You might remember Cigar City from my post about their Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout in Week 16. I had a real treat this week when I got to try 3 beers they collaborated with Mikkeller to create. You might also remember Mikkeller from when I had their Beer Geek Brunch Weasel in Week 17. Obviously these are two breweries I really appreciate, so when they collaborated to create beers in my favorite style, I jumped at the opportunity. Each beer, Bohr, Dirac, and Nielsbohrium were only brewed once. Nielsbohrium is a blend of the two, and aged in Rum Barrels for roughly 6 months.

Bohr is up first. Neils Bohr was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1885. His contributions to our understanding of the physical world have made him one of Denmark’s most famous citizens and one of the 20th century’s most influential scientists. In 1922, Bohr was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics “for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.”

Black motor oil pour with a wonderful brown head. It doesn’t last long, but I reveled it as it lasted. Lots of coffee, chocolate, and roasted malts hit the nose. Really strong smell. The taste, however, was not as big as I was expecting. The chocolate is muted. Basically all coffee, lasts on the palate for a long time. Dark, heavy, well carbonated, a bit boozy. I liked it. Not terribly balanced, but it makes me look forward to the other two in the set!

Dirac was second. Paul Dirac was one of the founders of what became modern Quantum Mechanics and won the Nobel Prize in 1933. The recipe for this stout, brewed with raisins and spice, was conceived by Wayne Wambles, Head Brewer at Cigar City Brewing and brewed in collaboration with Mikkeller.

The pour is exactly the same of Bohr. Motor oil black with a beautiful bubbly brown head with not great retention or lacing. The smell seems much more balanced than Bohr. Coffee is there, but booze and chocolate take over. Very sweet smell. Roasted malts throughout the taste are dominant. Dark chocolate and a hint of booze mixed in. The coffee on the backend is phenomenal. I can completely see why this is rated higher than Bohr. The taste is extremely well balanced. Dark, heavy, carbonated well. Better than Bohr. Really a top notch Imperial Stout.

Now for the real treat: Nielsbohrium

If Bohr and Dirac were dark, this is darker. My friend said it was like melted Hershey’s chocolate poured into a glass. Brown pour, let me reiterate how brown this pour is. It looks like I could eat the head. If only the retention was better. Really boozy smell. Chocolate, coffee, malts, rum, but mostly alcohol. Smells like it would be dangerous to drink a lot of this. Wow great taste. Can certainly taste the qualities of each beer in this. Rum up front, followed by chocolate and a nice finish of coffee. Wonderfully balanced. Heavy. Very heavy. Carbonation is right with Bohr and Dirac. A little heavy on the booze. Wonderful beer. Perhaps not on the hype level it was built up for, but a truly great beer. Not on the level of Hunahpu’s, but solid all around.

Week 29: Nielsbohrium, originally uploaded by RussWbeck.