Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter

Brewed by Närke Kulturbryggeri
Style: Imperial Stout
Örebro, Sweden

The look: Black body with a tan ring of foam
The style: Woody barrel aged Imperial Stout
The stuff: Barrel harmoniously joined by bitter black chocolate and sweet milk chocolate. Barrel is apparent indeed, very woody. Roastiness level is somewhat low leaving room for the woody flavours. Dried raisins concentrate but never vinous. By the end the whole thing turns into a cake. Sweet yet dry. Great body. The carbonation is appropriately very active making the beer more drinkable than it ought to be. Initial opinion was a 4.3 but woke up the day after carving for more. So this is ratebeer current #1 beer. Hmmm… Amazing what rarity and a high price tag can do. I was hoping for something more from the beer on top of the mountain. I expected a new twist on the style, something different, something “out there”, you know, an experience. It’s a great beer no doubt but it doesn’t break new grounds and I can think of a few very similar and in some cases superior beers that are much cheaper and easier to find. Get drunk on that stuff and you’ll end-up as broke as the ten commandments.
The how: Back from Japan tasting at MartinT. Bottle from Rastacouere (a huge tank-you here)
The conclusion: One of the best barrel aged Imperial Stout I’ve had. Nothing new or original. A tad overrated. Current high price tag/rarity and affordable alternatives means I won’t even try to have it again.

250. Thanks, Thewolf!
This is the best beer I have ever had.
Jet black. Brunt tan, dense, creamy, thick head. Huge roast, chocolate, plum, vanilla nose. Creamy body just a little higher than medium. Roast, chocolate, oak, plum, and vanilla on the mid-palate. Long backing chocolate finish. Some beers just live up to the hype that surrounds them, even if the hype is huge. This is definitely one of them.

2006 version shared by the European Beer Pipeline after4ever. Thanks man! So that being said, this has probably the best nose of anything I have ever smelt. A complex mix of dark malts, coffee, chocolate, fruit, vanilla, just all rounded out and mixed in together. Black beer with a milkshake looking brown head. Flavors of chocolate, dark fruit, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon barrel notes, ashy burnt malts, wood, piney earthy hops. Creamy velvety body, some warmth, low carbonation. Pretty much the best thing I have ever drank.

2006 Bottle @ Merritt Island tasting, courtesy of hopscotch and the Orlando crew, kisses for saving a schnitt for latecomers!!! Gorgeous black silken body with luscious tan lacing, giving a satiny palate. Robust coffee aromas and flavors with lots of bourbon swirling around. A smooth, tasty, well-crafted and refined brew well-deserving of its accolades. An honor to drink.

Nip bottle from miketd shared by Enniskillen; Nose of raisins, molasses, chocolate, smoke, and woody oaky vanillin; black with a very dark cinnamon head; flavor of woody oak, chocolate, vanilla, and BBQ smoke. Finish is chocolate and light alcohol.

Bottle tasted at Copenhagen Beerfestival 2007. (Vintage 2005) Black colour with a nice head. Nice port aroma with notes of roastedness oily and sweet chocolate. Wonderfull tasty and smooth flavour of chocolate, port-like, roastedness and hints of oak and little alcohol. Very nice endeed. I also tasted version 2006, but I prefer 2005.

(Draught at Oliver Twist, Stockholm) Colour is opaque black, with a firm pale brown head. Nose is roasted with loads of liquorice and soy sauce. Hints of smoke, rather tarry, and with some vanilla notes. A bit sweet. Taste is roasted (can even detect hints of birch ashes), again with loads of sweet liquorice, soy sauce, espresso with sugar. Body is full, thick and creamy, but with some prickly carbonation on the tongue. Lots of everything in the finish, even some hoppy bitterness (I suppose it had to arrive sooner or later). Warming, massive and very tasty.

Bottle 2006 (Generously given as an extra by oh6gdx, thanks!) Pours an opaque black with a dense brown head. Huge tarry nose with lots of licorice/anisette boozy notes, but smooth. Salty dark chocolate is evident as well. Slick and peppery on the palate. Boozy and warming but not sweet or cloying. Has a a lot of licorice flavors and anisette-like qualities, but not overly sweet. Some molasses notes and peppery phenolics come through with a piny character (not piny as in hops) and lots of rich smooth coffee roast later on. There’s also a burnt marshmallow flavor which describes the smooth tasty sweetness and charred character. Unique and tasty. Has some subtleties that make it stand out from other barrel-aged giants. Nice stuff.