Mikkeller 黑 / Black

Bottle 0,37ltr: Black brew with almost no but brown head. High in alcohol with an vine or liquor taste and an great stuff to got an good night rest. And the symbol means "Black" by the way.

charred and burnt to be angry with acid. flavors of salt and soy sauce. some added spice and fruit with a burning alcohol finish that starts pretty soon. different and demonstrative for sure it is of interest and perhaps delight to the weary of palate. flavor of cherry tobacco and cork hidden in the acid. thick dank and menacing in the pour with a whimper of a head.

My 100th Imperial Stout - not bad for a hop-head - was picked up at Binny’s Beverage Depot in Orland Park, Illinois. It poured out a thick dark brown that turned black in the glass, briefly capped by a small bubbly head that rapidly reduces to a film and a slender ring. I’m intrigued by those who look at a glass of what essentially looks like motor oil and go, "Oh yeah! That’s definitely a 5/5 look!" Me, I rate it a 3/5, the ale looking much like what I’d expect an ultra-strong Stout to look like. The heavy alcohol content gives a strong medicinal twist to the nose - and my broken schnozz really needs no more twisting. Beyond that it smells of bittersweet chocolate, burnt barley, licorice, grilled prunes, and charred elm twigs. Interesting blending of flavors. It starts hot with alcohol and bitter with charcoal. Angry dark caramel, bitter chocolate, and aggravated dried dark fruit follow after. The smoke of burning tar and damp cherry wood join the fray. ABC licorice and more alcohol finish it off. The finish is sweet with dark malt, bitter with something that didn’t want to be burned, and hot with alcohol. This was more fun to drink than it was enjoyable to drink.

Bottle shared with reakt. Thanks, Angelo!!! Pours pure black with a beige head. Aroma is Isopryl alcohol candy, red prune wine, and sweet cake. Flavor is chocolate scotch peat with fruit syrup. Full mouthfeel. Flavors linger 30 seconds after each sip. So good I need a priest to forgive me.

12.7 oz bottle: Aroma is wonderful. Roasted malt, almost a wine like quality to it, caramel, chocolate, lots and lots of dark fruit, and somewhat of a burn characteristic. Pours a pitch black with a medium sized tan head that lingers around for a while. Taste is deep dark malt characteristics, chocolate, a tobacco taste, somewhat sweet, and very layered. Palate is like I said in the taste layers. On the initial sip its alcohol up front and a smokiness, then forms into a malt characteristic, then you get the chocolate, and a aftertaste of a lingering dark fruit with roasted malt . Overall, this is quite complex and a top notch Imperial Stout in my honest opinion. Cheers!

Had this one in the fridge for awhile and felt i had to psyche myself up a bit before i could finally crack it open. Once i did pop the bastard little cork, i carefully tilted the mystical bottle and poured myself a sipping glass of black wonder. Witnessed a ruby dark black that shifted to pitch midnight tone once fully poured. No head rested on top, just a glass of "what the hell am i about to drink?" Shifted my nose towards the rim and was treated to a very complex array of smells...cherries, port, brandy, raisin, tar, cigar, pavement, grease, fig and plum. Taste was amazing...dropping (not just hints) but full blown novels containing roasted cold chestnuts, almonds, various forms of candied fruit, fig cake, whiskey pies, grandaddy’s rum, copper (like the taste of a penny). Flavour was very complex, somewhat overwhelming, highly alcoholic, and strangely, not hard to drink and enjoy. The finish is a real kicker, settling back in the inner valleys of the downtown part of the tongue and, like tiny scorpions, just sitting there for a while and lashing their tails...what a beautiful sting. By the end of this bottle I felt like I was living inside of a Melvins record.

This poured black in color with a thin to moderate brown head of fine bubbles. The nose was filled with aromas of dark fruit, chocolate, roasted coffee and alcohol. In the mouth it was full-bodied, concentrated, sweet and alcoholic. The alcohol really pokes out in this one, almost like a cocktail. It is quite smooth with great depth of flavor but the alcohol and burnt flavors are a bit distracting. While drinking you come to terms with the alcohol but it becomes almost ponderous on the palate.

Pours out black with a small lacing head. Aroma is of roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, some dark fruits and some alcohol. Taste is complex and definitely full bodied. Roasted malt, chocolate earth, smoke, dried fruit and some lingering sweetness, for being so strong on the alcohol it did finish boozy, but not as much as I would have expected, then again this bottle was well over a year old.