The first session with the brilliant Mikkel, of Mikkeller in Denmark, was an extra session held on Thursday 8th March and a fantastic addition to the normal session. Mikkel was extremely informative, charismatic and funny and proved to be just as lovely and delightful as his beers.
The Mikkeller beers sampled on the night started off with the Cream Ale which is brewed in collaboration with Revelation Cat Craft Brewing. This beer is also the house beer at famous beer bar Brasserie 4:20 in Rome. As its name implies, the Cream Ale is a cream ale (!) fermented at a much lower temperature than usual, resulting in the body of an ale but the lightness of a pilsner and truly delicious.
Next to be tasted was the Bravo Single Hop IPA, one of the Mikkeller Single Hop IPA series using Bravo and a big hit amongst the Ale Stars.
'It's Alive' followed, a delicious American wild ale being Mikkeller's tribute to the Trappist beer Orval, with the potent Brettanomyces making it, well, alive!
To finish the tasting was the delightful 'Boogoop', a Buckwheat Wine brewed by Three Floyds and Mikkeller at De Proefbrouwerij in Belgium. Big and delicious at 10.4%, it sent everyone on their merry way!
It was a true pleasure having Mikkel here with us at the Taphouse to hear in person of his brewing journey.
Later this month also saw our regular Ale Star session on the 3rd Tuesday of each month feature Josh Scott of Moa Brewing Co, NZ as the special guest. This proved to be another great session with Josh proving to be a delight. It was wonderful to hear of his brewing journey also, starting out in his Dad's back shed at 13 years old.
This Moa Ale Stars coincided with our Moa Tap Takeover, our third Tap Takeover where all twenty taps in each bar are "taken over" by one outstanding brewery.
To kick off the Moa tasting was the Moa 'Blanc Evolution', a scrumptious Belgian Wit brewed with a small amount of coriander added during it's extended maturation time giving it its unique spiciness. Next in line was Moa's 'St Josephs', a Belgian Tripel with strong clove and spice flavours and big at 9.5%.
The 'Five Hop' ESB was the third to be tasted and is a beautiful winter ale that utilises Pilsner, Vienna, Munich and Crystal malts to produce a distinctive mouthfeel and flavour. The last beer was the big Imperial Stout which is aged in Pinot Noir barrels giving it a tannin like finish and an oak induced mellow bitterness. A serious stout, especially at 10.2%! A great beer to end the night on.
A massive thank you to Mikkel and Josh for being part of our Ale Stars and being such wonderful guests sharing their passion, knowledge and of course their beer with us all.
To see a few more pics click here.
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