Mikkeller 19

Brewery: Mikkeller

Type: IPA

Alcohol: 6.8%

Country: Denmark

Saw the weekly tap list from my local craft beer bar Christian Firtal today. Had a Mikkeller beer I didn't recognize. Mikkeller 19, what is that? Well a quick search turned up the answer… A 19 HOP IPA. I knew Mikkeller made a 10 hop IPA…but 19!?!?! Had to head straight over to see how that could possibly be.

Pours a very hazy, murky orange color, not too light not too dark. Very small but thick off white creamy head. Settles out quick but sticks to the top and leaves thick total glass obscuring curtains. Aroma is all over the place. I mean I guess you can imagine that the aroma is, well hoppy to say the least. Get a lot of soapy funky hoppiness, definitely a lot of simcoe and citra. Every time I smell I get a little something different. This follows over into the taste as well. Each sip seems to be completely different then the last. Sometimes I get a lot of tropical and grapefruit flavors, sometimes more piney floralness. Whenever I try an IPA with this many hops I get what I call a "bubblegum" flavor. I certainly get the ole bubblegum here, but it is far more balanced then I have had in many other multi hop variety beers.That is some kind of amazing accomplishment as I think the most I have had in other beers is 10 varieties. This is almost double that! Malt does not really exist in this beer. I mean it is there, probably, but it is buried under a mountain of green gold. Brewed with a majority of pilsner malt it gives the beer a slightly different body then you might have come to expect from an IPA. Pretty light to medium, but a perfect delivery system for this bitter monster. When I say it is bitter…I mean it is bitter. The bite on this beer is considerable, this is by no means a big quaffable beer, it is a sip and enjoy for an hour type. I can't recommend trying this enough if you can find it. It might not be for the timid, but if you are a hop head like me, then this is the equivalent of jumping into Scrooge McDucks's skyscraper full of gold coins…only you know hops.

List of hops: Simcoe 17,14%, Citra 15,72%, Amarillo 14,29%, Sorachi Ace 10,71%, Bravo 6,79%, Colombus 6,79%, Cluster 4,64%, Warrior 4,64%, Cascade 3,57%, Centennial 3,57%, Palisade 2,86%, Challenger 1,43%, Galena 1,43%, Magnum 1,43%, Mt Hood 1,43%, Tettnanger 1,43%, Nugget 0,71%, Super Galena 0,71%, Williamette 0,71%.