Ölbeat 347: Amager / Barrier The Mortician a.k.a Ölmönger's Burial

Brewery: Amager Bryghus (Barrier Brewing Company)
Country: Denmark (United States)
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a finger-thick beige head. Aroma has dark chocolate, sweet roast and coffee. Taste begins with heavily bitter chocolate-flavoured roast. Dark chocolate, sweet coffee and bitter charcoal roast take over with spicy alcohol. Towards the end bitter dark chocolate with sweet spicy mocha tones come out strongest. Aftertaste has strong bitter roast with dark chocolate, liquorice and pine followed by lasting spicy malty dryness.

Powerfully bitter and roasty Imperial Stout. Strong bitter flavours of roast, dark chocolate and coffee supported by spicy, boozy and malty side tones. Simply beautiful, complex and delicious. Amager never lets me down with dark and heavy stuff.

* * *

My mama said that you should finish what you've started. Well said. There are many beer blogs that have died without any last words like bad TV series that get cancelled after the pilot season without the series' final episode. Where all the good and the bad guys get killed, if the series was worth watching even in the beginning. Like there are TV series born dead that just keep on living, there are beer blogs born dead, but that's a completely different story. Or is it actually?

Anyway, the blog's been dead for over four months now. There have been some things like this and some thing like that on the way of writing blog posts. More interesting things like watching the grass grow and catching up the missed/all episodes of Lost. But the cold truth is that the blog stays dead after the burial - this is the final post of this blog. My and Ölmönger the Blogger's paths are separated for good.

Possibly, even though unprobably, there are some people who would like to know why this blog is finished now. Some others might be wondering, why it took me so long to shoot this bastard against the brick wall. Both are people who are looking for reasons for things. Well, let them be looking. Over and out. Bagged and tagged.


Why are you still there looking at this? Live, enjoy and celebrate, sucker!

Ölbeat

The author's last wish. May this one be granted?

Ramones: Pet Sematary (YouTube)

From the 1989 album Brain Drain, the song was written by Dee Dee Ramone and Daniel Rey.

And one for the audience.

Faith No More: A Small Victory (YouTube)

From the 1992 album Angel Dust, the song was written by Mike Bordin, Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould and Mike Patton.

Ölbeat 338: To Øl Mochaccino Messiah

Brewery: To Øl
Country: Denmark (brewed in Belgium)
Style: Brown Ale
Abv: 7 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark coffee brown with a big fluffy tan head. Aroma has roasted malts, coffee and dark chocolate. Taste starts with gently bitter malty roast. Roasted malts take over with cocoa-coffee bitterness. Towards the end dark chocolate and cappuccino get on top with hints of sweetness. Aftertaste has bitter dark-roasted coffee and spicy malty dryness.

Spiced and roasted Brown Ale. Malts and roast play the first fiddle, but different flavours of coffee and chocolate fit nicely in. Surely experimental and far from both too weird and too boring. Slow, tasty and complex brew. Pretty good, I think.

Ölbeat

This was easy, there's already a song for this one. You need a machine to make a mochaccino, right? Right!

Sepultura: Machine Messiah (YouTube)

From the 2017 album Machine Messiah, the song was written by Andreas Kisser, Eloy Casagrande and Derrick Green.

Ölbeat 329 (BC17 #16): Amager The Sinner Series Pride

Brewery: Amager (in Danish)
Country: Denmark
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a small vanishing beige head. Aroma has fruit candy, vanilla and chocolate. Taste starts with boozy fruity bitter roast. Booze-soaked sweet citrus and biting bitter roast take over with liquorice and chocolate side notes. Towards the end sweet orange and bitter citrus-filled liquorice get on top and are joined by roasted boozy flavour. Aftertaste has sweet orange, bitter grapefruit and lasting boozy roast.

Strong citrus-packed Imperial Stout. It's a merciless battle between the roasty-boozy flavours and the bitter'n'sweet citrus. Fierce but beautiful. Superb Impy from the Danish brewgods.

Ölbeat

As U2's Pride (In the Name of Love) is as far as possible from the deadly sin, I couldn't pick it. On the other hand, that wouldn't have matched with the brew. Anyway, I was trapped in the title, so there were many paths to choose from. Soil had that right kind of balance between rough aggressiveness and lyrical self-centeredness in their song, so I picked that.  

