Mikkeller 黑 / Black

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

Crazy. Super strong (almost harsh) burnt coffee with some dark chocolate in the aroma. Blacker than anything with a great dark brown head. My tongue is going nuts at first taste, so much going on in the palate and flavor. Everything the aroma and appearance indicated and much more- heavy malts topped with dark everything, some hops and yeast manage to make it through as well but i can’t really identify them because this brew is so over the top. Soooo much going on i can’t take it all in. And the alcohol is quite powerful, too, as you would expect at 17.5. But i don’t really think it takes away from this brew. If there was some subtle complexity that it overshadowed that would be a downfall but there is nothing subtle about this beer. Everything is overdone. I love it. Would like to see what this would rate after removing all the ratings from the "sissies" who didn’t pay attention to the commercial description.

Black colour with a tan head. Aroma is roasted, malt, coffee, licorice. Flavour is coffee, alcohol, mild acidicness, roasted malts as well as some burnt wood. Nice beer but a little to much alcohol.

Bottle. Black body with a small brown head. Aroma is alcohol, chocolate, roasted malts and tar. Flavor is alcohol, chocolate, hops, liquorice, smoke and tar. The aftertaste is bitter from the chocolate and the hops. Great beer.

Bottle 2007, shared by Hallinghansen. Pours pitch black with a small brown head. Aroma is liquorice, chocolate, tan and alcohol. Flavor is liquorice, tan, lots of alcohol, hits of chocolate and a bitter aftertaste. Way to much alcohol for me!

Hard to get cork out - not seemingly pressurised, although it looks it once poured. Nice pitch black coloured body with a thinnish, one-centimetre light brown head. Fully-opaque, no light getting through. Aroma of strong roasted malt, coffee, fresh hops, alcohol, pit fruits, cherries and sour milk. Full-bodied; Strong astringent full flavoured roasty malt tastes with a lactic and overly bitter and pungent alcoholic warmth. Potent fruits and spices, but too much alcohol and roasted malt and it overshadows everything. Aftertaste is too potent and showing too much alcohol, too much malt and not enough complexity. Even though it’s not aged to what Mikkeller wants, I don’t think it would improve too much during that period. Overall, worth trying just because of the brewery, but definitely not one of my favourite beers from them. Glad I sampled it, but if I saw someone pick this up, I’d definitely tell them not to waste their money ($16 for me) on it. I sampled this 375 mL ’split’ bottle purchased from Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan on 03-August-2008, sampled at home in Washington on 13-February-2009.

Bottle (9 months old): Poured a pitch black color with a small foamy head with little carbonation and minimal retention. Aroma consists purely of alcohol ester with some grossly sweet notes also discernable. Taste is dominated by bad alcohol ester and is grossly sweet in a much exaggerated way. This beer has totally no balance and I cannot even envision this improving with cellaring. We split a 375ml three ways and not one of us could actually finish the sample. I am all for extreme beer but some type of balance must be maintained which is definitely not the case here.

Dark pour with brown head and lace. Huge notes of abv, burnt coffee, and a hint of choco. Slick coffee with a big sweet as well. Full bodied with medium carbonation. A beer that made my head swim to breath deep. A very nice beer.

Thanks to Lithy for sharing this one at decaturstevo’s Februmergency Tasting. From my wants list too, Thanks again! Opaque black with a tan head. Bourbon, alcohol, coffee roast malts chocolate,and vanilla are among the aromas that come easily from this brew. The flavors follow the aroma. Full bodied sipper.