Mikkeller’s ‘The American Dream’ is an innovative and very intricate concept conceived by Dirk Naudts from De Preof Brewery in Belgium and Mikkel from…Mikkeller obviously. Their website delves in to a process with 4 tasting panelists that review the aroma, flavour and bitterness of the beer over a 126 day period, essentially to pin point the best time to consume this lager. Very avant-garde.
Poured into a flute glass and the appearance is displaying a clear amber with a finger’s worth of head which gradually fades to a thin film on top. Reasonable head retention and lacing. Solid American hop-forward aroma with hints of herbs, pine, grapefruit and orange peel dominating over the restrained biscuity malt backing. Unbalanced but as huge hop fans we’re liking this. Carbonation is moderate with a slightly dry mouth feel. Medium weight in the body. We get a lot of bittering citrus hops upfront that lead to a splash of grapefruit through the mid-palate. Some sweet malts begin to develop which bridge nicely on to the dry, crisp finish. Decent length for a lager. The 4.6% ABV is surprisingly low for such a flavoursome beer, it was quite an interesting lager because it struck us as more of a powerful APA than anything else. Either way we look at it, it’s a highly enjoyable beer with a lot of thought behind it.