Mikkeller 黑 (Black)

Drunk to celebrate my beer rating number 10,000 (yes, it is rating number 10,243, but that number includes ciders, perries, meads, and sakes). A pitch black beer with a thick very dark brown head - the darkest brown head I ever remember seeing. The aroma is quite powerful - at first you are hit by notes of alcohol, dark bitter chocolate, hard roasted malt, and dextrose, but also a lighter note of oranges. Tasting it makes me go crazy! I don’t know what to think or which tastebuds to believe - there is so many crazy things going on. At first it is normally sweet, but then the sweetness just continues to grow in intensity getting more and more like dextrose - and getting totally out of hand, but besides the sweetness there are strong notes of hard roasted malt, dark bitter dessert chocolate, soy sauce, caramel, oranges, and grapefruity and citrusy hoppy notes towards the end. And building on top of the crazy sweetness and the extremely powerful and complex flavors the alcohol is also building momentum - to top at a totally crazy level, where it together with the sweetness fries the tongue and palate, and together with the hops makes the very late finish very bitter. I must admit that the flavor is over the top for me - I hope cellaring well take the top of the extreme sweetness - so I’ll be back in a year or two. I get warm ears from drinking this...

Bottled, thanks ante! Extremely black with firm brown head. Aroma of sugar and dextrose. Extremely sweet with an onslaught of sugar, tobacco, licorice and ink. Massively full bodied, yet fairly soft. Shitloads of dextrose sweetness overrun my sensory organs, distorting all flavours to harsh ink. Finishes resiny and plastic with an inky bitterness of gargruantic proportions. Mikkeller is one of my favourite brewers, this is not one of my favourite beers. In fact I did not enjoy a single sip of it. Aging might help, but I think it’s just over the top anyway - at least for my senses.

(Bottle 37,5 cl) Pours completely opaque black with a thick, creamy, shaving foam style light brown head, that leaves big lumps on top of the beer. Fat, intense aroma of burned malt and burned caramel. The body is ekstremely solid - almost fat. Very sweet on the fore, then the burned malts come rolling to end with a distinct, creeping bitterness - from both malt and hops - that almost numbs your palate. Fairly sticky and alcoholuc finish that leaves a prickly sensation on your lips. This is almost a dessert wine - if it wasn’t for the heavy bitterness. Extreme indeed, but not bold or unsophisticated. 080308

Held directly up to the Miami sun there’s nothing but black, not even around the edge of the glass. Fat, almost iodiney nose, with accents of bicycle inner tube, burnt chocolate and a whack of alcohol. This stings. It has a smokey taste - very intense - with rich roast, wood, and a big fat alcohol finish. Really, it’s all intensity and not an ounce of nuance. Not well made at all. After a couple of drops it gets obnoxious.

RB#4600: 37.5 cL bottle. Pours pitch black with a creamy dense chocolate brown head. Fruity and dense roasted malt aroma. Bite from alcohol in the eyes. Sweet and fruity flavour with a heavy roasted malt flavour following. Impressive sweet flavour with cane sugar and somewhat else - kind of off. Roasted barley acidic dense flavour in addition. Sweet and fruity into the finish with a distinct burning feel. Utterly unbalanced. Has all the ingredienses yet not in a nice blend. :( I did enjoy the experience - although this is tough one.