Soil: Pride (YouTube)

From the 2004 album Redefine, the song was written by Soil.

Ölbeat 317 (BC17 #4): Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper 2016

Brewery: Mikkeller (brewed at De Proefbrouwerij)
Country: Denmark (Belgium) 
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Abv: 10,9 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark brown with a two-finger thick tan head. Aroma has dark fruits, syrup and spices. Taste begins with sweet fruity caramel. Sweet spicy caramel with bitter fruits and raisin flavour takes over. Towards the end boozy warmth and syrupy fruity bitterness get through. Aftertaste has fruity liquor, spicy malt and bitter caramel.

Rich and fruity Belgian Strong Ale. Nice and matured union of sweet caramel, bitter-spicy fruits and boozy warmth. At the same time gentle and aggressive - excellent brew. The recipe master has succeeded with his brewing apes once again.

Ölbeat

Since this is the only actual seasonal beer in this advent calendar, we make an exception and have a little joyful Christmas carol about Santa's most important little helper here. Happy holidays and sh*t!

Lemmy Kilmister, Billy Gibbons & Dave Grohl: Run Rudolph Run (YouTube)

From the 2008 album We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year, the song was written by Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie.

Ölbeat 249: To Øl Black Ball Porter

Brewery: To Øl
Country: Denmark (brewed in Belgium)
Style: Imperial Porter
Abv: 8 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a huge beige head. Aroma has charcoal roast, espresso and burned liquorice. Taste begins with biting bittersweet roast. Bitter charred malts take over with notes of espresso, dark chocolate and liquorice. Towards the end bitter citrus flavours get mixed with the charred roast. Aftertaste has fruity bitterness and dryish malty roast.

Heavily roasted and bitter, fruity-turning Imperial Porter. Start is completely owned by bitter charred-roasted malts, but the finish shows the citrus in the bitterness. Strong and complex. Excellent.

Ölbeat

Charred fruity roughness made me look for some rock with balls. Ended up with broken ones and power rock from Down Under.

AC/DC: Ballbreaker (YouTube)

From the 1995 album Ballbreaker, the song was written by Angus Young and Malcolm Young.

Ölbeat 245: Thisted / Mikkeller Beer Geek Limfjordsporter

Brewery: Thisted Bryghus (in Danish) / Mikkeller
Country: Denmark
Style: Baltic Porter 
Abv: 7,7 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a large beige head. Aroma has ash, charcoal and espresso. Taste begins with heavy ashy-charcoaly and bitter roast. Ashy and smoky dry malts take over with bitter burned bread flavour. Towards the end burned malts get espresso and liquorice tones. Aftertaste has extra dry smoky charcoal roast and bitter coffee.

Heavily ashy, smoky and bitter Porter. Both the roast and the bitterness go through the roof in this one. The flavour is powerful and intense. Raw and violent in a good sense. It's clear that this divides drinkers to lovers and haters. I liked it a lot, but love didn't start easy.

Ölbeat

The choice was made between two songs with the same name, one from David Bowie and the other from Faith No More. But it wasn't tough: Bowie's hit from 1980 still didn't hit the spot - Major Tom simply sucks. Instead, Faith No More's Album of the Year gets its second entry to the blog, which is simply great.

Faith No More: Ashes to Ashes (YouTube)

From the 1997 album Album of the Year, the song was written by Jon Hudson, Mike Patton, Mike Bordin, Billy Gould and Roddy Bottum.

Ölbeat 186: Amager Hr. Frederiksen

Brewery: Amager
Country: Denmark
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a finger-thick beige head. Aroma has heavily roasted malts, strong black coffee and bitter alcohol. Taste starts with strong and bitter charcoal roast. Heavily roasted malts and bitter espresso take over with cocoa hints. Towards the end bitter black coffee and dark chocolate get strongest. Aftertaste has dry bitter roast, dark chocolate, coffee and alcohol warmth (and it lasts pleasantly long).

Unbelievably untamed and powerful Imperial Stout. Roast, coffee and dark chocolate all attack with full throttle as does the bitterness. Extreme beer in the word's best and most fabulous meaning. Amager shows once again world class skill in brewing.

