Mikkeller Black Hole

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

Courtesy of Styles

Bottle: The aroma consists of chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, coffee, fruit, and alcohol. It pours a dark brown with no transparency and a small beige head and spotty lacing. The flavor starts with chocolate, grape, and roasted malt. The finish is very hoppy with lots of citrus and piny hops with light alcohol. Coffee comes more in the aftertaste. Medium-full bodied with a slick mouthfeel. 7-4-8-4-17

The aroma has lots of chocolate, plums, roasted malt, alcohol, grapefruit, caramel, and light coffee. It pours a dark brown, virtually black, with a moderate brown head with decent retention and spotty lacing. The flavor starts with a quick dose of caramel, chocolate, and roasted malt. The finish has lots of grapefruit hops, pine, moderate coffee, moderate alcohol, and a hint of smoke and wood. A little too hot in the finish right now. In my opinion, this definitely needs some aging in order to smooth out and mesh the flavors. Full bodied with a slick oily mouthfeel. Will have to revisit again after it has sat a while. 7-4-7-4-15

Beer Rating 2000!!! and my 180th Big Beer! Thanks to Jason for sharing this! As Jason states, the number is smeared a bit, but I tend to lean towards #47/100. The beer pours to a an ultra black body with a creamy dark brown head and nice lacing. The aroma is rich dark and milk chocolate, oaken vanilla, light notes of banana likely due to the honey. Very nicely blended anise, roasted black patent malt, and richly complex. The flavor is rich, sweet milk and dark chocolates, roasted black patent malt, anise, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate oatmeal brownies. The palate is rich, creamy, full bodied, and the alcohol is nicely covered. Rich, but when doing a side-by-side with Darklord 2004, the mouth feel isn’t nearly as thick.

Bottle from the wife for Christmas gift. Alcohol on the nose along with an unique aroma couldn’t figure out but thought of smell of new leather jacket. Sweet roasted malt flavor along with a sweet licorice candy flavor as well. Smotth on the palate concidering the alcohol presence in the beer. Has warming effect on the body and may need to have some asprin handy.

500 ml bottle, #20 of 100, shared with mj and lilannie. Pours the most darkest black body under what must be one of the darkest brown heads I’ve ever seen. Black Hole is indeed a very fitting name. A good one finger in height at first with a little bit of coaxing, that retained as a thin film of tiny bubbles for the duration of the glass. The nose is a mix of heavy roast, dark fruits, light molasses, coffee with sugar, moderate alcohol vapors, fudge cake, a hint of licorice, and for some reason a touch of wet leather. Flavor is heavily roasted up front with lots of dark fruits and burnt caramel. Dark bitter bakers chocolate with a little licorice and slightly old scorched coffee. There’s an earthy yeasty chalkiness that I noticed as I finished the last of my glass. The mouthfeel is quite thick and viscous with nice soft carbonation and a very long lingering finish. Very minimal alcohol hotness on the finish despite the 12+% ABV. Overall, this was quite good. I hope to god that the next batch, which is destined to hit the US is as good as the original.

Rerate, 50cL bottle, sample #11 in a blind imperial stout tasting. Pours a murky, chocolate brown color; light tan head with patchy lacing. Lots of boozy dried red fruits and citrus / grapefruit hoppiness in the aroma; oily red fruit. Tons of dense, dried red fruits in the mouthfeel; boozy fruits, a yeastiness coming through; emphasis on fruit and grapefruit. Strong, chewy hop presence. 8.4.8.4.15=3.9

Rating #200. TITW Part Deux - 50cL bottle (#46/100) courtesy of sk8viking. Thanks, Rene!! Ridiculously dark center; dark tan head. Very aromatic nose: slightly funky, chocolate, sweet port, vegetal notes. Huge, viscous, bitter-chocolate mouthfeel: toasty vanilla, dark chocolate, licorice, long lingering bitterness; charred and burnt malts. Long bitter chocolate finish with plenty of vanilla oak. Incredibly dense and aromatic. 8.4.9.5.18=4.4

Bottle shared by Sliffy at Columbus Tasting 7 - Thanks Dan! - Poured black with a short tan head and a little lace. Aromas of chocolate, dark fruit, and a good amount of coffee. Flavor is chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and a good amount of wood. Amazingly full smooth oily palate that is verys oft in the mouth. Low carbonation and full bodied. Very nice brew!

August 2011 Cork Date; Sampled January 2008
Pours with an initial fat one-finger thick, creamed-chocolate tan colored head that sits atop an opaque, black colored brew. This brew is clearly coffee influenced, as I pour it I get that distinct aroma of burnt berries that is often found in coffee. Over the top roast aromatics make this smell like cold, concentrated espresso, heavily burnt grain husks and sharp, roast acidic notes. In addition to the burnt berry notes, there is a touch of something like deeply burnt raisins, though overall not much of the fruit character is noticeable in the aroma. The aroma is actually quite harsh; it is a bit too sharp, acidic and burntly astringent for my preferences. The aroma sort of has a burnt vegetal note towards the finish, or perhaps it is a burnt plastic phenolic.

Somewhat lighter in heft than I was expecting, in fact this really seems to accentuate (or exacerbate depending on your perspective) the sharp, acidic and burnt flavors of this brew. The burnt flavors show from beginning to end; they considerably dry out this brew, especially in the finish where the tongue is left with an acidic, dry, charcoal note that has one looking for some refreshment. Up front this brew shows some promise as the sweeter malt notes contribute flavors of dark chocolate, burnt prunes, and a somewhat creamy mouthfeel, but by the finish the beer has just become so harsh and astringent. The coffee notes and burnt malt notes are huge here; this is so much harsher / acidic / burnt than the worst pull of espresso that I have ever had. The overbearing burnt charcoal notes really effect the mouthfeel of this brew, where it should be rich and creamy feeling it ends up thin and flabby.

The twin, roasted combination of blackened grain and roast coffee is just too much for my assaulted taste buds. This is possibly the harshest finishing beer I have ever had. The assault is just punishing and is not even really enjoyable in its unrelenting character. I wonder if this will mellow out any in the next ten years? Well I do have another bottle and that will surely sit for quite some time before I crack another. Harsh enough that it feels like a hangover waiting to happen, but all of that carbonized malt & coffee will probably leave me quite filtered and purified.

Bottle from bleeng at the December Houston tasting. Thanks! Pours thin and dark with an aroma of bourbon-soaked chocolate coffee beans. Flavor is earthy brown nut with a buttery alcohol finish. Average mouthfeel. Good, but not great.