Mikkeller Black Hole

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

Bottle, with many thanks to after4ever and hogfodder - I’m not sure which one of you came up with this bottle! Pours opaque blackish brown with a thin but lacy tan head. Pine and coffee aroma. Medium body and light carbonation. Chocolate, vanilla and fruit taste that gives way to the coffee. Dry espresso finish with a touch of pepper on the exit.

Black beer with a dark brown head that slowly dissappears. Complex sweetish aroma: mokka, coffee, chocolate, cherry licor (mon cherry like), dark fruits, ... Mokka taste, tintling on the tongue, some bitterness at the end coming from the burned malts. The alcohol is very well hidden.

12.7oz. bottle, courtesy of tytoanderso, THANKS Tyler! Pours a syrupy black with a fluffy two finger dark brown head, good lacing. Mmmm, freshly pulled espresso, complimented by brown sugar, molasses, dark chocolate, vanilla, and plum/prune. Flavor has an espresso flavor and bitterness, with molasses, chocolate, vanilla and dark fruits coming along nicely; gently warming. This is a great coffee IS, but agree with JK, and I’d give DDC’s Péché Mortel a slight edge. Great stuff either way!

Rate number 500! I’ll briefly take a break from my Eurotrip beer ratings to get the big five-double ohh out of the way in style with something big and dark. 375ml green bottle with a plastic cork, as is expected with Mikkeller. Serving straight from the cellar. BB 01/07/12, but I can’t wait. Cork proves quite difficult to get out, and a small pop upon opening might explain why. Regardless, i’m presented with a sinfully dark beer in my goblet. A centimetre of coffee-milk brown head sits atop a pitch-black body...no light gets through this one! Legs cling to the glass, almost like a port. There’s alot going on on the nose, several layers of complexity; sharp citrusy American-style hops bring lots of bitter orange and grapefruit rind, roasted malts percieved as very rich dark chocolate, tar, espresso. The alcohol is not shy and adds another layer of complexity with pepper and vodka undertones. And there’s still backnotes of dried fruit, sherry and rich earthy spice that want to break free, but they might require time to evolve. The body is joyous, luciously rich, thick like a milk-shake yet sticky like a late-harvest dessert wine. And then it all dries out with a counterbalancing roasted malt and alcohol drying astrigency. Low carbonation is quite welcome; I have a feeling any higher might destroy my taste buds! About the flavour, it is VERY sweet. Parrallels between a sticky dessert wine come to mind, especially with notes of honey, citrus rind and raisin hitting the front of palate hard. Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceburg; 85% cocoa chocolate, rum, espresso, mollases, charred wood, prune, nutmeg, dark cherry. Anything that is dark and sweet, it’s in there. Alcohol gives a nice warmth to the belly. Very highly bitter coffee-like finish, feels like i’ve had some sort of liqueur coffee. Dessert white wine meets espresso? That might just be my comparison for the time being; two of my favourite beverages together! Probably not as smooth as other RIS, but geez, this really is tasty stuff isn’t it!

wonderful fresh hoppy, roasty, slight coffee, and chocolaty aroma. Very rich and velvety. Sweet and very roasty up front. Moving on to a robust bitterness that is interestingly balanced by a tart and sourness. Unique. Worth every penny. I have been sucked in...

Dark opaque, no head, small lacing. Fruity aroma, roasted malts, chocolat, some coffee, bit salty even. Very strong taste of roasted malts, dark chocolat, coffee. Palate goes on forever. Not my favorite session ale.

Bottled #69, UDRBG, rating #3000. Aroma is wonderful, cherry, blackcurrant, moccha, licorice and more if you try again. Black as black can be, tiny brown head, fair lace. Sweet, bitter, roasted, coffee, cherry, blackcurrant, licorice, very complex flavors. Thick and every sip takes you 10 minutes to recover. Wonderful beer.

Poured black with a thin head, is that all, but no, gained some head after warming somehow. Aroma was just amazin with chocolate coffee candy fruit and more. We had to wait a bit for this since it was too cold, but when it warmed up, oh wow, fantastic with flavors that amplified the aroma. truly special