Ölbeat

Don't know Mr./Hr. Frederiksen personally, so I don't know if he is an asshole, a liar, a cheater or a fool. But at least the brew named after him hits you hard, as does this Danish rockabilly metal. (And no, I still don't know what it is with Danish beers and Volbeat.) 

Volbeat: Still Counting (YouTube)

From the 2008 album Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood, the song was written by Michael Poulsen, Anders Kjølholm, Jon Larsen and Thomas Bredahl.

Ölbeat 178: Hornbeer The Fundamental Blackhorn

Brewery: Hornbeer 
Country: Denmark
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a tiny beige crown. Aroma has roasted malts, dark chocolate and liquorice. Taste starts with powerful roast and sharp biting bitterness. Charred-roasted malts and heavily bitter thick coffee take over with some dark chocolate and liquorice side tones. Near the finish roasted and slightly sweet bitterness becomes the leading flavour. Aftertaste has lasting strong roast and burned dry bitterness.

Powerful, strong-flavoured Imperial stout. Pure and clean heavy roast shows the power of malts. Continuously strong biting bitterness shows the strength of hops. This is something amazingly unusual and great.

Ölbeat

If we should cure a beer lover from an Imperial Stout allergy, this would either do the trick or kill the patient. That's exactly why this song with a somewhat dark message fits with the beer well.

Seether: Remedy (YouTube)

From the 2005 album Karma and Effect, the song was written by Shaun Morgan.

Ölbeat 166: Mikkeller Porter

Brewery: Mikkeller
Country: Denmark (brewed in Belgium)
Style: Porter
Abv: 7,4 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a bubbly large beige head. Aroma has roasted malts, sweet black coffee, vanilla and burned wood. Taste starts with charred malty bitterness. Sweet roasted malts and bitter espresso take over with spicy notes in the background. Towards the end roasted bitterness gets on top with some alcohol and dark fruits getting in, too. Aftertaste has charcoal dryness and roasted bitterness.

Excellent and uncompromised strong Porter. The charcoal roast is deeper than I've had recently. The dry and bitter flavours are perfectly untamed here. The master of beer recipes has yet again composed a masterpiece for the monkeys to play.

Ölbeat

The label art shows a cartoon man shaking a possibly empty bottle upside down. If the bottle really is empty, the dude has turned from a porter or a doorboy to a poor boy. Probably Willy and the rest of the band is somewhere near, too. Actually, haven't had CCR on the blog at all so it's about time. And who would be a better brewer than Mikkeller to have his beer combined with the swamp sound first? Well, probably any of the California breweries, but let's not stick to details too much... 

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Down on the Corner (YouTube)

From the 1969 album Willy and the Poor Boys, the song was written by John Fogerty.

Ölbeat 159: Midtfyns Barley Wine

Brewery: Midtfyns Bryghus
Country: Denmark
Style: Barley Wine
Abv: 10 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is bright copper orange with a minimal vanishing white head. Aroma has sweet caramel toffee, cream liquor and vanilla. Taste starts with strong caramel and malt flavour. Creamy caramel melted into bourbon whiskey with vanilla bars fills the mouth. Towards the end sweet bitterness gets slowly added to the flavour. Aftertaste has sweet caramel, gentle bitterness and tasty liquor.

Deliciously tough and complex strongly bourbon-vanilla flavoured Barley Wine. This is a perfect brew for cold winter nights by the fireplace. After the two previous sessions with Midtfyns beers it has become my other favorite Danish brewery.

Ölbeat

The Danes brewed an awesome, symphonically complex and delicious strong beer. The Englishmen recorded an awesome symphonical and beautiful progressive rock song. The two ought to be paired with each other. 

Led Zeppelin: Kashmir (YouTube)

From the 1975 album Physical Graffitti, the song was written by John Bonham, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

Ölbeat 146: Midtfyns Bryghus/De Molen X Porter

Brewery: Midtfyns Bryghus (Brouwerij de Molen)
Country: Denmark 
Style: Imperial Porter
Abv: 8 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a small beige head. Aroma has sweet roasted malts, liquorice, black coffee and chocolate. Taste bites sharply with sweet roasted malts. Sweet ashy-roasted malts and dark chocolate take over with moderate alcoholic bitterness and a mild slice of coffee in the background. Towards the end sweet liquorice comes in front and alcohol bites gently. Aftertaste has the combination of all flavours: sweet roast and bitterness, chocolate, liquorice and alcohol.

