It’s been a long time coming to have a Mikkeller Week on The Hopry. Although they are one of my favorite breweries, I have surprisingly not had any of the beers that we’ll be featuring this week. So this should be a fun week of sessions. First up is the It’s Alive, which is a Belgian Strong Ale dedicated to the great Trappist beer called Orval. As you can imagine, my hopes are pretty high for this one. What’s unfortunate here, however, is that we both felt let down by the nose on this one. Orval is a much spicier beer with a lighter effervescence. The color is also much darker, so right away there’s not a whole lot of things that make us understand how it’s a tribute. Once we actually tasted this one I think you’ll notice that we were both a bit puzzled. There certainly isn’t the punch of brettanomyces that we were hoping for and the absence of spice is also apparent in the taste. Really there’s just not any funk at all. What I will say is that it’s a very good beer on its own, but as a tribute to one of the greatest beers around…? With that said, I guess you could call this a tribute to many beers, but Orval is not even close. That beer is head and shoulders above nearly every beer on the market and this one would simply blend in with the bulk of the others. Especially with the “Always Save” looking label, of which I’m definitely not a fan. Up next: Mikkeller Jackie Brown.
Check out all sessions of The Hopry here.
This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Nick Drake “River Man”
Brewery: Mikkeller
Beer: It’s Alive
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
ABV: 8%
Rating: 82/100
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Posted by Big Mike on May 31, 2010 at 12:02 PM
I believe On the master of hoppets he did a side by side of this and Orval. He pretty much had the same results as you. That it’s a good well crafted brew but not an Orval taste a like.
Posted by thehopry on June 1, 2010 at 11:59 AM
You know what? In retrospect I think if I’d done a side by side, I would have been even more disappointed by this beer. Of course, I could be confusing the brewer’s intent. Maybe it’s just a dedication and not a pure attempt at making a clone.
Posted by Jon on May 31, 2010 at 12:22 PM
I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one disappointed in this beer. A lot of expectation that wasn’t fulfilled.
Posted by Jamison Moeckel on June 1, 2010 at 1:15 AM
If this is brewed like Orval then you should wait 6 months until you open it to let the brett work, because Orval does a 1st fermentation with no brett in tanks and 2nd fermentation in the bottle where the brett one of the only yeast strains to eat sugars even the non fermentable sugars the other yeasts leave behind that is why you find Orval so dry its got no sugar left were as normal beer has 20% non fermentable sugars
It also takes a long time for brett to ferment vinnie from RR likes to drink his at the 6 month mark that is when the funk is at its peak thats why Orval has that bottled on date very handy to have that
Posted by thehopry on June 1, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Hi Jamison –
I’m pretty sure this one has been on the shelves for a while – at least the case it came in hasn’t moved through the store yet. I’ve looked to buy it several times, but passed. But I would also argue that if a brewery were to want their beer to be aged, then they should note this on the bottle (which they didn’t) or age it before selling to the distributor so it’s ready to go at purchase. I know a lot of breweries do this to ensure it’s ready to go at sale.
I do agree, though, that you need to let brett sit for awhile. In fact, I think I pointed this out at the end of the video where I say something like “I want to buy another one and let it sit to see the difference.” But really, I still don’t think this will be the beer I was hoping for – even in six months, a year, or several years. That’s because it’s just not that great in the end, which is okay with me…
Thanks,
Mark Starr