Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter

Brewed by Närke Kulturbryggeri
Style: Imperial Stout
Örebro, Sweden

Thnx to caesar for this one. Great gift for my birthday. 2006 version. Dark black colored, pours oily. Very smooth and interesting aroma, some fruits, sweetness, mocca, chocolate and some coffee. The flavor is in one word, unforgettable. Bitterness is smooth, creamy. Dark malts, chocolate, mocca, coffee and a vanilla sweetness with some hints of fruits. Great balanced and complex flavor. Really great.

2006 bottle @ SOPP, Helsinki. Black w/ dark mocca head. Very creamy, buttery nose, strong vanilla, the bourbon ageing really comes through. Syrupy and burned malty flavor, vanilla, little alcohol and loads of bourbon. Surprisingly "light" bodied, not as smooth palate as it probably should be. Very good even this way, but cries out for a better time and place. Definitely not a beer to sample at festivals.

Thanks to Brad (YGTBSM94). 2006 Vintage. Overpowering aroma on this jet black slightly headed stout. Dominate liquorice taste that provides a slight and sweet balance with the other notes of smoke, roasted barley, bold coffee, and cloying chocolate.

Bottle (vintage ’06) shared with yngwie@The Rover, Göteborg. Pours an opaque near black body, just a shade away from pitch black. A beautiful creamy one-finger espresso head slowly shrinking to thin islands of foam. The aroma is vinous, powerful and complex, still extremely smooth and mellow . Lots of delicate sweetness from toasted dark malts. Cocoa, dark chocolate, mild coffee is dominating, followed by inviting scents of vanilla, honey, alcohol-soaked dried fruits and some wooden notes. Big fat body. Mouthfeel is oily and smooth as velvet. Very tasty, and as complex as it gets. Refined dark malts with a delightful sweetness in charge. Accompanied by oak and vanilla, coffee and chocolate, figs and raisins. A mild and gentle bitterness underneath. A barely noticable alcohol heath in the mouth. Some distant notes of rum, licorice, almonds and roast. The finish lingers forever. This beer is no hype, it’s divine! Does beer get better than this?

Bottle, at the Rover, Gothenburg. (2006 vintage, 10%) Served in a Triple Karmeliet glass, which proved to be a nice choice from the barman. There’s just nothing to complain about regarding the appearance of the beer. It’s jet black, with a creamy, tan head. The aroma is smooth as hell, with lots of mocha doing a good deal of the job, but has company of a sweetish vanilla and marzipan scent. The alcohol can be detected, but is very weak. In the mouth, it’s very sweet in a good way, with flavors of mocha, some vanilla and a hint of alcohol and dried fruits. It’s very low on bitterness, and also on hops, but it’s just delightful. Sort of leaves me lost for words. (080710)

Bottle (RBESG 08): Pitch black with a small beige head; turpentine, vanilla, toasted malt and wood in the nose; very full bitter-sweet flavour, full bodied, creamy MF; long, long, long finish: chocolate, cacao and so on. Great, great stuff...............

0.25 l bottle (2006 vintage) at SOPP2008, Helsinki. Pitch black color with small creamy tan head. Sweet aroma with plenty and vanilla and whisky, coffee and chocolate is more on the background. Rich flavor with bourbon, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, salty licorice and sherry. Very warming and a bit sharp palate. Excellent dessert but I prefer the ordinary stormakts porter as this is slightly too whiskyish.

(6/29/08) Bottle sample at RBESG08 grand tasting in Plzen. Black-colored with a brown head. Aroma of roasted to burnt malt, some sweet chocolate notes, cocoa and some coffee. Quite dry roasted-burnt flavor of malt, cocoa and a bit of dark fruitiness. Full-bodied. Looking forward to try a more proper sample of this from the bottle in my cellar.