Jumping right in on this one. This tastes like a cigar made out of tobacco roots. The flavor is packed with peat, dirty peat, tar and peat. I taste a boozy (11% abv) smooth burnt caramel square. Is there liquid smoke in here? I have to say, this beer is better than BrewDog’s Paradox Smokehead beer, if I remember correctly. Paradox was this beer that I had a long time ago, and didn’t like too much, so I hunted it down for a do-over review and found it after at least 5 years of hunting, and I didn’t like it the second time either. And here we are years after that, and now I’m drinking Amager’s Black Donald beer, and it tastes like that same beer is down in this glass, but for some reason, this is like a home coming. Did you grow up in a neighborhood with a mean old man on the corner? And years down the road you go back to visit your old house, and there’s Old Man Sandy shaking and shouting at you, “You’re driving too damn fast!” And as his lawn rake slides all down the side of your paint job, all you can feel is love and warmth in your heart. This beer is that old man.
Final score: 3.3 Smokestacks out of 7.
| Brewer | Amager Bryghus |
| Beer Name | Black Donald |
| Brewer’s Description | Now first of all, don’t get things mixed up: Black Donald was here way before that other Donald. And Black Donald is not involved in race or politics. Black Donald is all about plain evil, because he is himself the Devil – plain and simple. Black Donald takes many shapes. He may come as the well-dressed guest at the poker table – only given away by the cloven-hoofed goat feet he hides underneath. Those feet will always give him away, no matter what disguise he uses. And as a goat is how you’ll most often see him – with a long chain clanking after him. As this shape-shifting goat, Black Donald is known to cause terror all over the North of Scotland, often for no other purpose than to simply frighten people. If for some reason you need the help of the Devil – for instance against your enemies – a so called taghairm can be formed. A sort of spiritual calling involving the spit-roasting of live cats. It’s a long and complicated ceremony, and we honestly cannot recommend it. Also since you will forever be indebted to Black Donald himself. |
| Food Pairings | Let’s pick up Danish for Belle |
| Brewer Location | Kastrop, Denmark (Amager Island) |
| Alcohol content by volume | 11% |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | 51 |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 6 |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 3 |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 4 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | N |
| Beer thickness 1-7 (water – used motor oil) | 4 |
| Barrel Power 1-7 (in name only – burns nose) | 3 |
| Overall Happiness Rating: 1-7 (low – high) | 3.3 |
Decent website:
Amager Bryghus
SmokeBeerMinistry 