Mikkeller - 12" Winale

[Please note: This beer is still drinking very nicely in March 2021, but it is now past its printed best-by date of 11/26/20. We would encourage you to enjoy it soon and limit additional aging.]

Closing out our Mikkeller special offer is the delicious 12" Winale, a strong ale brewed with wine-grape juice and fermented with Champagne yeast. This pours a hazy, pale orange with nicely sturdy white foam capping things. Initial aromatics are of ripe grapes and sourdough-tart yeast contributions: toasty and pulpy with round fruitiness. Clementine and lemon curd.

Vibrant ripe berries and toasty sourdough character lead the early sips. 12" Winale offers up surprisingly deep fruit character, overtly grapes, but with surrounding complexity conjuring currants, plums, and even a hint of the tropics. Expansive fruit and yeast complexity, with toasty Champagne-like bitterness providing a subtle edge. Quite possibly our favorite of the six.

[Please note: The original notes below were written in mid-2020. This beer is still drinking very nicely in March 2021, but it is now past its printed best-by date of 11/26/20. We would encourage you to enjoy it soon and limit additional aging.]

This is sturdy enough to handle some additional aging, but we think it’s drinking in its prime right now. The ripe berries and subtle acidity should go nicely alongside roasted turkey.