SM No.12 Elliot Brew

Okay folks, I have a confession to make. I picked out this brew 95% because of the name "Elliot Brew." I see people in the store all the time that pick out wines and beers based on their labels. Well I trust in the fact that Mikkeller has some great beers and this one caught my attention.

Being a Mikkeller brew, I'm fairly confused by how/when/why this was produced.  It seems as if this "Elliot Brew" was created for Ratebeer.com in a collaboration between Mikkeller and De Struise. According to the beerAdvocate page, this is the hoppiest beer ever brewed in Belgium, and now I'm even more confused.

The Elliot Brew pours a dark amber color, with a little bit of a rusty tint and super lively foam. The foam is thick and frothy, and just slightly off-white in color. The head lasts a long, long time and after 30 minutes there is still nearly a quarter inch worth of froth atop the beer. There is also a ton of lacing left behind on the sides of my DFH snifter.

While I can smell a fair amount of hops in the nose, there is a substantial presence of malty aromas and alcohol as well. I'm also getting a substantial presence of what I generally refer to as 'belgian funk.' Belgian funk is my way of describing all the yeasty, bready, and spices that I just can't put my finger on. It's described on bA as a Double IPA but there is far more spice and complexity in the nose here than in the average Double IPA.

On the palate, the Elliot Brew is equally as complex. The hops is quite bold right up from on the palate. It's a softer side of hops though, more citrus and spicy aromas rather than piney or grapefruit aromas. Like the nose detected, there is a ton of malt balancing the hops nicely. The malt is not super candy-sweet, but more soft and subtle sweet. The sides of my tongue are tingled with the dry acidity, and my palate is excited by all the spice, hops and malts intertwined with one another.

Is it really 130 IBU's like I'm seeing on the internet? I dunno about that. Is it the hoppiest beer I've ever had from Belgium? Definitely yes! The Struise-Mikkeller Elliot Brew is a delicious little monster. This isn't distributed and sold in Connecticut, so if you have the chance to pick one up, I'd definitely recommend it.

de Struise-Mikkeller brewing
Elliot Brew
TCSH Rating - 8/10
Aka - Worth every penny!

Eli
Bibo Ergo Sum