sherry and berries. Full body, soft carbonation. Worst ever!
Bottle shared by ??. Pours a hazy brown color with very little head. The aroma and flavor had quite a bit of dark fruits, raisins, fig, sweet caramel, port, with some earthy notes especially on the finish. Some boozy alcohol came through, but not as much as I might have expected.