Haandbryggeriet Dark Force

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

Bottle courtesy of Slob in a most interesting trade. Pours a Dark brown black with lively dense mocha head. Nose is whispy and comes and goes. A nice change from those punch in the face hoppy ones. Rasberries and wet straw in the field along with coffee. Body is oily and flat. It has hints of port wine and is a touch acidic. I realy like this beer. The wheat gives a nice twist on the stout theme. Hops finish with a crisp dry acidic toung. Groovy.

(500 ml bottle (Batch 74, May ’07) from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/maine/boothbay/ target=blank>1828 Vintage House) Winey, chocolatey, sweet and sour...Pours very, very dark brown, appears opaque. Three fingers of rather stout tan head slowly recedes to about 1/4" of a persistent cap. Aroma has elements of red wine, chocolate and sweet and sour. Mouthfeel rather fizzy, a bit loose but has some fullness. Flavor is rather winey with dark bitter chocolate. The sweet and sour element is quite strong. Finishes a bit grassy/dusty and with a rather bitter chocolate aftertaste. Beer this most reminded me of was JP Madrugada Obscura, although the two are probably only loosely similar. This was certainly a bit more drinkable but a little weird in its own right. A quality product but just not a great mix of aromas and flavors.

500 mL bottle, batch 74 best before may 2011. massive tan head rises atop the black liquid, with a lot of carbonation for an "imperial stout." chalky, starchy, roasty aroma - not much alcohol but it would be hard to decipher much else behind the bitter and astringent nose. huge roasted bitterness, and the bitter of unsweetened chocolate. wheat is apparent in the smooth body, but it soon turns gritty. perhaps this needs some time (2011 maybe?) to mellow and round out, but for now it would be tough to recommend.

(Bottle, Batch 73, BB Apr 2010) Pours a black body with a medium tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, rye bread, sweet dark fruit, and some chocolate. Flavor of roasted malt, well done meat, vinous, chocolate, and some licorice with plenty of carbonation in the mouthfeel.

Bottle. Huh... This one’s a bit odd. Interesting aroma of liquorice, molasses, wet, burnt wood and alcohol. Pours dark, dark brown: almost black with a khaki head that lasts forever. Unique flavor profile: soot, dry and sour yeast, coffee and lightly roasted malt. Not nearly as full bodied and rich as I like my Imp. stouts.

thanks zeswaft. chalk and soot aroma. tastes like soot. horrible. why are all these norweigan beers brewed with talcum powder?

Black of color with a brown head. An aroma of chocolate and liqurice. A flavor of chocolate, coffee and roastet malt.

Pours nice and thick black with dark brown head. aroma is plastic and chocolate. flavor is pretty much the same with an obvious wheat flavor that i’m not digging. Interesting idea but not very good. oh yeah, $13 was a fucking rip off.