Unbelievably rich, thick, complex and delicious Imperial Porter. The combination of flavours is overwhelming: roast, liquorice, chocolate and a nice boozy kick in the end. This collab truly shows the brewing skills in both breweries. Masterpiece. Perfect.

Ölbeat

It's the third time committing the same sin: pairing a Danish beer with a Volbeat song. Well, it's the first for Midtfyns brew and truly deserved. Tough Porter that shares immortality with the song's lyrics.

Volbeat (ft. Johan Olsen): For Evigt (YouTube)

From the 2016 album Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie, the song was written by Michael Poulsen.

Ölbeat 113: Ugly Duck Rye Porter

Brewery: Indslev Bryggeri / Ugly Duck Brewing Co.  
Country: Denmark
Style: Imperial Porter
Abv: 7,8 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a medium-sized beige head. Aroma has mild roast, sweet rye bread and some salty liquorice. Taste begins with sweet malty coffee. Sweet roasted rye malts, black coffee and mocca-flavoured chocolate lead the smooth and harmonic taste with a perfecting vanilla-spicy note. Near the finish gentle sweet bitterness and a hint of warming alcohol come through. Aftertaste has black coffee, roasted malty dryness and a sip of sugared alcohol.

Rich, beautiful and absolutely delicious Imperial Porter. Roast, coffee, rye, hops and alcohol all joined with a delicate sweet note. No hop explosion, no overpowering extremes - just an extreme explosion of smoothness and balance. The surprise of taste was skillfully hidden in the aroma.

Ölbeat

Now we talk about a serious problem: I'm putting Danish rock and Danish beers together. Well, things could be worse: I could match bad music with awful brews.

D-A-D: It'swhenit'swrongit'sright (YouTube)

From the 1995 album Helpyourselfish, the song was written by D-A-D.

Ölbeat 111: Hornbeer Barleywine

Brewery: Hornbeer
Country: Denmark
Style: Barley Wine
Abv: 10 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is amber brown with a small tan head. Aroma has sweet berries (e.g. strawberry), grapes and flowery hops. Taste begins with sweet and heavy fruity bitterness. Sweet and sour mix of raisins and lemon takes over with strong malt flavour and sensible bitterness. Towards the end we get some piny and alcoholic elements. Aftertaste has dry piny alcohol and heavy fruity bitterness.

Beautifully strong and fruity barley wine, that resembles a fine dessert wine with grape-raisin flavour. In the end hoppy bitterness and piny dryness rip the brew apart from its distant Bordeaux cousins. Nice work from the Danish artisan brewery.

Ölbeat

The name of the brewery forced me to look for music with horns. Turning away every possibility to match a heavy beer with big band or jazz music, Ronnie James Dio came to the rescue. As the popularizer of the sign of the horns in heavy metal culture he showed me just the right track.

Dio: Stand Up And Shout (YouTube)

From the 1983 album Holy Diver, the song was written by Jimmy Bain and Ronnie James Dio.

Ölbeat 107: Amager/Surly Todd - The Axe Man

Brewery: Amager (in Danish) / Surly Brewing
Country: Denmark
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 6,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is cloudy orange with a small white head. Aroma has orange, lemon and a flowery hop note. Taste lifts off with sharp fruity bitter bite. Fresh bitter grapefruit with a sweet orange twist takes over. Towards the end sweet-sour citrus fruits and piny dry get in front, some tartness shows up, too. Aftertaste has strong fruity bitterness and light dryness with long-lasting warm feeling.

Delicious citrus-packed India Pale Ale with nice hoppy and growing flavours: it starts biting bitter & fruity, goes through grapefruit-orange domination and ends heavily bitter. Excellent way to show respect to a living brewer legend, Todd Haug from Surly Brewing.

Ölbeat

Since the brew was an act of homage from Amager we'll continue on that line with the matching rhythms. Todd Haug has played and still plays guitar in this thrash metal band since 1984. This song is one from the band's early years.

Powermad: Terminator (YouTube)

From the 1988 EP The Madness Begins, the song was written by Powermad.

