Mikkeller 黑 / Black

Mikkeller
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Imperial Stout
Copenhagen V, Denmark

’07 bottle pours engine oil black, light mocha head with sticky golden glass coating. aroma, lots of soy, dark fruits, some charred/burnt malts. flavor, lots of dark fruits, soy level is a lot more subdued than anticipated in aroma, mouthfeel hints toward a more pungent port-wine like feel followed by mild char/ashy finish. Beer is not the mess I had anticipated, big boozy, bold, char was mild, plenty of dark fruits, dark sugar, hints of yeast, licorice, slow sipper. Would not go through a bottle myself, share this one with at least 3 other people. Tasty, but more a one time experience.

A: Pours a deep dark black. Small mocha head, no retention or lace. S: Smoke, ash, char, soy. T: Nice balance of sweet and char. Cane sugar and brown sugar up front. The back end is earthy tar, smoke, and lots of char. Strong notes of burnt coffee, and a bit of alcohol burn. M: Full in body, bitter finish. D: Not drinkable, but very interesting and dare I say good.

38cl, new exclusive Danish brew Anno 2008, from Slijterij van Bergen Eindhoven, very complex sweet Stout, yet too heavy, not balanced, hazy, nearly no head, very good brew, but very expensive, WOW!

A great super thick stout in all area. Lots of chewy flavor. Actually doesn’t seem like the alcohol is at 17.5%, more like 10 or so. An expensive beer for sure, but it made a great finish to the Christmas party!

Bottle from a couple years ago. Sort of syrupy pour, black in color with no head. No carbonation visible. Aroma is pretty strong, mostly alcohol, and astringent bitterness (from coffee / roast etc). Flavor is a little chocolately, strong alcohol, and astringent bitterness. Very dry beer overall and a little sugar could probably go a long way for the palate on this one. Finish lingers with roasted bitterness.

375 ml corked botttle. An opaque black beer with a very small, but never totally disappearing brown head. The aroma is very strong, heavily malty with notes of roasted grain, coffee, dark chocolate, alcohol and a just a hint of soy sauce. Overall quite pleasant nose. The flavour is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Good complexity, creamy and only lightly syrupy. Fully body, average carbonation, very long finish with high bitterness, highly alcoholic. I didn’t know what to expect before opening this beer and I was a little bit sceptic, now I think this is surely a worthy beer, not the best in this style or from this brewery, but a worthy product.

aroma was like barrel aged soy sauce, with chocolate malty undertones. poured black with a dark brown head that stayed with the whole beer. taste was incredible! very sweet, followed by chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, soy sauce (much less than the aroma), wow. it really is crazy, but so so good. full bodied and creamy with a long lasting bitter, roasty finish.

My Bottom Line:
This Mega Imperial Stout remains a noble sipper despite its heft, aligning plenty of dark chocolate and caramel malt flavors which end up in a gripping roasted malt bitterness, itself emboldened by poignant alcohol.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam skirts the darkness.
-The body is thankfully not too heavy, making the mouthfeel rather classy.
-A touch of elderberry-like fruitiness works quite well with the malt profile and the alcohol vapors.
-That intense finish is a tad too much to make me want to revisit this beer often.

Bottle.