Rating: 6/5
Black Hole Sun by Black Market brewing is a 15% ABV Russian Imperial Stout.
Label:
Because of the gravitational pull of Black Hole Sun, no light can escape. This super high gravity Russian Imperial Stout is brewed with 100% barley and zero added sugar. Black Hole Sun will make a fine evening companion. Let it warm a bit to enjoy its entire magnitude of flavor complexities.
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Black Hole Sun, just like the Sound Garden song. This beer is something I have been meaning to try for a very very long time and never had a chance to get it. I have to give a special thanks to my friend Julio for hooking me up with this special beer. Many of the Black Market beers I have tried have been pretty epic but just the 15% ABV is enough to realize, this ain’t a muddaF’ing game. This is serious business. Funny part, I did not even check the ABV until I started this review which I realized was very intense from the aromas. This was certainly starting to remind me of a “Dark” beer I had long ago that was also a Russian Imperial Stout… So let us check this one out and see what it is about.
Aromas:
Rich Dark fruit, dark cherries, cherry cordial, soy sauce, plum sauce, yogurt like notes, oak, Kahlua, apples, molasses, chocolate cake, currants, raspberry notes, rye bread, brown sugar, pecan pie, flan hints, maple syrup, salted caramel, dulce de leche caramel, walnuts, hazelnut nectar, dark chocolate cake, pecan pie, spicy roasted coffee, smokey notes, graham cracker and marshmallow smores.
Flavors:
An intense explosion of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, cherry cordial, dark fruit plums, raspberries, currants, blackberries, molasses, pilloncillo sugar cone, maple syrup, molasses, plum sauce, soy sauce, dulce de leche caramel, toffee, salted caramel, hazelnut nectar, Kahlua hints, pecan pie, rye caramel, spicy roasted coffee, vanilla, oak, flan, cinnamon, graham cracker and marshmallow smores, bourbon notes, anise, tobacco, leather notes and Danish cream.
Aftertaste:
Dark fruit raisins, dark cherry, earthy notes, tobacco, dark cherries, molasses, dark and milk chocolate. The alcohol is very subtle despite the ABV, Pitch Black Body to a darkness that does not even exist, sipping drinkability and a thick and syrupy mouthfeel.
Overall:
Extremely Epic and definitely up close next to the Dark Lord Imperial Stout but not as sugary or fancy coffee epicness from the Unicorn’s Blood Coffee. It is almost like the base Dark Lord with no coffee and not as sugary but still very complex it is crazy. This beer plays off like if it was barrel aged with like flavor intensity but it is still just a Russian Imperial Stout. I think in mind and after reviewing this intense and awesome beer, I realized how close it was to Dark Lord RIS. Ofcourse, Dark Lord RIS is on another level, but this can still compete on the playing field as this is California’s own Black Market Brewing bringing this. I highly recommend getting this one or two. You definitely want to age this massive intensity.
Anime Corner:
Krystal Fox from Star Fox was the perfect cadet for this interplanetary mission to the Black Hole Sun. She has survived the suns of Immelmann (Hangar 24 reference) so even something like this should be a piece of cake. She pairs extremely well with the label colors, complex dark fruit flavors and space travel. The sweetness is represented in her cuteness but the fact that Krystal is a warrior of land and space just speaks of strength. Star Fox has seen some Black Hole travels in the past so exploring a beer like this and trying to figure out its complexity is just the beginning of that dark space in a glass.
Brewerianimelogs (Anime and Beer Lore) 