Mikkeller X-mas Porter 2008 Fra Til (From To)
English: The second Christmas porter from Mikkeller. A spiced porter with fine malt background and lovely hop aroma and flavor. The label is designed as a ‘From To’ card – fill in the names and put the bottle under the Christmas tree. The perfect gift for the lazy man/woman…!
Ingredients :
Water, malt (pale, smoked, cara-crystal, brown and chocolate), roasted barley, dark cassonade, hops (amarillo, saaz and cascade), spices (star anise, clove, cinnamon and coriander seeds) and yeast.
Danish: En porter brygget på vand, malt (pale, smoked, cara-crystal, brown og chocolate), ristet byg, mørk cassonade, humle (amarillo, saaz og cascade), krydderier (stjerneanis, nellike, kanel og korianderfrø) og gær.
Ingredients :
Water, malt (pale, smoked, cara-crystal, brown and chocolate), roasted barley, dark cassonade, hops (amarillo, saaz and cascade), spices (star anise, clove, cinnamon and coriander seeds) and yeast.
Danish: En porter brygget på vand, malt (pale, smoked, cara-crystal, brown og chocolate), ristet byg, mørk cassonade, humle (amarillo, saaz og cascade), krydderier (stjerneanis, nellike, kanel og korianderfrø) og gær.
3.7
256 reviews
Copenhagen, Denmark
Community reviews
75 cl bottle @ home. Pours black with a tan head that leaves some lacing. Aroma is roasted malt, chocolate, dark fruits, coffee, and spices. Flavour is dark fruits, roasted malt, chocolate, and spices.
(Bottle) Very dark colour, almost black, with hints of ruby when seen through light. Frothy beige head. Malty, roasted nose with coffee, treacle, chocolate, liquorice and spices (anise, cinnamon, clove). Roasted, malty, spicy taste with notes of coffee, treacle, brown sugar, dark rye bread, chocolate, liquorice and anise. Spicy bitterness in the finish. More than medium body, with a slight sweetness. Very tasty and quite spicy, but still nicely balanced. Very nice beer.
20th February 2010
Opaque black beer. Small frothy brown head. Quite a fruity nose - apples and oranges. Malt too. Light palate, slightly dry. Tangy malt and fresh fruit that matches the nose - light appley orange. Malt returns before the finish and provides subtle unsweet chocolate and some dryness. Unusually fruity for a porter. Tasty beer!
Bottle 75 cl - bottled for 3 years, 5 months, 22 days - Pours deep brown with thin hazelnut head. Nose of wild cherries, some old vintage port, nutty, hint of vanilla. Medium body with fresh and vivid undertone; no carbonation whatsoever, dry finish. Taste of mocca, soy sauce, wine impression,
Rated 16.1.2012. Black beer, thin but very creamy beige head. Roasted nose has milk chocolatey roastedness, star anise and some coriander. Sweetish malty flavor with rich dark caramel notes and round/chocolatey roastedness. Slightly sour and berryish finish with moderate bitterness, light salty note and clear star anise spiciness. Almost full bodied, smooth and slightly oily texture with sof carbonation. Well aged beer.
05/01/2012 Brasserie 4:20 (375ml bottle). Bevuta al Mikkeller Beer Festival. Nera, densa, quasi impenetrabile, leggera schiuma color cappuccino poco persistente. Al naso è caffettosa, pungente, con intense note speziate (anice stellato e liquirizia). In bocca è caffettosa, speziata, con note di anice stellato e liquirizia. Corpo medio, consistenza oleosa, carbonazione soft. Ben fatta, una delle migliori birre assaggiate al festival. Unico neo, è un po’ stucchevole alla lunga.
Pour is dark brown with thin tan head, aroma brings notes of roast, chocolate, spices, hints of caramel, dark fruit, and pine in there, with a more herbal note in there. Taste is a mix of pine and herbal spruce notes, hints of caramel, toffee, some dark fruit mixes with spices, finishing fairly sweet. Not bad.