Ölbeat 105: Mad Viking Night Raid (8 %)

Brewery: United Beverage Nordic (? - according the label)
Country: Denmark
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 8% 
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is blacky black with a small beige head. Aroma has roasted malts, bitter black coffee and liquorice. Taste starts with roasted chocolate malts. Deliciously charcoaly-roasted malts, coffee and slightly bitter chocolate take control with a tiny bit of sweetness. Towards the end bitterness grows with liquorice. Aftertaste has mostly roast and bitterness with some dryness.

Surprisingly magnificent Imperial Stout. Wow-factor is hit with roast, coffee and bitter flavours. This beer challenges even the higher abv brews in the style. It's a pity that the brewery remains as a mystery.

Ölbeat

Found through the viking connection - the track is played during the opening credits of Vikings TV series - the ambient mood and the lyrical theme of the song make it a trip to the dark side. The calm and repetitive synth background create a distressing and sinister feeling making another link between the brew and the tune.

Fever Ray: If I Had a Heart (YouTube)

From the 2009 album Fever Ray, the song was written by Fever Ray.

Ölbeat 103: Ugly Duck Hop Devil

Brewery: Indslev Bryggeri / Ugly Duck Brewing Co.
Country: Denmark
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 7,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy copper orange with a large white head. Aroma has lemon, grapefruit and grass. Taste begins with a gently bitter first bite but explodes with fresh, biting bitter grapefruit and dry hops. Towards the end dry-tart pine, bite of sweet orange and some citrus peel are added to the flavour. Aftertaste has heavy dryness with a bitter sidekick.

Quote from the bottle label: "This is Nelson and Citra. This is tropical fruits and citrus aromas. This is pure joy." And damn tasty, too. Nuff said.

Ölbeat

Ok. This will not be a habit - I've done this before: matched a heck of a Danish beer with a heck of a Danish rockabilly metal song. The joy of this brew is shared with the joy I get from Volbeat's music. I can promise only one thing: there'll be more from the band in the blog in the future.

Volbeat: The Devil's Bleeding Crown (YouTube)

From the 2016 album Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie, the song was written by Michael Poulsen.

Ölbeat 095: Midtfyns Imperial Stout

Brewery: Midtfyns Bryghus
Country: Denmark
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 9,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is pitch black with almost invisible beige crown. Aroma has roasted malts, salty liquorice and espresso. Taste begins with heavily charred malts and smooth bitter hops. Sugarless black espresso and smoky-roasted malts take over with a hint of sour liquorice in the back. Near the finish dry strong hops and bitter dark chocolate come out. Aftertaste has long-lasting roasted dryness and bitterness.

Strong, heavy and aggressive stuff: roast, coffee, chocolate and hops are all taken to the bitter-dry extreme. No compromises done with the flavours. Beautiful Imperial Stout. Loved it.

Ölbeat

Black and powerful. Probably someone is really surprised that we'll take a dive to the world of hard rock. Anyone? Really, no one? Well, if it's too loud, you're too old:

Danko Jones: Never Too Loud (YouTube)

From the 2008 album Never Too Loud, the song was written by Danko Jones.

Ölbeat 046: Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel

Brewery: Mikkeller (brewed at Lervig Aktiebryggeri)
Country: Denmark (brewed in Norway)
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10,9 %
@RateBeer

Pretty tired name - nothing tired in the brew

What about the beer?

Colour is thick black with finger-thick beige head. Aroma has mainly espresso coffee with some chocolate, vanilla and alcohol on the side. Taste offers first sweet black coffee and dark chocolate. Spicy vanilla and caramel malts join the party soon. As we get on with the show, sweet bitter hop and alcohol arrive to the scene. When the sweetness warms up a bit, the combo of coffee, chocolate, bitterness and alcohol gets more coherence and depth. Aftertaste has sweet chocolate, bitterness and alcohol warmth.

There are no words to describe the greatness of this taste experience, but I'll try. The legendary weasel. The abyss of flavours: deep black coffee and dark vanilla-spiced chocolate to drown in, caramel malts, sweet hops and warm alcohol floating inside the liquid. Unique and magnificent.

