An oatmeal coffee stout with the characteristics of an imperial stout, such as a full body, rich chocolate flavor, and intense coffee aroma, but with an alcohol content kept at 5.8%.
Modern Times is one of the few breweries in the world that roasts its own coffee.
This allows them to be extremely particular about the type of coffee beans and the roast level.
Naturally, Black House also uses coffee beans: a blend of 75% Ethiopian Hambela and 25% Sumatran Mandheling, medium roasted (a roast level that wouldn't taste good as coffee, by the way).
Incidentally, this Ethiopian/Sumatran blend is also sold as coffee beans only under the name Black House Blend) is added to the fermenter.
This creates the coffee aroma and flavor that are central to this stout.
Eight types of malt are used, including Oats and Kiln Coffee Malt, and hopping is only for bitterness, with hop extract added.
When poured into a glass, a beige head sits atop the jet-black liquid.
The aroma is coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malt, with subtle notes of vanilla and sugar.
On the palate, roasted coffee dominates, with a pleasant balance of moderate malt sweetness.
Other complex flavors include toffee, chocolate, lactose, and biscuit.
A bittersweet finish like an espresso with chocolate.
It offers a surprisingly full body and flavor for an alcohol content of 5.8%.
The name Black House is derived from The Gormenghast series, published between 1946 and 1959 by the British author Mervyn Peake.
In the novel, a space deep within the characters' minds is called the Black House.
