Haandbryggeriet Dark Force

Brewed by Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: Imperial Stout
Drammen, Norway

Dark brown almost black pourwith small tan head. Aroma of cocoa, malt, roastedness. Flavor similar with the cocoa really stepping up with the chalkiness. Good. Once.

Batch NR 73, brewed April 2007, best before April 2010. Pours a creamy deep inky black with an aggressive and milky almond head. Aroma of deeply roasted malts, malted milk balls, and molasses. Flavors rake over the tongue with an astringent charred malt bluster. Peppery note batters the tastebuds. Charred and crusty. Dark fruitiness tries to peek through the roasty charred mess. The touted wheat aspect is absolutely lost. Harsh.

Bottle from SL, batch 73. Pour was deep dark black in color, light tan head in color, very generous in size, though, difficult to pour. The lacing was very good, slouchy spottiness, pretty looking thing. The aroma was bitter dark fruits and chocolate. The flavor made much more of a statement than the aroma, roasted bitter chocolate, dark vinous fruits, raisins, molasses, coffee, burnt notes, faint cocoa in the finish. The bitterness and light astringency kept this from being anything close to a classic, the alcohol was soft in the aroma and flavor but started kicking my mind half way through, a drinkable impy stout, but certainly nothing to impress. Too much long lingering bitterness from the wheat, roast, hops, couldn’t tell (probably not hops), just astringently bitter w/ each sip across the entire temperature span I drank this thing at.

Bottle. Almost black and opague. Coffee and licorice and blackcurrant in the aroma. Creamy, oily bitter flavor with licorice and balckcurrant. Just a bit thin and alcoholic. Powerful stout.

Bottle, courtesy of jasonp. Dark brown body with a small fizzy tan head. The nose is sweet and fruity with coffee, dark chocolate, molasses and lots of plums and raisins. The flavor is moderately sweet with lots of roasted malt, coffee, bakers chocolate, molasseses and prunes. Full sticky body is moderately carbonated with a bitte,r burnt finish.

Bottle 0.5 l. Pretty much opaque brown black, some yeastlike substance on the bottom which requires some bottle turning. Absolutely beautiful nose, even when a bit too cold. Sweet, fresh, candy and fruits, even chocolate milkshake. Very unlike any I’ve experienced before. Flavor is highly roasted, almost espressolike with some smokiness and chocolate, yet quite fresh (wheat?) compared to other imperial stouts. Alcohol nicely hidden. Doesn’t feel as thick as it looks. Still absolutely beautiful brew. Really really good.

Pours black with a nice mocha head. Roasted malt dominates with some oak and just a bit of farmhouse funk. Taste is dry oak with a bit of oatmeal, hint of dark fruit and a touch of sweet and bitter chocolate at the end. Just a bit too lively on the mouthfeel for me. If the carbonation was taken down a notch this would be top notch.

Bottle (batch 73, brewed April 07, BB4 April 2010). Sweet, rich gourmet chocolate nose with thick peanut buttery yeast, dark pitted fruit in the bg, with strong wheat overtones. Nice cream scent, and that’s full cream, not just lactose. Pitch pour under a big, stiff, firm, super long-lasting lacing light brown head. Dry taste with lots of roast and toast, and by the oblique tones, seems more likely that the mystery ingredient is oatmeal than wheat. Very dry with light-medium bitterness. Lightly warming, dark chocolaty finish and aftertaste, a little oily but not off-putting. Easy-drinking. A burned oatmeal stout, by taste, and not all that big - but still pretty good!