Mikkeller 黑 / Black

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

Pours nearly pitch black out of the bottle and appears opaque black in the glass. Head isn’t as dark as expected, a light tan. Nose has a lot of elements, hinting of raisins, sherry, chocolate and coffee, rubber, tar and alcohol. Flavor is loaded with dark fruit and heavily roasted malt notes, with some hints of chocolate and coffee. Intense, massively flavorful, strong alcohol (but much better hidden than when the beer was first imported) and lots of taste. It has improved in the last three months, but mostly, I’m thinking of how this beer will be in a couple years. Check back with it in 2009. It will be a gem by then.

This is good, certainly a love it or hate it kind of beer, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I love it. The boozy, smooth palate with no carbonation reminded me of World Wide Stout, but this is not as good as that beer. The aroma has port and red wine, as well as oak and vanilla, along coffee that has been burned in the roasted process. Flavor has some some and alcohol, which is not hidden at all. There is also raisin and bitter roasted malt with other malt that is still sweet and not overly roasted. It might need some time, but this is a beer with complexity and various flavors and aromas.

Corked and caged bottle. Medium sized light brown head that mostly diminished, very little lacing, opaque, no visible carbonation, and a black hue. The aroma was roasty, chocolate, malty, coffee notes, slightly toasty, alcohol, and lightly hoppy. The flavor was bitter, thick, malt, coffee, roasty, hops, alcohol that warms your innards, hint of chocolate, and a dry finish. Slghtly tingly mouthfeel and medium-full bodied. This is a sipping beer for sure due to the presence of the ABV, very tasty, nicely done, a big beer for sure IMO, definitely worthy of a try, and I would drink this again.

Bottle pours black with a smallish tan head and good lace. The aroma is coffee, oats, soy, dark fruits, and just plain over the top. The flavor is over the top everything. Too sweet, alcoholic, bitter, burnt, chemical, and vanilla. The palate is thick and rich. This really needs a few years to try to get to a drinkable state. Right now, it is like coffee, cherry cough syrup, and grain alcohol. Ugh. Perhaps the most expensive drain pour in my books.

Bottled. Deep brown colour (close to black), big brown creamy head. Aroma is coffee, roasted malts, chocolate, toffee and sweet malts. Flavour is coffee, alcohol, mild acidicness, roasted malts as well as some burnt wood. Rather sweet imperial stout, otherwise very pleasant.

Bottled. Thx gnoff. Pitch black with a beige head. Very roasted with notes of some solvent. Thick and oily, raw and unbalanced. Wood, sugar, leather, stable, tar...

Bottle @ Nordals Festival 2008.
Pours utter pitch black with a tiny, creamy, beige film head. Aroma is very vinious at first, but really settles into an impressive (and soft) aroma of chocolate, hard roasted malts and coffee with slight vanilla notes. Quite high in carbonation, making it less creamy and more lively than expected. Which is quite nice. Flavour is very vinious, sugary sweet with lots of hard roasted malts. Good coffee and dark chocolate notes. Lots of super dry hops in the end. This is impressive, but very much over the top.

12.7 oz, cork and cage, cork stamped 12/12/17 (what does that mean?). Dark, opaque pour that’s a little red around the edges, dense tan head that fades - excellent lacing. Aroma is boozy but less so than I was expecting. Rich, deep chocolate, espresso, cream, hops. Ok, there is a lot of alcohol in there. Not a hugely complex aroma - the subtleties are lost on me and dominated by the aromas above. Maybe some cherry, and definitely some vanilla and bourbon. Flavor is quite sweet, and acridly bitter. Feels like hot coffee in your chest, and leaves the espresso astringency in your mouth. Tastes like the darkest dark chocolate you’d ever have. Harsh and alcoholic finish. The end of this so ridiculously long and hugely bitter. I’m putting this back in the fridge to cool down so I can actually drink it... Pretty huge beer, needs some serious time to mellow, like 3 years. I’ve got one to hang onto for a while, but for now, this beer is killing me. Totally unbalanced.