Mikkeller Black Hole

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

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)

Ruby to black hue without a proper head. Big depth of colour though. Stronge aroma of coffee, prunes, chocolate and rum raisin cake. A barrage of espresso, alcohol, rye porridge, black currents, leather, vanilla, liquorice and oak all come together to create a stunning impression of a Zinfandel. Rosemary, perhaps even more forcefully some sappy pine, rounds out the experience. Solid sweetness throughout with moderate roast. Fairly nimble on the tongue -- especially considering the % -- with some warming alcohol. Very red wine like; fruit blows up in the flavour eventually with coffee and chocolate taking to the back for a while. Medium to heavy body with a silky texture and soft carbonation. And I had just been wondering what a beer would be like if brewed to be more like a wine... 37.5cl bottle, bbe 14/08/11, thanks Jukkabro.

375ml - Aroma of mocha, coffee, alcohol, chocolate and burnt dark malts. Pours black with a small head and good lacing. Flavor is very strong dark roast coffee and burnt malts. The alcohol becomes astringent as it warms. Palate is sticky, dry and cloyingly bitter.

As it warms it became a struggle to even finish. I was not enjoying myself and actually poured the second half of my glass down the drain. Not a total drain pour (hence 3.5) but not something I would recommend.

500 ml bottle
After somehow accumulating three bottles of this over the last two years I finally opened one to share with others. The reward was a decent imperial stout although I am not a huge fan of the booziness that usually comes at 13% and higher.

Aroma / Appearance - Deep black as is usual for a high ABV imperial stout the body swirled slowly around the glass like watered down motor oil. Smoky chocolate, licorice / anise, roasted malt, and blackberries form a rich experience which still somehow falls short of other examples of the style.

Flavor / Palate - Heavy chocolate malt takes over. Only after a minute or so is it possible to pick up on the anise and coffee. Eventually the booziness takes over resulting in a warm finish. Even after two years it is a bit hot but I am not certain more time will improve it at all.

375ml corked bottle. Opaque black color with a minimal, quickly fading head. The aroma is deep alcohol and chocolate. Taste is surprisingly drinkable at 13.1%. Lots of roasted chocolate sweetness typical for the style. The most unique attribute to this beer is the alcohol/taste balance. Remarkably well done. An almost peppery taste compliments the sweet warming aspects of the alcohol perfectly. A new classic.

Very rich roasty malts, burnt wood, a little smoke and a big warming effect. Burnt wood and alcohol finish on this, the last of three awesome beers this New Years morning. Good beer!

A pitch black colored beer, with a thick foamy dark beige/brown colored beer. The aroma of chocolate, roast malts, some sweet dark fruits. An extremely taste of pure chocolate with dark fruits and notes of alcohol. Also hints of liquorice juice, The aftertaste is bitter with sweet and alcohol.