GUEST REVIEW: Mikkeller Funky E Star

We're wrapping up this week with something special, another guest review! Today we get the thoughts of the lovely and talented Meredith Johns on quite a wild beer, Mikkeller's Funky E Star. A Belgian stong pale ale aged in chardonnay barrels. I'm just going to step aside here and let Meredith take it away. To the beer!


For our first Valentine's Day, Clarke and I decided it would be more fun to exchange alcohol instead of flowers or candy. I actually think it was my idea because I have never been able to keep a plant alive and I don't think my hips need chocolate.

Last year my Valentine's gift was filled my favorite style of beer, Belgian style ales. I have a strong affinity for this style of beer and Goose Island's Matilda and Sofie are two of my favorites.  This year, I got an even better surprise when I opened up Mikkeller's Funky E Star. It is described as a Belgian Wild Ale that has been aged in Chardonnay barrels.  I don't think I could ask for a more perfect beer that combines two things I enjoy, Belgian ale and wine.

This is the first beer from Mikkeller that I have had so I had to do a little background on the beer.  I quickly learned that Funky E Star is similar to their It's Alive (The subject of our last guest post! -Clarke) beer because they both wild ales brewed with Brettanomyces (often referred to as Brett.) To be brief, Brett is a wild yeast that can often yield weird, funky, interesting flavors. On the other hand though, many brewers work very hard to keep Brett out of their beers, since those funky flavors aren't always desirable in every beer. Enough of the background, lets get to the beer.

Funky E pours a deep amber color and when held to light, I could see some hints of red.  It had about a two finger cream colored frothy head that disappeared after a few minutes.

Smelling the beer, I definitely picked up a combination of citrus fruits: lemons, grapefruit and sour grapes.  I probably don't taste beer correctly so Clarke reminded me to swish it around in my mouth a little bit.  Upon doing this, I picked up the sour taste, a little hoppines, but there was a malty / Belgian yeast flavor that I could taste as well. After the first couple of sips, I had a dry taste in my mouth like you would after drinking a glass of wine. However, as the bottle warmed up, I found myself tasting more of the Belgian yeast flavors that made it a little more sweet and as a result, made me want to keep drinking the beer.

For a beer that has a 9.3% ABV, Funky E does a good job of hiding that.  This is a beer that needs to be sipped - it lives up to its name and description of funky & wild.

I will try this beer again and if you are like me and enjoy wine and beer (especially Belgian ales), I would recommend it.  I think I was a little (or a lot) nervous to be reviewing my first beer, and my focus was on making sure my terminology and descriptions were similar to Clarke's.  After finishing this review, I hope to be back soon with another beer!

Hey, how about that! I can confirm, this is a very tasty, very interesting beer. She let me have a few sps. Join me in thanking Meredith for an excellent guest review. Have a great weekend folks!

HD