Mikkeller’s 12% barley wine is an excellent product that straddles “drinkable now” and “excellent aging potential” well. Most of us beer geeks and handle (and enjoy) the big hops you tend to find in young American barley wines (“Big Foot”, “Old Crustacean”, “Old Horizontal”) but make no mistake, the Danish brew has that plus a big sweet malt bill that is chewy and tasty. I served it at about 60 degrees and the fig, date, caramel and chocolate come screaming through. The hops do their part at the end to calm things down and ready you for another sip. Yes there is a spicy (but not hot) alcohol kick but maybe that will age out. This one will age 5 easy maybe into the 7 to 10 range. The cage and cork (synthetic not natural) should slow oxidation while it matures over the long haul.
# posted by Beer_Matt @ 10:33 AM
