Mikkeller 黑 / Black

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

Bottled
Pitch black, small brown head. Strange aroma: black tyre, alcohol, brandy, licorice - very unique. Flavor has tyre-rubber, sherry, licorice and alcohol - it is a volcano explosion in the finish. Some sweetness too. Aftertaste is loooong, roasted and alcoholic. This is demanding beer, propably changes after few years cellaring, but now it is a bit too much to drink liquid tyre. I can’t say that I enjoyed it.

Bottle, big thanks to henrikb! Shared with Traci on her birthday. Deep dark iron black, lots of burnt tan head that sticks around. Intense cocoa aroma, like taking the lid off the cocoa tin, inserting your nose, and inhaling powder clear up to your brain. A lot of alcohol there too, but of a clean sort: vodka good enough to drink on its own. Some raisins. The smell of new trainers. To taste: anything other than a very delicate sip is very hot. But with a gentle sip, rolled around on the tongue, there is a lovely vanilla and melted chocolate flavor, spoiled a bit by kind of an ashy follow up note. Some lingering resiny hops. This strikes me as a beer in adolescence. The interesting bright notes it may have had fresh have faded, and what’s present now hasn’t mellowed enough to be a great old beer. In a few years, I’ll take out the other bottle Henrik sent my way, and would not at all be surprised to find something sublime. As is, interesting, but noisy and unbalanced.

Bottle (375ml) shared with HogTownHarry & garthicus -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours black with a small somewhat-lasting creamy light-brown head. Aroma of alcohol along with notes of coffee, roasted malt and fruit -- but mostly alcohol. Flavour: Holy shit, is this moonshine? It starts relatively normal with some hops and espresso but then BANG!, there’s an incredibly long boozy / bitter finish that doesn’t end. This is a big boozy bitter bastard! It’s way too intense for me. Try as I might, that’s the highest I can rate this.

Bottle. Big alcohol on the nose. Also some molasas and tobacco, coffee roast. Black body with dark tan head. Thick impy stout flavos of coffee, and wet tobacco. Nothing to really peak my interest here than normal stout with abundance of alcohol.

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.

Deep yet penetrable brown. Sticky ring of head forms as the grayish bubbles quickly disperse. Aroma reveals notes of figs, molasses, tobacco, caramelized custard, rum-steeped raisins and a hint of vanilla, cola and scorched cocoa. Soft, snug carbonation. Deceptively full in body. Captivatingly immense and viscous from the start, though a spirited surge of alcohol briefly offsets the gooey residuals by zinging the palate. Deep, unrelenting crisp char stings the tongue and amplifies the vinous qualities. Added layers of texture come by way of bread and caramel which gently cushion the prickly alcohol and stark burnt-cookie bite. Clean attenuation coupled with a salty bitterness, reminiscent of salmiakki, keeps the high concentration of molasses-drizzled toffee sweetness from overtiring the palate. Assorted berry and braised beef snippets impart deep-rooted pockets of juiciness and elegance to other otherwise full-on assault of alcohol and molasses. Deceptively enormous roast continuously clasps the tongue with its snappy bitterness, but takes a backseat to the clingy residuals. Finishes sweetly portlike and borderline medicinal as the insistent sweetness links up with the astringent ashy char. Whisper of espresso and bitter chocolate lingers. Really a mixed bag for me. While it does possess some elegance and refinement - particularly in the carefully placed fruity esters and fairly well-layered maltiness - the brutish char and omnipresent sweetness need to show more restraint. On top of that, this bottle is not even a year old yet is already showing signs of oxidation (cardboard, namely), and, consequently, is fairly dull and more astringent than it was a few months ago.

Bottle: Black, no head, no lacing. Nose of bright alcohol, slight deet, paint thinner and lots of astringency and more astringency. Sharp, strong. Lots of alcohol and astringency. Not my favorite kind of stout.

Thanks to hopdog sharing this one. Pours dark motor oil black with a medium creamy/bubbly deep tan head that left some lacing. Aroma of intense alcohol, floral, very fruity, roasted malt, coffee, some chocolate and the hops are still there. Flavor of roasted malt, alcohol, some fruity notes, nuts, fresh hops are still there and molasses. Might want to hold for 3-6 years instead of the 1-3, this alcohol is intense. I guess I’m one of the sissies... 黑