Posted on 23 april 2010. Tags: Mohawk, Stefan Gustavsson, Wicked Wines
It’s a great headline isn’t it? In fact I can just picture it strapping the front page of the infamous tattle-trading English newspaper The Sun, famous for such unforgettable tabloid headlines like OBAMA LAMA DING DONG (used above a story covering the meeting of President Obama and the Dalai Lama) and I’M ONLY HERE FOR DE BEERS, printed the day after thieves attempted to steal a De Beers diamond from London’s Millennium Dome.
You thought there were only three Mohawks didn't you? You were wrong!
I feel a bit like one of those fanatical Star Wars fans just after they found out that the first three films they had worshipped and committed line-by-line to memory over the last 16 years were not, in fact, the entire story but there was actually quite a lot more Mr Lucas had been holding back. The cheeky little peko-peko.
But in keeping with the tabloid philosophy of never letting facts get in the way of a good story headline I’m using it anyway, as it was generally accepted this was going to be a beer trilogy until the man behind the Mohawks, gypsy brewer Stefan Gustavsson jumped into a debate on BeerSweden’s Facebook page the other day to tell me otherwise.
Lamenting the last of the Mohawk-ans (it’s so good I used it twice) he replied: ”Don’t worry Darren. You will see more Mohawk in September”!
”For this autumn Systembolaget wanted to go Old World. The first one they liked is Mohawk Stitch. It is inspired by the strong brown beers that used to be party-gyled (Ed: that means mixed people) from March and October beer in England in the 18th century. Our version is a Brown Porter at 5,3 % abv, made with brown malt, honey and dark sugars.
”The second one is … More Mohawk Barley Wine (Ed: oh I like that!!). This one is modelled on a recipe for an Imperial Ale made in Scotland in 1835. It is made with mostly pale malt and huge amounts of classic English hops to an abv of 10,5 % and around 90 IBU. I suspect that it will age well for a few years. 
”I think I will keep the third one a secret for a while yet…”.
Posted in Mish Mash
Posted on 09 mars 2010. Tags: Mohawk Extra IPA, Review, Stefan Gustavsson, Wicked Wine
An India Pale Ale (IPA)
A collaboration between Wicked Wine, Stefan Gustavsson and Sigtuna Brygghus
7.5% ABV. Systembolaget Article Number: 1419-01
A crystal clear orange/amber body with a thick, creamy puck of white head.
For a beer with 7 - that's right 7 - hop varieties the leafy nose on this beer is predictably huge but not as 'green' and fresh as in Amarillo Spring (another Swedish hop fav of mine). They're more thick, more musty and heavy hitting. Put it this way, if I was to put Mohawk in the ring with Amarillo Spring Mohawk would be George Foreman and AS would be Ali. Loads of spicy orange marmalade and a dash of that lime chutney you get with your popodoms at Indian restaurants. Surprisingly sweet malt smells coming through too.
There's not as much lemon/pineapple vibes as I would expect considering the abundance of US hop varieties. It's more spicy marmalade, some tropical fruit juice and then the hops, oh boy those hops come crashing in. I'm not talking fresh hop cones here but more intense, acidic, bitter hop pellets. Anyone who's chewed on one of these on a brewery tour will know exactly what I mean. This really needed every decimal point of its 7.5% ABV to carry off such a wild level of hop intensity.
With such an intense IPA you're going to need a dish with intense flavours to stand up to it. I mentioned some Indian spice and think this would meld perfectly with a spicy Indian meal.
Nerd note
IBUs (International Bitterness Units) are measured on a scale from 1-100, after which your tongue normally raises the white flag. That's what makes this beer so intriguing, because on paper it just shouldn't work but somehow the guys behind it have managed to make a 127 IBU beer smooth and drinkable. If you think you can handle your hops then you're going to love this!
Posted in Beer Reviews
Posted on 09 mars 2010. Tags: Mohawk Extra IPA, Review, Sigtuna, Stefan Gustavsson, Wicked Wine
Just a few minutes ago a box with two bottles of Mohawk Extra IPA, the tongue-curling 127 IBU (!!!!) brainchild of Sigtuna Brygghus, Wicked Wine and Stefan Gustavsson arrived at BeerSweden HQ.
In yet another exclusive BeerSweden is the first blog to get it’s hands on a review bottle of this insane beer that will be released at the Systembolaget later this month. Check back a little later today to see my full review on what promises to be a very interesting drinking experience indeed.
Can it really be 127 IBUs? Is that possible? Is it legal? Find out right here on BeerSweden in the next few hours………….
UPDATE – an impromptu ‘live’ tasting of this beer is currently taking place over at the BeerSweden fanpage at Facebook. See the minute-by-minute tasting here!
Posted in The Beervine
