Mikkeller Black Hole

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

Thanks Hogtownharry, shared with Harry too. Thick black pour, brown medium head which reduces quickly but is easily agitated back to glory. Coffee - baileys aroma. Coffee-toffee-christmas pudding flavour - raisens, cherry and a large alcohol finish - PHEW! A big beer indeed, thanks for sharing Harry.

The body is BLACK and only the very edge has something yellowish brown to it, the head is huge, thick and brown and ends up as a creamy edge on the glass; When the bottle is opened hops are blowing out of the bottle and swirling around the bottle neck, when poured the nose is almost to much, it is very, very big, concentrated and packed with all kind of stuff. I actually had to go trough 3 different glasses to find a glass that didnt concentrate the aromas so much that they where to powerful to actually put my nose to, without it hurting to much. There are so many elements to this nose, I thought I was about to have a vulgar sweet US-style imperial stout, but there is so much more to it. It starts with a lot of spicy sharp notes; I think the alcohol is one, the hop is another, it is so concentrated that it is like chewing fresh pine needles or even like licking resin, there is super concentrated espresso, I am sure this is something like drinking an espresso trough your nose (all these aromas actually hurt a bit). There are also warm spicy sweets parts, like the spicy part of sweet spicy honey, the spicy part of very dark brown sugar. I could go on forever, but there is something easy about this nose as well, when you know the ingredients, you can take it apart quite easily and actually find the clarity of all the individual components. What makes it special is how well they fit together and how explosive this combination becomes; The texture of the body is super soft, more oily than velvety, without being sticky, there is no carbonation at all, only a slight bitterness and an acidy tickling on your thong; At first when swallowed it is quite salty, the salty feel lasts and some bitterness enters after only a very short time. The alcohol gives a slight burn and a mass of hard to take apart aromas is filling up your mouth as much as you have to mix it with a breath of fresh air to be able to survive. Aromas of coffee and used coffee beans, the smell of dried wheat, lots of hop some how you can really smell the hop oils, vanilla but as the sharpness that bits your mouth if you are stupid enough to bite a vanilla pod. WOW, I dont want to say anymore, Thanks, or maybe DONT BREW THIS BEER AGAIN IT IS TOTALLY SICK :-)

Poured a pitch black color with almost no head. Aroma is of strong coffee and wine. Flavor is also very strong coffee flavor but with a nice bitter dryness which is also a bit fruity. The alcohol is extremely well hidden in this great beer.

Bottle, courtesy of alexanderj. Black pour, with thin brown head that dissipated quickly. Small amount of coffee grounds in the aroma, mostly roasted malt, and some wine-like alcohol. Sort of heavy carbonation initially. Flavor is roasted malt, coffee grounds, alcohol, general astringency. Sort of just seems over-the-top.

Green bottle, 375 ml, best before 14/08/11, via Importations Privées Bièropholie, savoured on July 4 2008; eye: black, cappuccino head that turns into a ring; nose: nice roasted malt, vanilla, liquorice, soya sauce, resinous hops, light pine; mouth: starts with a wait, then roasted malt, strong coffee, black liquorice, soya sauce, alcohol is almost not perceptible, resinous hops, good presence of pine, finale in roasted malt cappuccino pine and a bit of soya sauce, mildly salty, rich, full body, smooth, mildly sweet, rather bitter, slightly oily, vinous, sticky, average carbonation, light astringency; overall: quite good FRANÇAIS Bouteille verte, 375 ml, meilleure avant 14/08/11, via Importations Privées Bièropholie, savourée le 4 juillet 2008; œil : noire, opaque, mousse cappuccino qui se transforme en un petit anneau; nez : bon malt torréfié, vanille, réglisse, sauce soya, houblon résineux, léger pin; bouche : se laisse désiré, puis malt torréfié, café fort, réglisse noire, sauce soya, alcool est à peine perceptible, houblon résineux, bonne présence de pin, finale en malt torréfié, cappuccino, pin et petite pointe de sauce soya, moyennement salée, riche, corsée, smooth, moyennement sucrée, plutôt amère, légèrement huileuse, vineuse, collante, carbonatation moyenne, légère astringence; en résumé : très bon

From a 500mL Bottle, #36/100. Generously shared by Chris at the Woodshop tasting. Pours a pitch black, opapue, chewy color with a thin layer of creamy tan head. Loads of nutty, gentle fruity malts initially meet the nose. Some coconut, anise and dark chocolates as well. A little bit of prune flesh and high alcohols present, but the alcohol is gentle and soothing, not numbing or abrasive. Very intesting to note the radical differences in the nose of this one when comparing different pours into the different types of glassware. My snifter seemed to present the most pleasant balance of characters, highlighting the chocolate malt characters and darker fruits. Another, slightly differently shaped snifter-style glass really brought out some horse-blanket dimensions, not really the focal point of my glassware aroma presentation, but clearly present later on the palate. Yet another, tulip-style glass brought forward some really sweet, estery fruit perfumes. Definitely an intriguing, contemplative observation. Starts out on the palate with loads of rich chocolates spiced with some anice. The fruity, chewy malt body is replaced a few seconds later by a funky, peppery, rochefort cheesy, almost goaty flavor mid-way through the malt parade. It then finishes dry and bitter with a nice smack of celeryish herbal hops. Three distintly different, individually enjoyable flavor experiences that come together nicely in this well crafted brew. I love how this makes use of malt complexity and a bit of funk to create a uniquely delicious blend rather than rely on the tried and true concoation of sweet grain sugars, excessive roast, and prolific high-alpha c-hops.

A thread on this site a few days ago asked readers to nominate their favourite brewers from around the planet. If the question arises again, I’ll nominate these guys, because everything I’ve had has fallen somewhere between ’very good’ and ’astonishing’. This limited edition (sob!) imperial stout falls into the latter category. At a Sydney RateBeer gathering with a beer line-up of almost Roman decadence (think Westveletern, Pannepot, Utopia, Fullers London Porter), this one blazed like a supernova. I’m not sure if it’s the best beer I ever tasted, but I’ll be happy to offer a second opinion if Mikkeller forwards all remaining bottles to my home address. Even with the minimal samplings on offer at a group gathering, this one looked gorgeous in the glass - an impenetrable black that actually sucked in light and forced us to turn on more lamps. Okay, I made that up, but it was an infernally dark beer. A man could lose himself in there, never be found. The glass was capped by a luxuriant wash of caffe latte foam. The aroma was surprisingly ’green’ for an imperial stout - fresh hops and pistachios as well as the more expected brown sugars, molasses and espresso. Perfect creamy mouthfeel - wheat flakes? Lovely stuff. Rich and endlessly complex on the tongue. Thickly alcoholic, with the coffee running rampant. Mocha, Bourneville chocolate, port, dark rum, all those good things. A riot in a glass and everyone goes home with a sackload of good times. I think I’m drunk on the memory. Duff - you are a true champ for sharing this one with the Sydney crew. Onya mate. (Sydney RateBeer Jan 07 gathering)

Bottle back from Bruisin’ Ales. The coffee bitterness is very prevalent at first but dissipates as it warms a bit. Big roasted coffee malt and chocolate flavors. Getting some bittersweet chocolate like I just swallowed a tasty piece of chocolate. Finish is a bit sweet. Aroma is slightly bitter and a has a bit of prune as well. Very tasty coffee chocolate bomb here.