Shared bottle at RBNAG-11. Black with dark brown edges. Small, fully diminishing choco head. Black chocolate, roasty and peppered dark malts to the nose. Dry cocoa and coffee ground accented malt flavor. Nicly spiced. Firm bitterness. Chalky mouthfeel. Medium full. Burnt and ashy malts in the a dry ending.
75 cl bottle @ Nurmo, bottled 02.09.2008, BBE 02.09.2012
Aroma is rather strong on spices. Also some chocolate, salty licorice and herbs. Flavour is salty with herbs and salty licorice. A bit too roasted malt here.
Bottle @ Home. Pours black with a small fast fading tan head, leaving nice lacings. Aroma of roasted malt, cofffee, dark chocolate, dark fruits, sweets. Taste is malt, chocolate, notes of coffee, sweet dark fruit ( plums and raisins ) notes of cinnamon and other spices, some tartness. Thin to medium body, low carbonation. 211211
15.10.2011. 0,75l Bottle. Dark brown colour with tan head. Dry and bitter beer with that is a little sour. Roasted botterness and malts.
750 ml corked and caged bottle poured a clear dark brown with a lasting brown head. Aromas of toffee, cinnamon, milk chocolate and light carmel. Palate was medium bodied and crisp with a dry finish. Flavors of dark chocolate, cinnamon, toffee and light earthiness with a crisp dry lingering spiced chocolate finish.
750 c&C from Monument in Concord, CA. Pours dark brown/black with a 3 finger tan head. Aromas of wine and chocolate. Brett notes? Full bodied. Vinous. Spicy. Earthy coffee. Chocolate. Arguably a bit bretty. Great with chimay grand cru.
Bottle shared by bhensonb. Pours black with a thick tan head and a chocolate and coffee aroma. There is also a chocolate and coffee flavor that is slightly sour with a dry bitter finish and a mild alcohol trail.
Bottle from systembolaget. Black colour with an off white head. Nice rich roasted aroma with fruity notes and some vanilla.. Roasted flavour with some coffee, chocolate, light fruity and vanilla. Creamy carbonation. Great stuff!
Bottle 750ml @ RBNAG-11
Pours black with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of roasted malt, chocolate and coffee. Taste is heavy sweet and light bitter with a dry finish. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.
Shared bottle at the RBNAG-11 grand tasting. Clear deep red verging on black. Light brown rim. Smoke and dried fruits on the nose. Roasted, smoked, burnt and light acidic flavors with sweet spicy notes. Full bodied. Ends dry.
0.75l bottle @ RBNAG11. Pours a near black body with a quickly fading tanned head. Aroma is spicy, dark and roasted, some chocolate. Average carbonation and it has a mild oily mouthfeel. Flavors are dry with lots of espresso powder, some chocolate, lots of roasted malts and hints of cinnamon. Ends really dry with a cocoa finish. Lovely stuff!
Shared bottle at RBNAG 2011. Very dark brown colour, nearly black. Excellent aroma and flavour, roasty but refined, dry. Hints of coffee and spices, but the spices do not dominate. "Beer of the tasting" for me.
Bottle@RBNAG11.Pours dark brown with a beige head. Aroma of peachy hops,spice, roasted malt, caramel and chocolate.Flavor is sweet and roasted with some fruity and chocolate notes. Medium body, average carbonation.Nice beer.
A deep dark porter with a very thin mocha head. In aroma, sweet chocolate malt with dark fruits, light pumpkin and spices, vanilla, pleasant. In mouth, a nice sweet fruity chocolate malt with dark fruits, licorice, light pumpkin spices, nice and smooth for a 12 year old beer.
Thanks to yespr for this one. Bottle looks simple but good. Beer in the glass very dark, almost black, small head. Starts strong, dry-malty, quite roasty. Modest bitter background. Finish a bit milder, warming-malty, not as dry as the beginning. Quite drinkable. Good beer!
