Mikkeller 黑 / Black

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

A pitch black colored beer, with a dark beige/brown head. The aroma of alcohol, dar fruits and notes of porto.cognac. The taste of a lot of alcohol, with porto and cognac. It’s dry bitter like expresso. The aftertaste of dark malts, alcohol and bitterness.

Bottle. Pours pitch black with a great, big brown head which sort of ‘rains down’. Some lacing. Powerful sweet aroma; kind of tears up the nose at first, before you get used to it. The initial flavour is very sweet – feels almost like drinking sugar – and it’s very dominating; thus, the ‘real’ flavour is in the finish, which is quite complex with bitter chocolate, licorice and apple. Feels dry and has a sherry/dessert wine-feel to it. This is some crazy shit. At first I could only drink this in small sips, but it became easier the more I had had :-). The beer is a bit hard to describe as such because it’s so overwhelming. The high alcohol content is what makes this beer interesting; it’s not a masterpiece in itself or anything – actually not too well balanced, but the overall feel of it is great, because of the alcohol. I’d drink it again. 05-04-08.

375mL bottle, at least a year old, poured into a tulip. No surprise that it pours pitch black and produces a small but very creamy tan head that shows good staying power and leaves plenty of boozy legs on the way down. The aroma is pretty strong with lots of sweetness and alcohol. There is a heavily roasted espresso character with lots of burnt sugar and sweet dark fruits. It’s smells almost medicinal in the end but still ashy. Weird. If the aroma is strong, then the taste is downright overpowering, and not necessarily in a good way. The first sip is a blast of burnt chocolate malts, caramalized fruit and burnt coffee, but with a prevalent sweetness from the booze and sugar. Also some charred wood and smoke in the finish with a massive alcohol burn. Again, it gets almost medicinal in the finish, like cough syrup with a recently extinguished cigarette butt dropped in. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, thick, syrupy sweet and massively boozy. But still charred and ashy. I’m not exactly sure what to make of this one. There are definitely some good flavors in there, but the overall character is so ridiculously ashy and sweet altogether that my taste buds are left in shock. To say the drinkability is low would be a mild understatement. I need to go lie down....

Rating number 1100! Bottle, aged 1 year. Thick deep black pour with a small brown head that slowly fights it’s way to the top. Deep aroma of roasted malt and grain, licorice, dark ripe fruit, espresso, dark chocolate, and of course alcohol. Flavor is huge, roasty and a bit sweet at times. Alcohol is big and always present, but wasn’t as bothersome as I was expecting. Full and creamy mouthfeel. I was a little scared, but I could drink this stuff WAY more often. Very good!

Black pour with small brown head. Nose has chocolate, coffee and alcohol. Flavor is rich with a heavy roasted coffee, and bittersweet chocolate. Ultra full body that is filled with hop bitterness and a ton of alcohol. It finishes with a bit of tobacco.

Bottle from aplusbreaks. Pours very viscous, black with a a very thin, wispy, tan head. Specks of lace. Smells of super dark roasted malts, slightly sweet with some burnt scents and a bit of rubbing alcohol. Tastes super sweet and dark ripe/rotten fruity. Lots of roast and lots of alcohol. Slightly sour with a good amount of smoke as well. Full body, good carbonation. Sorry to say, that much like SA Triple Bock I am not a fan of this brew. It gives me the shivers.

Bottle. Black colour with large creamy brown fully lasting head. Malty aroma with notes of coffee. Powerful lasting flavor. Creamy palate.

Crushed with Jakebra. Thick and oily gives this bitch a 5 appearance. Very sweet on the nose and flavor. Coffee and dark chocolate as well, but sweet as hell. The finish goes from sweet to a huge rush of bittering hops that balances this incredibly well. Intimidating and kickass.