Here's how you get the best out of Mikkeller-BrewDog's I Hardcore You:1. Buy a case (or any number of bottles, but after tasting it, you're going to wish you'd bought a case)
2. Go into the garden and dig a really deep hole. Make it as deep as you can be bothered to dig, and then dig a couple of feet more. This step is very important.
3. Take two bottles of I Hardcore You from your case, then put the rest in the bottom of the hole you've just dug and fill it in.
4. Open a bottle of I Hardcore You, and drink it, marvelling at the toasted red-amber colour, the nose so redolent of sweet toffeeish malt and pungent, almost mentholated hops that it takes your breath away. Be washed away on the crescendo of caramel and pine needles in the finish. Find yourself at the end of it all too quickly.
5. Repeat step 4
6. Attempt to repeat step 4, but realise you have buried the rest of the I Hardcore You a little deeper than you can normally be bothered to dig. Concede that, given the ruinously drinkable nature of I Hardcore You, it's probably for the best that you can't access the rest of the case.
Seriously, this blend of Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller I Beat You, despite being 9.5%abv, is one of the most compellingly drinkable beers I've had in a long time. As ever, there is a bit of hype that goes along with it - BrewDog claim on their blog that "As far as we are aware this is the first collaboration of this type anywhere in the world. The first time a collaboration beer has been made by blending beers from the respective brewers together". Without even thinking too hard about it, I thought of De Struise-De Molen 'Black Damnation' and Birra del Borgo-Cantillon 'Duchessic' (OK, the second one is a bit obscure). I'm sure you can think of others.
But even without the hype, this is one seriously exciting beer. Resistance is useless.
TRANSPARENCY STATEMENT: BrewDog sent me four bottles of this, and a T-shirt. The T-shirt is quite fly, although wearing it, I do feel like a 40 year old man in a 25 year-old's clothes.
I don't even know what a fly t shirt means if that makes you feel any better.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!! I love this beer too! Brewdog bag on form! Who would have thought blending to bits of beer would work so well ;op
ReplyDeleteAmen brother, amen...
ReplyDeleteI have a keykeg of this sitting in The Rake's cellar and can't wait to try it now.
ReplyDeleteRabidbarfly: Niiiiice.
ReplyDeleteI've got a couple of bottles on the way, looking forward to them now. :)
Chunk.
I ordered 12 bottles, drank 1, and immediately purchased another 12! This beer is seriously THAT good!
ReplyDeleteSounds tasty; high praise indeed! Must admit though, up until I read the 'transparency statement', in my mind I was thinking, 'how much have they paid him to write this post?'!
ReplyDeleteGlyn forgot to mention that Utobeer are selling this at the moment! I have one in my cellar cupboard which I will pop open soon. Really enticing this one.
ReplyDeleteZak. The Mikkeller and De Struise IPA was another top notch collaberation. Also De Molen does it with other brewers as well like Revelation Cat. Stone too did a lot of collaberations. I'm getting thirsty now.
Love the way forward keg approach which BrewDog use. Hardcore on form is my favourite UK beer. BrewDog a consumer's brewery. They push the boundaries but that's what's to be expected when there's so much medicroness and a usp is always mandatory in a succesful business!
Agree, a bloody cracking beer!
ReplyDeleteKelly
Really really special, cuts through the b***sh*t of the recent months re Brewdog, back where it needs to be, about great beer!
ReplyDeleteI have already stashed a few for the cellar holding, next best thing to burying them!
They never send me their beer to review. So I will never have a fly t-shirt. Perhaps I am not their target audience! But I have utter admiration for them because of the way they have shaken things up. They make some great beers and I hope they keep pushing the boundaries.
ReplyDeleteNick - that's not an uncommon experience - plenty of people have messaged me to say they did a similar thing!
ReplyDeleteSimon - that's exactly the reason the transparency statement is there. I try to include it when reviewing anything given to me by a brewery, especially if I'm as enthusiastic as I was about this beer.
Thomas - I'm pretty sure that BrewDog bottle the majority of their output, and that keg and cask is split more-or-less evenly. Perhaps James will read this and let us know?
James, Kelly - it's always nice to have an opinion confirmed by brewers of your calibre.
Zak, it appears is is on at The Rake in keg format today from Glyn's site. I had it on Saturday and I got this:
ReplyDeleteBottle, 33cl, bought from Utobeer. Damn this is extreme. Quite a dark golden colour with an evil redding glow. This beer is a dangerous and aggressive 9.5% combo. WOW. Excellent lacing, very thin lacing, a creamy float in the middle, tangy grapefruit, massive hops, hey, VERY warming, alcohol is extremely presant but the drinkability is soo good, sweet malts, some perfume and a medium dry finish.
Thomas - thanks for the note - it's certainly a big beer, but alarmingly drinkable.
ReplyDeleteJust for everyone's info, James at BrewDog let me know that their current split between various packaging for the year to date is as follows: 59% Bottles, 21% Keg, 20% Cask