Mikkeller Black Hole

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

This is a really tasty imperial stout. Very black. Good head. Anise and very mild charcoal. Some chocolate. Some yeastiness. Noticeable hops, but like in more legitimate imperial stouts, the malt flavors dominate so that it’s just a faint essence of flavor and bitterness. The body could perhaps be a little creamier, but that’s a very mild complaint.

Pours out pitch black with a darker than usual tan head which did not stay around for long. The taste was a bit bitter (like overoasted coffee) and quite thin in body for a beer of 13.1% alc. and nothing overly complex...perhaps it needs aging as I assume my bottle was very fresh, will re-visit my other bottle next winter.

375ml bottle shared with Jan Primus, Jan’s bottle, thanks Jan! Pours a really nice opaque brown with a large browinish tan coloured head. This was an interesting one. I’ll give it one thing, never have I had a beer so alcoholic yet so relatively easy to drink. It was sort of a weird mix of an ok Imperial Stout and Stone Runeation. That is my own bizarre perception, take it as that. A very hop-defined one, same sort of tongue-assaulting bitterness, but not without being interesting. I don’t know really; I’d drink it again, but it’s not really all that great at the same time. Still decent though, I look forward to more Scandinavian brews in my future! (sticking with a large part of my heritage).

Bottle, 13.1%. Sweet and roasted aroma with a nice, grassy hoppiness. Very black colour, small fizzy brown head. Oily mouthfeel. The flavour is very roasted with roast barley bitterness. Also quite sweet with a grassy hoppiness. There is a sharp alcohol bite at the end, to be expected, of course. Perhaps a bit unbalanced, but it could be worse, and I do not really mind unbalanced beers.

Pours a dark black with a diminishing mocha head. Chocolate, roast, bitter coffee, and slight carmel on the nose. The flavour is bitter sweet with lots of roasted malt and chocolate along with bitter coffee, some smoke, alcohol, hops, dark fruits and liquorice. An excellent beer.

Meh. Sort of too dark for effective tasting. Granted it was my third at the Ueber-Tavern, but my impression is that is very dense like Dark Force only without that last minute coffee zing to bring the taste back from dirt. Somebody even mentioned Dark Force at the bar that night... curious...

Bottle. Aroma hints at the considerable strength you’re about to experience. Pours a black, oily consistency without a lot of head. Mouthfeel is oily as well. Very strong. Prevailing flavor characteristics are molasses, black licorice and soy sauce, although, like a red wine, it improves after awhile after opening. Quite frankly not my favorite. Similar in flavor, albeit at a lower alcohol concentration, to O’so Belgian Dark, which I actually somewhat prefer. Black Hole is an alcohol bomb and the primary culprit to the headache I now feel the day after.

bottle. poured a dard brown color. strong coffee flavors and malts. it did not blow me away, but it was pretty good. I would have it again.