First ratingInitial Rating Date: 11/24/2007(Bottle, thanks to larsniclas and rlgk!) Dark brown color, big tan head. Sweet malty and hoppy scent. Big sweet malty and bitter taste. Big smooth mouthfeel, big bitterness. Really nice!8/4/8/4/17=4.1Rerate375 ml bottle at Haket, Göteborg, on July 15, 2009Hazy, dark copper color, small off-white head. Malty, sweet, caramel, grainy, alcohol scent. Malty, vinous, firey, raissin, alcohol, sweet, bitter taste. Loads of warming alcohol and spicy alcohol aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel, medium bitterness.7/3/7/4/14=3.5RerateBottle bottle at Haket, Göteborg. On Ocotber 10, 2009 2007 version Clear brownish red color, almost no head. Vinous, malty, sweet, alcohol scent. Sweet, smooth, malty, vinous, alcohol taste. Sweet alcohol aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness.6/3/7/4/14=3.4Rerate at a blind tastingBottle, thanks to Mats (not on Ratebeer)!Sampled on December 17, 2010BB 14/08/11Murky, yeasty, brown color, no head. SWeet, raissin, alcohol, fusels, mushroom scent. Sweet, raissin, alcohol taste. Warming alcohol. Spicy aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel, medium high bitterness.This did not age well.6/1/5/4/10=2.6RerateBottle thanks to Mats! (Not on ratebeer).Sampled on February 26, 2011Hazy brown color, no head. Sweet, raissin, alcohol taste. Smooth mouthfeel, medium bitterness.8/4/7/4/15=3.8

[Another century celebrated with a Mikkeller beer - this time 9400] An amber beer with a fast disappearing off-white head. The aroma is sweet mlaty combined with notes of alcohol, fruit, and syrup. The flavor is sweet malty combined with notes of alcohol and caramel. The alcohol note is very powerful and leaves a burn in the throat. I find it a bit too simple now - I think it needs a year or two or three to mature. I drank it side by side with a two year old Big Bad BW, which was clearly superior.

Bottled (brewed 14/08/2007)
Ruby red, small off-white head. Dark bread and dark fruits in the nose. Toffeish, liquerish palate. Fudge, dark malts and fruits and some licorice in the flavor. Finish is quite alcoholic. This is much sweeter than the original "Big Bad Barley Wine". With 12 % needs cellaring, propably beer will be more complex after 2-3 years.

Bottle. Medium head with medium duration. Color is hazy brown. Aroma and taste are rich with fruits, berries, hops, alcohol and malt.

Bottle, generously shared by myrup. Poured with a clear, copper body, and a small, beige head. The aroma was lovely and heavy, with hops playing first violin, but givinig room for the alcohol to rinse your nose, and also to let some aromas reminiscent of the ones you find when entering a tea- and coffee-shop find its way into your nose. The flavor is heavy on the hops and heavy on the malts, balancing quite nice, but with a stinging hoppyness trying to muscle it’s way to the top. There’s also a slight alcohol burn, but it’s not very evident considering the ABV. Full, sweet body. Having tasted this one rather fresh, I’m pretty curious what some time in the cellar might do. Rating: 8-4-8-4-17-4.1. 071005

Bottle, 375ml corked. Vintage 2007. It pours with a minimal layer of beige bubbles, soon disappearing. Hazy, copper to brown body. Lightly oxidized nose with alcohol, malts and a good dash of hops. Three and a half years of cellaring has certainly mellowed it quite a lot, but there’s still citrus peel and resin. The flavor is still very hoppy, a good biting bitterness has company of alcohol warmth and a good addition of malty sweetness. Dried fruits and fortified wine. It has a lasting finish with lots of bitterness, but it’s the alcohol that stands out. The oxidation found in the aroma follows you all the way to the very end, but at pleasant levels. It’s full-bodied and quite flat, giving a nice alcohol burn. Still a lovely beer, but I think it was better fresh, and probably would have benefited from shorter cellaring. 100227

Good fluffy cream-amber head over chestnut-brown beer. C- or Amarillo-like hops, quite grapey, sultana’s, vineleaf and a touch of tobacco. Bitterish, hoppy flavours, rounded by sweet (almond)cake, rosewater, lytchee. Further more fruity touches as strawberry, fruit icecream, but with a background, resiny, near-metallic bitterness. Quite slick, obviously very well-bodied, creamy-smooth; alcoholwarming in a very pleasant way. It appears quite young, and I think the little harshness in the bitter compartment might wear of with a little aging.

Pours dark amber with medium head. Hoppy aroma with raisins, toffe and yeast. Sweet hoppy and malty flavor that ends bitter. Alcohol is well hidden but warms you up nice in the end.

Or maybe not. After three years, it’s showing signs of oxidation, especially in the flavour which seems more thin and dry than it should. Since the original 4.0 rating was to some degree based on potential, I don’t mind rating it down to 3.7 after not living up to the potential

2009: I said in my original 2007 rating that it needed aging. So let’s see how it is after 1½ years in the cellar. Pine hops and lots of alcohol in the aroma, like a nice hoppy sherry. Flavour is mellowed very little, it’s still aggressive, boozy and hoppy. Rating 4.0 both times.

Dark amber with a small, but lasting creamy off-white head. Really fresh, hoppy aroma: At first you think American Pale Ale, then you realize that there is a lot more power behind the pine and citrus. Caramel, dried fruits and a healthy dose of alcohol shows up after a swirl or two. Flavour is a bitter battle between alcohol and hops, with my tastebuds as the winner. It’s extreme, and will benefit from cellaring. In a few decades this will be the best 2007 beer in the world :)

Reddish/Orange colour with medium head.Taste is sweet and vinous gives you a really warm feeling.Aroma of piney,berry,hops and candy.Nice strong and well balanced beer.