Liknar en amerikansk västkust porter i stilen plus julkryddor. Humlearomatisk och väldigt fyllig vilket gör att humlen inte dominerar för mycket.
Bottle. Pitch black coloured with a medium sized beige head. Roasted and spicy aroma of cloves, yeast and anise with notes of orange peel. Roasted flavour of spices and chocolate wih notes of orange peel, liquorice, cloves and cinnamon. Roasted and spicy finish. Though the spices are common christmas spices, it’s too spicy for me (especially in the aroma).
Dark chocolate pour that culminates into a rich ebony body with a creamy pock marked/crater filled head. Lots of spotty lacing. Aroma is somewhat dull with a malty backbone, spice, cinnamon, and some tart cherry skin. Flavor is filled with caramel, toffee, sour fruit, cocoa, and vanilla. Medium mouthfeel. Still pretty tasty.
Bottle from Alko Arkadia. Originally rated on 28.11.2009. Spicy and slightly herbal porter with a lot of roasted malts and hops. Slightly unbalanced.
Bottle. From notes.
Very dark brown with a tan head.
Chocolate, roasted malt, Christmas spices, fruits and perhaps some licorice.
Would have made a nice Christmas present.
13/06/2011 75cl bottle @ Klaas’ place - bottled: 2/09/2008 (2011-263)
Very dark brown to black beer, beige to brown very creamy head, adhesive and stable. Aroma: caramel, milk chocolate, bit of mocha, bit fruity. MF: light carbon, medium body, bit creamy texture. Taste: fruity, cherries, caramel, mocha, dark chocolate. Aftertaste: more sour berries, mocha, bitter coffee.
Pours with a frothy, somewhat large bubbled, well browned head (it is dark enough that you can’t really call it tan anymore); the head subsides quite slowly leaving lots of lacing and falling with a very varied, rocky surface. The beer is a deep, dark brown color that perhaps some black touches to it. The beer smells quite spicy still, with notes that remind me of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. There is perhaps a hint of nuttiness to this beer, that suggests at a very feint oxidation. There is a rich underlying, toasted maltiness here that suggests also at a rich caramelized malt character. Notes of molasses mix with the spice character that suggests of pumpkin pie. There is perhaps a hint of tartness here that also suggest at pumpkin pie and perhaps a dark fruit character (though this last is fairly subtle). The aroma on this is quite vibrant and interesting after all this time (I wonder if the spices were overwhelming when this was fresh).
Nicely carbonated, which helps to carry the medium’ish viscous body across the palate without letting it get too heavy. The body lingers on the tongue after a sip. The beer has a sweetness to it that speaks of complex toasted malt, browned caramel and molasses. There is a certain phenolic character to the finish that produces a smokiness as well as a clove note; the smokiness lingers in the palate, though it is fairly soft overall and the spiciness adds something to the finish that is quite different but sort of substitutes for a hop bitterness (though it is nothing like it). There is a nice, toasted brown bread character that has a spiciness that is reminiscent of spicy browned whole grains. The smokiness the finish at times also tastes a bit vegetal at times. The finish can actually get a bit weird at times. The spiciness also takes on a certain woodiness to it (which seems to be akin to the flavors of aged cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice). I like that this beer is not overly heavy, but has a certain richness to it. There is a touch of a cola flavor to this beer, though it is fairly subtle. As the beer warms up, lots of roasted, quite porter like notes start to become noticeable; the dry quality this accentuates helps to balance the sweetness and sweet accentuating spice character that is here, though this was certainly never a cloying beer.
Despite being a touch rough at times in the finish, I find that I am quite enjoying this spice dominated beer. The spices definitely play a large role here, but there is just enough malt complexity to keep this fairly balanced.
Bottle 750 ml from erzbierschof. Black beer with dense and brown foam. Immediate flavor of roasting, chocolate, spices and coffee. The mouth is round, sweetened, creamy, greedy of spiced cappuccino. Hints of chocolate, licorice, vanilla, anissed point, cinnamon and impression of a Christmas Ale. A complex and delicious beer.