No where does it mention that it is wrong to drink beer whilst caring for sick animals (probably does somewhere, but I am choosing to not look in those places). Having a few bottles that we were saving for our Welsh holiday I took the opportunity to drown my sorrows.
Sunday we had a fine Gueuze, a Brooklyn Brewery Lager, Mikkeller Sleep Over Coffee Double IPA, and an amazing bottle of Paradox Jura from Brewdog. It was fun and made missing the holiday and shock of how quickly the cats got ill easier.
Monday was less beery, but no less extreme. You see in our suit case I had a bottle of
Mikkeller 1000 IBU Ultramate. Now at what point do you drink a beer so bitter? Not with dinner, and certainly not with dessert or after really. So
, whilst cooking dinner it will be (Corned Beef hash, made with home corned silverside of beef).
Pouring it, it's quite a lively beer with a orangey golden colour. And the smell, very little hops actually, but a slight but pleasant raspberry pavlova aroma, not what I was expecting. Now the taste, an initial malt sweetness lures you into a false sense of security, then the bitterness mugs you with a baseball bat, no surprises there. To put the bitterness into perspective, something like a pint of John Smiths is about 21 IBU, so at a 1000 IBU the Mikkeller is significantly more bitter, nearly 50 times in fact. This beer is quite a low ABV at 4.9% considering it is so heavily hopped, and because of this the initial sweetness did also surprise me.
Now that bitterness gets you at the back of the throat, a little bit like bile and the hops impart a strong pine resin and ear-waxy taste, with a strong Cannabis flavour on the burp. Sounds dreadful, but it's not. Ultramate, is a bit of fun, it's enjoyable in the same way eating hot chilli sauce is fun. Would I buy another, yes. But not for awhile...
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