Mikkeller X-mas Porter 2012 Fra Til Via (From To Via)
3.8
174 reviews
Copenhagen, Denmark
Community reviews
On tap at Dutch’s. Pitch black color, with a nice thin light brown head that leaves awesome, thicker throws of lace. Definitely looks great. Good chewy texture to this. Medium to bigger body. Smooth, lighter carbonation. More dry finish. Some ash in the flavor, and a surprising amount of earthy hoppiness. Moderate bitter taste, light sweet, more dry. I expected this to be sweet and syrupy, but the bitterness is a nice surprise. Moderate bitter taste, light sweet, just a mild astringency, and a light spiciness. Light hint of the alcohol. Some good dark chocolate, toast aromas. Nice coffee in the late finish, and hints of dark berries. Great, complex imperial porter. Very interesting, tasty stuff. One to savor and contemplate on.
Draft at Dutch’s. Pours a dark brown to black color with a medium sized creamy khaki colored head that leaves thick lace. The aroma is boozy with roasted malt, and coffee. The flavor has more roasted malts and black coffee with some of the alcohol in the nose. Decent enough.
Draft to taster at Dutch’s. Looks good; a mostly opaque dark brownish black with foamy tan head. Smells of dark malt and dark chocolate with a strong presence of coffee and roast. Tastes like it smells with an average (at best) mouthfeel. Solid, but a bit thin and bitter for my preference.
Bottle. Pours black color with a large frothy tan head that was lasting with excellent lacing. Heavy dark chocolate toasted malt aroma. Medium to full body with a thick smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy toasted sweet flavor with a medium to medium to heavy sweet finish of moderate to long duration. This is a solid beer.
Backlog. Bottle bought from Systembolaget as a part of their winter-releases.
Väldigt underlig i aromen, ingen på provningen kunde riktigt sätta fingret på den. Kanske lite lött i kroppen.
Pour is oatmeal brown with a tan head that fades quickly. Aroma and flavor both have dark fruits, spice, roasted malts, coffee, and licorice. Booze and bitterness in the finish.
Black colour small mocca head. Aroma of cinemon, ginger, chocolate, coffee. Taste is light sweet, medium bitter. Medium to full body, creamy texture, soft carbonation. Very nice.
How: Bottle.
Where: Systembolaget.
Appearance: Black colour with a brown head.
Aroma: Chocolate, roasted malt, alcohol, coffee.
Body: Medium body, low carbonation.
Flavour: Coffee, caramel, spices, alcohol.
27.12.2013, 0,75l bottle @ home:
Big brown creamy longlasting head. Aroma is slightly rich and sweet, dark malts, caramel, dark sugar, chocolate, salty licorice, coffee, hints of anise and clove. Taste is slightly dry, hops, dark malts, spices, pine needles, coffee, grass, raw licorice, leafs. Longlasting bitterness, dry mouthfeel. Nice enough, think it would be better with even more aging.
Pours deep mahogany into a snifter. Mocha head with good retention recedes to pancake surface leaving sheet lacing. Dark carmel and chocolate aromas. Medium to thick with chocolate, dark caramel and espresso front to back.
750ml bottle (2012) from Crossroads Spirits. Bought as a Christmas beer to share with my squad (Bob F., Shawn B., Dave M., and the rest were no shows!) the morning of Christmas Eve after work. Pours a rich dark brown/almost black color with a small creamy dark chocolate head. Aroma of smoke, dark chocolate, roasted malt, mild spice, and caramel. Taste of rust, burnt toast, dark chocolate, espresso grounds, grapefruit zest, nutshells, light spice, and a hint boozy vanilla.
Bottle. Creamy light Brown excellent mostly lasting head. Black colour. Heavy malty aroma. Roast. Heavy bitter roasted flavor. Alas slightly unbalanced. Heavy bitter moderate finish. creamy palate. A little disapointing.
Bottle at Craig’s tasting. Huge coffee roast, too much coffee, bitter and harsh, not a fan.
