Mikkeller Black Hole

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

Colore nero. Piacevole aroma di malto tostato e luppolo. Buon corpo,in bocca scalda , la forza e l’equilibrio perfetto di sapori, caramello, cioccolato e malto tostato, liscio, direi ottima.

Light nutty brown pour w/moderately thick & resilient mocha head, HUGE aroma w/ dried fruits, some cognac, confection, lots of other elements but little roasted malt, flavor is complex but very sweet, almost cloying, with some bitterness @ finish, mouthfeel is very smooth, velvety, alcohol is nearly imperceptible

Bottle, $10.49. Pours viscous black with a thin tan head. Mature nose, a muscular chocolate-espresso, licorice, rum cake. Opening flavors are dessert-like sweet chocolate liquer, baileys, dark chocolate raspberry truffles. Am I describing a confection or a beer? And the coffee! Hits you by the mid-palate, builds into a coffee-and-cream blend with surprising clarity. The body of Black Hole is not actually as thick as one would figure, and the finish lingers lightly dry. Overall, this beer manages a rather unique take on a Imperial Stout (namely sweet, coffee n’ cream), big on flavor and smooth, oh so smooth.

Bottle. Black and viscous with a beige head. Aromas are roast coffee with lots of herbal and peaty smokiness. Light berries with dark chocolate. Flavours are berries and coffee with sweet caramel and raisins. Bready yeast with dark chocolate. Very boozy in a nice way. Good stuff.

500 ml bottle
After somehow accumulating three bottles of this over the last two years I finally opened one to share with others. The reward was a decent imperial stout although I am not a huge fan of the booziness that usually comes at 13% and higher.

Aroma / Appearance - Deep black as is usual for a high ABV imperial stout the body swirled slowly around the glass like watered down motor oil. Smoky chocolate, licorice / anise, roasted malt, and blackberries form a rich experience which still somehow falls short of other examples of the style.

Flavor / Palate - Heavy chocolate malt takes over. Only after a minute or so is it possible to pick up on the anise and coffee. Eventually the booziness takes over resulting in a warm finish. Even after two years it is a bit hot but I am not certain more time will improve it at all.

A pitch black colored beer, with a thick foamy dark beige/brown colored beer. The aroma of chocolate, roast malts, some sweet dark fruits. An extremely taste of pure chocolate with dark fruits and notes of alcohol. Also hints of liquorice juice, The aftertaste is bitter with sweet and alcohol.

Rate number 500! I’ll briefly take a break from my Eurotrip beer ratings to get the big five-double ohh out of the way in style with something big and dark. 375ml green bottle with a plastic cork, as is expected with Mikkeller. Serving straight from the cellar. BB 01/07/12, but I can’t wait. Cork proves quite difficult to get out, and a small pop upon opening might explain why. Regardless, i’m presented with a sinfully dark beer in my goblet. A centimetre of coffee-milk brown head sits atop a pitch-black body...no light gets through this one! Legs cling to the glass, almost like a port. There’s alot going on on the nose, several layers of complexity; sharp citrusy American-style hops bring lots of bitter orange and grapefruit rind, roasted malts percieved as very rich dark chocolate, tar, espresso. The alcohol is not shy and adds another layer of complexity with pepper and vodka undertones. And there’s still backnotes of dried fruit, sherry and rich earthy spice that want to break free, but they might require time to evolve. The body is joyous, luciously rich, thick like a milk-shake yet sticky like a late-harvest dessert wine. And then it all dries out with a counterbalancing roasted malt and alcohol drying astrigency. Low carbonation is quite welcome; I have a feeling any higher might destroy my taste buds! About the flavour, it is VERY sweet. Parrallels between a sticky dessert wine come to mind, especially with notes of honey, citrus rind and raisin hitting the front of palate hard. Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceburg; 85% cocoa chocolate, rum, espresso, mollases, charred wood, prune, nutmeg, dark cherry. Anything that is dark and sweet, it’s in there. Alcohol gives a nice warmth to the belly. Very highly bitter coffee-like finish, feels like i’ve had some sort of liqueur coffee. Dessert white wine meets espresso? That might just be my comparison for the time being; two of my favourite beverages together! Probably not as smooth as other RIS, but geez, this really is tasty stuff isn’t it!

Bottle. Heavy malt aromas of toasted, molasses and dark bread, moderate resin, leather and earth for thehops and yeast, with background notes of prune, tar, vanilla and dark rum. Head is small, creamy with some larger bubbles, light brown, with fair lacing and good thick legs, and is almost fully diminishing. Color is black. Flavor starts heavily sweet and finishes moderately sweet and lightly bitter Palate is full, syrupy and silky and has an almost flat carbonation. A lively and very well crafted Imperial Stout, but a little too over the top on the sweetness for me.