Mikkeller Black Hole

Gratis bottle from Rick. Opaque black pour into a snifter. Nice thick, creamy tan head that dissipates to to a fine layer. Great lacing that lasts. First thing you smell is coffee and a deep roast aroma. Initial taste had a great full mouthfeel that left a bit of a oily feeling. Little to no hop bitterness but the coffee taste lends a nice bitterness. The 14% ABV is hidden well until the swallow; you feel it going down and gives you a great feeling in your stomach. The low carbonation and toffee/caramel flavors mix well. To date, this is the best Imperial Stout I have tasted. Worth the price. As it warms, the bitterness is subsiding and has a nice vanilla flavor to compliment the coffee. Would love to try a cash version if it were ever available.

Flaske. Fantastisk duft på en kulsort øl med et fint lille skumhoved. Duften er en smule frugtagtig med en god del lakrids. Smagen er ekstrem. Meget brændt en del vanillie der evt. ville stå godt med en fadlagring? (Bare en ide) lidt chokolade. Eneste minus er at alkoholen slår for meget igennem, hvilket trækker 0,2-0,3 ned i min bog. Ellers taler tallene vidst for sig selv.

Black with medium brown head. Aroma is sweet with burned malt, liquerice and alcohol. Flavor is quite vinous and sweet with burned malt, chocolate vanilla and liquerice. Finishes bitter. Rock on!

375 ml . Opaque black with a medium, mostly lasting head. Aroma is coffee, chocolate, citrus, and slight uric acid. Flavors of coffee, cocoa, citrus herb hops, and slight alcohol. Smooth medium body is watery and finishes dry.

Bottle. Pours a pitch black body and a thin tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee,chocolate, caramel, fruit, and alcohol. Taste of coffee, chocolate, roasted malt and soy sauce. Slightly bitter hop finish with some alcohol.

Black with no head. Aroma is coffee, licorice, smoke, very roasty, caramel. Taste is roasty with coffee, a light citrus type tartness to it, cream, and dark chocolate. Good stuff.

Not as dark as the hole implies, brown seeps out the edges of the glass. Coffee and licorice are extremely evident through the inhale. The palate is extremely dry, almost chalky...definitely not my favorite imperial stout. Speedway puts this one to shame and I wish I had a bottle of Surly Darkness or Dark Lord to compare. Not something I would drink regularly and I am a HUGE fan of the style. Good but definitely doesn’t warrant it’s status in the top 100.

Green glass, corked and caged. Nose is surprisingly hoppy for an impy, otherwise draped in licorice and anise; a deep, heavy roast with plenty of salt and perhaps too much black malt. Excellent espresso notes. Pitch pour with a rocky but short-lived dark brown head. Taste is both brusque and burlesque, dark and bone-dry, bitter and extremely biting – really rips into the throat, and that’s not from alcohol. Really one for the big boys to play with. Lesser anice and licorice and salt, but still cruelly potent. Full body with evident alcohol. Aftertaste is likewise brutal and viciously dry, with a nice, long coating of espresso. The name is certainly well-chosen. Not as satisfying or drinkable as, say, the Dark Lord I had a week ago, but still pretty amazing!