Mikkeller Amass B&W American IPA at at 6.5% ABV ($5.09 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 330 ml, best before 15-Jul-2016)
Pours hazy pale amber with two fingers of pillowy white head, excellent retention and lacing. (4/5) Nose is tropical fruits, juicy citrus, pine resin, mild pale malt. (8/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderately strong bitter. (7/10) Medium body tending to the light, moderate carbonation, with a dry bitter finish. (3/5)
Another Mikkeller IPA with a truly stupid shelf life. What black magic does this guy weave, anyway, that a beer so heavily reliant on a bright hop character can keep so long? Not his best, though – there’s some thinness in the body, which tends a bit to the watery, and the hop bittering feels a little unbalanced. Yes, I usually prefer hop forward, particularly for this style, but this feels like a little more malt sweetness would balance out the juicy citrus tones a little more. As it stands, this starts off feeling a little harsh – though that diminishes as the bottle progresses, and it finishes strong. There’s also not much of the dank character I associate with a west coast style IPA – it’s really more pine, and that’s overshadowed by the citrus. (15/20)
7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