Big/huge coffee on the nose. Quite a burned taste with coffee to the fore, too much coffee for my liking. Some pepper and spices but not enough to add some balance
Firmly dark black with soft beige head. Really gritty seasoned nose, black peppercorn husks and a clean percolated roastedness. I can’t tell if the puckering liquorice/oily hop combo I’m really enjoying because it tastes nice or because the clear hop burn is carrying the sticky liquorice goop through. Spicey, wee bit of a booze burn but looses pace in the last few yards. Smokiness comes through more after a few sips, but I didn’t expect to have to layer this up to get the full impact. Bottle, Black Friday Tasting
bottle at home ... deep black ... thin tan head ... soft roast .. chewy roast ... light roast ... big peppery nose ... soft roast ... dark malts ... big peppery hop... light bitter roast .. soft coffee ...dark roast .. and loads of pepper ... nice
Pitch black, lasting dark brown head, beautiful. Chocolate, thick, coffee, Ash, tobacco. Medium bitter, thick creamy chocolate body, herbal ending. Long lasting bitter aftertaste. Good full body. Very nice. (75cl bottle from Saveur Bière)
One year old on tap at mikkeller and friends. Good aromas of coffee, chocolate and sweet almonds. Very full bodied beer with a nice sweetness and a lot of complex flavors. Much superior to this years version on bottle but that is of course to be expected.
Almost black beer with a nice mocha head. Plain milk chocolate aroma, maybe just a little bit roasted and some christmas spices but not much at all. Dry taste, ends with some sourness. Medium/thin body.
Aroma of chocolate, coffee, brown sugar, and smoke. Black with very large, long lasting, creamy brown head. Tastes like chewing a very dark piece of chocolate while you smoke a cigar. I would prefer some more sweetness and creaminess. Medium body with soft carbonation and bitter finish.
Draught at Mikkeller and Friends, Copenhagen
Pitch black color with small brownish head. Mild aroma, some roasted malt and some aniseed. The mouthfeel is leaner and drier than expected; roasted malt flavor, roasted almonds, some ashed, light touch of dark chocolate, strong bitterness, a bit spicy.
Not impressive.
Earthy and spicy on the nose, coffee undertones.
Jet black with a tan head, looks like night.
Bitter coffee flavor initially which gives way to a smooth dryness. Vegetal tones. Weird taste, but pleasant. Coffee aftertaste that lingers long after a mouthful.
Smooth and slightly thick palate.
Overall a very good and unique beer.
Bottle
Pours black , big grey foam
Smell is like a typical porter
Taste is soft , very roasted malts , some bitterness , some swetness , bit metallic . Ok ? Yet nothing special . Bit metallic .
Dark beer, but oily, brown-whitysh head. Tast is somwhat salty and reminds me of medicine... Not sure if I like it.
Tap @ Beer Temple, medium sample. Dark color, medium creamy head. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, slight fruity, biscuit and cookie. Thick body. Strong flavor with chocolate and biscuit again. Wonderful beer!
Tap at the Beer Temple, Amsterdam. Poured a deep mahogany with a frothy off-white head. The aroma is rich red berry fruit which really pushed everything else aside. The flavour is medium to strong bitter with a big liqourice, spicy pepper palate. I could drink this all night long ... In my dreams of course :-)
On tap at the beer temple.
Thick creamy tan head. Clear black pour. Lots of coffee. Chewy. Great
Väldigt Mycket Kaffe och Mörk choklad både i doft och smak! !! Köp några flaskor och lagra dom!
Gently pouring this into a glass I am met with some of the most absurdly foamy, whipped head making it quite difficult to salvage a decent pour. After settling down a bit, Fra Til coats the glass with a ton of outrageous mocha coloured lacing. The body is an entirely opaque ebony black with a dying head of dark tan. Giving the glass a swirl, a solid stream of bubbles poke their way through the now thin cap of appetizing tan head. The first scent off the nose I get is a seriously intense roasted malt with huge chocolate and espresso notes. A hint of woody smoke, with a light spice blend including subtle scent of anise and gingerbread. The aroma is so appetizing and enticing with the warmth of a true Christmas ale.
Like a Baltic Porter or Imperial Porter should have, Fra Til has alot of sweetness and a syrupy mouthfeel throughout. A strong roasted malt character with pronounced anise, vanilla and a solid amount of a smoked malt blends well with a brown sugar and its accompanying sweetness. The spice notes are somewhat lost in the mix with a rather fervent smoke and ash flavour that drys the palate out towards the finish. The finish is rather sweet at first but a slow astrigency drys the palate and leaves a robust roast and smoked malt in the back of my mouth. This is an absurdly well crafted Baltic Porter with a unique Mikkeller twist; the robust smoked malts as well as the anise and gingerbread spices. That being said the sweetness and syrupy dark malts are spot on stylistically.