Ölbeat

Since the name doesn't help in finding a matching song, it's not hard to find a tune that shares the mood and the feeling given by BGBW. Since the original 70's version sounds a bit soft, we'll take the 90's tuned version of this rock track:

Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion (1991 Version) (YouTube)

From the 1991 album Pandora's Box (bonus track; originally from the 1975 album Toys in the Attic), written by vocalist Steven Tyler and bassist Tom Hamilton.

Ölbeat 005: Amager/Grassroots Black Nitro

Brewery: Amager Bryghus
Country: Denmark
Style: India Black Ale (instead of the usual Black IPA)
Abv: 7,5 %
@RateBeer

Danish-American Heavy Fuel

Amager Bryghus, a Danish brewery located in the island of Amager by Copenhagen, had convinced me to arrange a second meeting. I had a bottle of The Sinner Series Envy (IPA) at Mallaskukko in Turku and enjoyed it. So a brew made on a recipe by Shaun E. Hill (the brewmaster of Hill Farmstead/Grassroots Brewing) caught my eye in an online shop and was the next victim.

What about the beer?
Colour is black as the night with a thick bubbly beige head. Aroma has a hoppy headnote with some roasted malts on the side. Taste attacks with a dry hops in the foreground, then given some citrus fire support - mainly grapefruit and lemon. Palate adds a very mild taste of roasted malts to the picture. Long aftertaste is dominated by hops with a hint of citrus.

I am positively surprised by the absence of roasted malts in the taste. Kinda used to get some stout-and-porter like burned notes even with a hoppy black ale. A very tasty American IPA with unusual colour. The brewery maintains its exceptionality and attractiveness.  

Ölbeat

Choosing a performer and a song from the same country where the beer was made is rather an exception than a rule, so with this exceptional beer I stay inside the country borders:

Volbeat: Sad Man's Tongue (YouTube)

From the 2007 album Rock the Rebel / Metal the Devil, the song was written by the singer-guitarist Michael Poulsen. The country-style intro and 1st verse with banjo, acoustic guitar and Poulsen's "Elvis-mode" singing explode to a full heavy metal beat for the 2nd verse. The lyrics - with the start - show out the inspiration from Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues. The song tells about a man who in the end has refused to join the army and ended up in prison "with a pocket full of real tales, and a broken guitar mode". A rockabilly-tuned heavy metal song with a country twist matches the mood of Black Nitro. Well, for me, at least.

Ölbeat 001: Mikkeller Black Hole

Brewery: Mikkeller
Country: Denmark (brewed at De Proefbrouwerij, Belgium)
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 13,1 % 
@RateBeer

Temptation from the Dark Side

Mikkeller, the Denmark-based gypsy brewery, is known for its experimental view on beer. With that perspective you get hits and you get misses. Due to my short experience with quality craftbeer I hadn't yet got a miss from Mikkeller in my pocket. I decided to make Black Hole the first beer in my blog, if it would continue the success story.

What about the beer?

Colour is black (gee, really?) with medium brown head. Aroma is rich with herbs, grass and a small slice of salty liquorice. Taste is sour liquorice, hoppy saltiness and a fine touch of herbs. There’s a base of traditional imperial stout’ish coffee and dark chocolate in the backgorund, but the palette of other vibes takes over in a nice aggressive way. Ending is a mix of sour and salt. Pretty high alcohol level gets drowned under everything else. Very complex and slow-to-drink but excellent stuff. 

Whoa! If this truly tastes like a black hole, I’m buying a ticket and packing my gear as soon they have direct flights. “I’ll be back!” as they say in action movies.

Ölbeat

Dodging the obvious choice by the band Muse, I select the other almost as obvious choice for the song to match Mikkeller Black Hole:

Soundgarden: Black Hole Sun (YouTube)

From the 1994 album Superunknown, Black Hole Sun is commercially the most  successful song of Soundgarden. Like the beer, the song is versatile starting with a slow intro and building through Chris Cornell’s screechy vocals and Kim Thayil’s guitar riffs to a panic near the end. Just to come back to the beginning. Lyrics can be interpreted in many different ways. Cornell - the writer himself - has stated, that there is no real idea to get across and despite many interpretations it's a sad song. So, if the song has a meaning to you and if you feel melancholic while listening, you're probably on the right track. Anyway, a timeless grunge/alternative rock masterpiece which easily stands the comparison to Chris’ later band and solo material. And for me, works with the beer Black Hole.