Mikkeller Black Hole

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

Shared with sebletitje. Extremely good stout. Pouts pitch black like a Dark Lord with flavors of mollases, roasted coffee, and a light hint of cocoa. Rich and smooth.

Pours pitch black, no head. This beer got better after a few sips. It starts of with a smell of soy sauce that leaves you wondering where the coffee might be. It does get a lot better after a few sips when the maltiness and the aroma of coffee/mocha sets in. Could hardly notice it was a 14% beer. A complex and interesting beer to say the least.

(Bottle, BBE 14/08/11) Pitch black. Small brown head which disappeared quickly. Vanilla, coffee and roasted malts in nose. Slight carbonation in dryi palate. Taste: acidy red wine, coffee, roasted malts, alcohol. Some vanilla. Bitter aftertaste. (I am suspecting that there was something wrong with the bottle I drunk.) (My rating was 3.5) Re-rate on 2008-07-22: Now, the acidiness is not there, so this bottle must be in better condition. Dark chocolate, roasted malts, bitterness and alchol form majority of the taste. Some vanilla and coffee, too. Quite balanced taste.

Bouteille 375ml (13.1% abv), courtoisie de Hogtownharry. De couleur noire et opaque. Nez de malt assez rôti (notes de brûlé), de mélasse, moyen de houblon herbeux, de chocolat noir et de café, léger d’alcool et avec des notes fruitées (raisins). Moyenne-ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et une texture riche, sirupeuse et légèrement crémeuse. Moyen goût fruité (raisins vineux, notes de cerises et de figues) accompagné de notes de réglisse noire et des traces boisées (bois brûlé) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel s’enchaîne rapidement un goût amer de malt très rôti (légèrement brûlé), un moyen goût de chocolat noir, un léger goût de mélasse sucrée et avec des notes de pain grillé. Parallèlement, l’on retrouve une une amertume asséchante de houblon herbeux (également de faibles notes résineuses et des traces de thé des bois) ainsi qu’un moyen goût d’alcool réchauffant jusqu’en finale, où on note également la présence d’un goût de café espresso ainsi que des notes de noix grillées. Post-goût long et moyennement sec, amer de rôti, de houblon herbeux, d’alcool, moyen de chocolat noir et de café ainsi qu’avec des notes fruitées (moût de raisins).

Bottled. Pitch black with a small, beige head. Slightly salty with a lot of coffee and chocolate and some dry cocoa.

Bottle 55/100. Black pour with a tan head. Very smokey aroma with a malt sweetness to it. Coffee and spice. Spice and some spice. Dry and slightly astringent. Very good.

Honestly this stuff is not very good. Dark pour, almost no head. Alcohol is rather present. There really isn’t much going on here. Not at all complex, doesn’t have any of the characteristics I want in an Imperial. There is a strange apple like flavor, I dunno what that’s about. It’s not creamy, the body is dull and somewhat thin. No coffee flavor that I can find. No chocolate either. Harsh and unpleasant. It’s not 100% terrible, but I can’t see myself finishing the bottle. I dunno, maybe it’s me, but I didn’t like it at all. I find it amazing that anyone likes this.

Ristet malt, bitter mørk chokolade, kaffe og frisk citrus humle. Fyldig krop, En anelse alkohol, men ikke meget for 14%) Gemmer den anden et år mere