Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter

Brewed by Närke Kulturbryggeri
Style: Imperial Stout
Örebro, Sweden

2006 vintage Huge, dense, very dark-greige head over jet-black beer. Some shards of lace despite all alcohol. Superb winey, vinous nose, with nuts, cocos, moccha, cacao, whisky, rum, dark fruit, fuselalcohols, fresh vanilla and new oak barrels. Impressive. Chocolate flavourS - mix of milkchocolate and full black; rum, but a better kind than I’ve ever tasted; surprisingly sweet, with a vanilla icecream touch, plus a good dot of moccha icecream. Dark rock candi sugar, very little wood, but lots of ethanol & higher alcohols. Liquid black chocolate on rumliqueur. WITH raisins drenched in honey. Utterly viscous, slick as none, soothing best bar none.
Comparing this to Westvleteren is utter nonsense. I never believed in the idea "dessert beer" - until now. Westvleteren is (superb) beer, full stop. Thomas D, eternal gratitude!

2006. Been waiting for a while for this one. Dark milk and bitter chocolate, toasted vanilla initially on the nose. Creamy peanut butter. A big alcohol presence that kind of distracts a bit. Pours nearly black as night with a thick dark khaki head leaving spotty lacing and a nice yellow film after a gentle swirl. Roasted malt and toasted marshmallow on the tongue initially.Bitter chocolate. Some dried vanilla, a touch of soy, peanut butter and an underlying fusel alcohol note that distracts from the overall essence of the beer. Viscous and chewy mouthfeel. An excellent example of the style... if only I could get beyond that fusel alcohol... Thanks so very much for this awesomely rare treat Brad!

Poured from a nip sized 7 oz or so bottle; vintage 2006 thanks to Tyler. Dark chocolate colored pour with a thin ring of golden brown. Aroma of heavy bourbon; coconut, vanilla, honey, and brisket. Hints of strawberry, raspberry, some mulch, and scotch malt. Limited in dimensions. Flavors brings lots of bourbon influence again with vanilla and pistachio frostings; delicate and nuanced with coconut, sweet vegetables and wood. Simple, straightforward, and laid back. Meaty, sugary with wine impartation and mildy salty. Palate is tinny and soft with tepid carbonation and a full, velvety texture. Balanced; smooth, with some citrus sugars and honey-blended espresso in the finish. Somewhat underwhelming, but irrefutably well made and delicately done.

Dark black with tan thin head. Aroma of chocolate and oak. Damn this is good, and I say that expecting to be let down as though this beer was all hype. Has a bit of a strange flavour for an imperial stout but it’s really fantastic. Full creamy and chewy body with a nice light feeling with the carbonation despite the coating ability of this thicker stout. Missing is the sometimes annoying charred bitter and astringent malt character, surprising given the coffee flavour towards the end. Finishes out with chocolate and a bit of soy. Really well done and a very good stout.

Big thanks to Drewbeerme for sharing this hard to get and hard traveling beer. It survived the trip from Denmark to the US but after being stopped at customs it was sent right back. The owner of the beer was nice enough to send it back again but it didn’t make it back unharmed. Some of the beer had leaked out of the bottle and also losing the carbonation and tasting a little oxidized. I had a few extra points to the overall score just because of this but the intense flavors were still there even if there wasn’t a head or a larger/creamier/more carbonated body. 2006 Vintage.

Dark opaque black body with no carbonation, this beer looks literally as thick and creamy as motor oil. Aroma is dark chocolate malt, some bourbon (very faint vanilla), very well balanced none the less, some toffee and dark fruit, enjoyable. Flavor is soy sauce (most likely due to the oxidation) dark chocoate, coffee, subtle hops, once again subtle bourbon, the delcious flavor even outscores the soy. Medium body and no carbonation. An excelent brew, but definite rerate.

Thank you Andrew for a fantastic send off unlike any beer I actually had on the trip.

2006 vintage. Poured super black. Nice creamy dark brown head. Chocolate, malt, and fruit are the main flavors in this one. Thanks to John_Adam for hookin me up. Solid beer, need to try this again.

Bottle @ DTE. Pours pitch black with a dense medium sized brown head. Very very nice and well balanced. Great complexety and creamy feel - notes of chocolate, coffee, dark dried fruit, woody dryness and of course hops. Very nice.

Thanks to WeeHeavySD for the taste of this one at the Woodshop#3. Nice, thick and roasty with coffee, cocoa and good balance of sweet fruitiness. Very complex, would like to have had more but hey, I lucked out as it was. Good stuff!