Best before Oct 2006 bottle, generously provided by Duff and consumed on 8/12/06.
Copious amounts of thick, white head pile up in the glass and recede VERY slowly, never falling below one-finger in height. Rocky/fluffy and coating the glass, it’s as well-formed/retained a head as the best bottle conditioned Belgians. Bright canteloupe-orange colored body has highlights of honey, amber and brilliant gold. Very fine sediment is left for the yeast shot, leaving the beer with a sparkling clarity, but still a subtle, unfiltered glassiness.
Strong aroma of centennial hops, surprisingly enough, boasting lush, green, hop-bud juiciness, light, oily hop resins, subtle melon and then a drying dose of moderate grapefruit and a light touch of fuzzy, almost leaf-like astringency on the end. Caramel malt expertly weaves its way in the aroma, inconspicuously, but leaving the hop bitterness well-balanced, though certainly allowing the hops to be showcased. Pretty much what I expected after reading all of the raves; JUICY, AROMATIC, BITTER, but importantly, balanced and not over-the-top.
The hop level in the flavor is immediately noted as well-balanced, though growing acidity challenges the malt, there is ample residual sweetness here to fend off the IBUs. Canteloupe and grapefruit again, with a sticky, chewy, resinous quality that, in concert with the tight, engaging carbonation, produces a magnificently full, yet not-sweet/syrupy effect. Some definite yeast blandness is noted, but no doubt only further exemplifies the lack of pasteurization and the very low filtration. Malt complexity builds as the beer breathes and I find myself really enjoying it more and more with every sip. Notes of honey-covered peaches, very light barley grains and pale sugars, with no trace of alcohol and manageable acidity that does not seem to overload the palate, even towards the end. To be constructive, I could see it being just a bit more dry/attenuated, but I seem to be saying that about everything anymore, and that’s just personal preference. While it certainly is no slouch on bitterness, I’m very glad that it goes the route of providing more hop flavor/juiciness than it does bitterness.

I’ve been drinking a fair amount of Founders Centennial IPA on draught lately and it’s amazing to see that this bottled IPA from Denmark, greatly outshines in pure fresh aroma, flavor and mouthfeel, a domestic draught IPA.

Hazy dark brown color; thin head. Wonderful aroma: pine needles at first, then malt, caramel, light vanilla, hop leaves (green hop). Medium body structure, a lot of caramel, some malt, and of course the resiny hop, quite dry and harsh bitterness. Very strong ending bitterness.

Another Mikkeller beer - and yet another milestone - this time rating number 6000. I’m experiencing a slow down - this millenium took me 5½ months - whereas the last 3 only took me 5 months apieces, it is probably healthy.

A deep red beer with a very slight hazy underneath a huge light brown head. The aroma is very hoppy with strong notes of grapefruit, grass, and lime, as well as a slight dusty note. The flavor is quite sweet with notes of caramel to start out with, then the aroma hops comes along with a strong floral presences besides notes of citrus - especially limes and lemons, some grass. And then to my surprise there is a slight intervention of a interplay of roasted malt, before the bitter end sets in with notes of grapefruit and grass combined with lesser notes of caramel and dust, leading to a long lasting quite dry and bitter end, where the lime note really never gives up.

Bottled. Hazy nut brown, rich head. Striking lychee aroma with a major "oomphh". Sweet with soft, rounded mouthfeel. Extremely hoppy: the flavour leans towards sweaty, grassy lychee. Very bitter finish with notes of espresso. One of the better IPAs I’ve had!