Mikkeller Black Hole

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

Bottle. Pours a deep black with a very thin brown head. Just a bit of lacing. The aroma is roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate. The flavor is very deep, with a bit of bitterness. Roasted malts, coffee, and a nice bitter finish. A very big beer, with no smoothness, which is perfect for this style. Very well made

Bottle courtesy of jsquire at bdigi66’s. Small tan head that mostly diminished, spotty amounts of lacing, opaque, and a black hue. Nose was that of molasses, coffee, roasty, dark chococlate, some vanilla, and malt. The coffee really took a front seat with the flavor with the others mentioned in the nose taking a back seat. Quite tasty! Smooth mouthfeel and medium in body. Very quaffable, easy to drink, has a nice warming sensation as it warmed up, would definitely drink again if it came my way, and worthy of a try IMO. Thanks again jsquire for the opportunity to rate this beer!

375ml bottle.

Pours a jet black with a nice rich brown head.

Aroma of malt, chocolate and coffee. The aroma isn’t as strong as I’d thought it would be but it still smells okay.

Taste of chocolate, coffee, malt and acidic fruit hints. The acidic fruit hints really are off balance and take away from the other flavors in this beer.

I wanted to like this beer, but eboats is right, this isn’t a 4.0 beer.
Instead it’s a $10 disappointment.

Not a terrible brew by any means, but from what I understand batch 1 and the batch that made it over to the us in 375ml bottles are different beasts entirely.

Bottled. Poured black with a dark brown head. Aroma was acidic coffee. Flavor was acidic coffee and pretty flat. Some chocolate flavors, but mostly just a flat overly acidic beer with too much coffee in a bad way. I love coffee in beer, but this one was just really off on the flavor.

375ml Bottle $10.99 West Lakeview Mikkeller Black Hole pours, well, like the name implies. Not a trace of light comes through even when backlit. The mocha head grew to a hefty one plus finger finger billowy head. As the head slowly fell to a respectable cap it left patchy lacing on it’s way. Each drink leaves drink lines piled on top of the last. This is an excellent looking stout! The aroma is loaded with dark berries. This is supposedly brewed with coffee but the only coffee I can pick up is stale. The berries were inviting upfront when a little colder but as this stout warms there’s the unmistakable aroma of burnt rubber wafting through the air. The rubber combined with an overpowering alcohol presence leaves me wishing I cracked open something else for the evening...Coming back to the aroma. As it warms even more the rubber and alcohol are still there but fall to the back and cocoa powder comes forward which improves things but doesn’t make up for the burnt rubber. The flavor, while better than the aroma, still falls short of expectations. The berries play a big role in the throughout but I just can’t get around the burnt rubber and overabundance of alcohol. There’s really not much to say about the flavor except it’s just not very good! The mouthfeel falls far short as well! It’s watery and thin with huge amounts of alcohol fumes rising throught the mouth and nose. Now don’t get me wrong. I believe a solid shot of alcohol often enhances big stouts such as this. Unfortunately the alcohol crosses the line in this case. I wouldn’t drink this again and there’s no way I would ever recommend it to anyone. I’m going to finish the bottle for the sake of keeping an open mind but this is a lost cause. The initial pour was good and I was anxious for a drink, it was downhill after that. This is my second beer from Mikkeller. The first being Beer Geek Breakfast. I thought that was underwhelming and was hesitant to try another Mikkeller brew. Unfortunately, I bit the bullet and bought Black Hole. It not only left me wanting something different but put a dent in my wallet as well! 3/7/08

bottle via MrManning, thanks! jet black pour, very dark brown head. Aroma is loaded with coffee, roasted/burnt malt, some slight ripe fruit, with alcohol in the mix. Flavour is very very roasty, a good maltiness, some very biter hops, and loads of coffee in the aftertaste with a wicked bitter finish. THe 14% is VERY well hidden, and this is a very complex but very enjoyable beer.

Bottle at Kulminator, thanks to Mes for buying it. Stunning US hop aroma. Body really falls away though. Too much soy sauce for me. Thin on the tongue. Too many hops for the malts too. Really lovely aroma, but the mouthfell falls away and hot hop on end is too much. Must’ve liked it though to give it 3.8/5

I’ve been hoping to get a chance to try this for a while, I’ve always like the original bottle picture. 12.7 oz bottle. Pour is black with a thin brown head. Aromas of roasted malt, chocolate covered raisins and a bit of bitter coffee. Big coffee taste up front, some smoke, chocolate and some sweet fruit. A little more smoke and sweet fruit in the finish. Nice and warming. Big body, noticeable alcohol. I like the complexity of this, it is a little more than just chocolate and coffee.