Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter

Brewed by Närke Kulturbryggeri
Style: Imperial Stout
Örebro, Sweden

Bottle, thanks to Jeppe the Bierkönig from Ølbutikken. A black beer with a small brown head. The aroma is roastet and og corn in the good way, also wood, alcohol, vanilla, chocolate and coffee. The taste is the same but warming from the alcohol. Medium to full body with a dry warming finish.

2006 bottle. Almost black color, with dark brown foam. Creamy aroma with dark chocolate, ash and roast. Thick bodied, but dryer as expected. initial alcohol is attacked by a flavor bomb, consisting of cream, roasted malt, loads of dark chocolate, ash, oak, beechwood and pineapple. Alcohol burn in the endless aftertaste. Complex and delicious beer, seems heavier than its promised 10% ABV. 8 4 8 5 17 = 4.2 2007 version, tap @ EBF 2008. Flower honey in the delicious aroma, combined with some oak. Licorice, honey and roast in the flavor. Lusciously sweet but still a great complexity. Licorice in the aftertaste. Again: excellent!

Bottle @ Den Tatoverede Enke, Cph. Shared with Beljohansen. Brewed December 2006. Pours a pitch black colour with a medium mostly diminishing brown creamy head. Aroma of roasted malt, nice dark chocolate, dark fruits and alcohol. Very nice thick bit sticky mouthfeel, bit tickeling on the tongue. The flavour is soft with roasted malt, lots of dark chocolate, alcohol, toffee, dark fruits and some liquorice. Lovely roasty malt and chocolate finish. Round robust yet soft Imp. Stout. A gew more years in a cellar would make this brew even better.

A Mes rate: A Mes rate: 2006 bottle shared in the private gardens at Dorset Square in Baker Street with the legendarily generous HogTownHarry.
After lusting after this beer for some time all of a sudden I have had it 6 or 7 times. Possibly the beer I have drunk the most of without rating. (with the exception of possibly the Cantillon Blåbær.) I wanted to give it the respect it deserved and rate it with a totally fresh palate and that I did on a Thursday afternoon that was to be the beginning of a top 50 fest of beer rating thanks to Harry. Anyway... the beer.
It’s black. Totally black. No light penetration what-so-ever. A slight but solid brown head. Certainly the darkest coloured head I have seen in a long time. It’s more akin to chocolate ice cream.
Aroma is superbly roasty and full of amazing hops too. Peaty whiskey, outlandish malt, dark, dark chocolate and some lovely sugar and smoky hints. So incredibly nosable. I was appraoching half way through my glass while Harry was still sniffing at his!
Flavourwise it is not quite on the level of the aroma but still utterly stunning. Once again, incredible hops are balanced perfectly with the most unreal malt I have tasted. Beautiful rich dark chocolate ice cream, hints of tartness, spice, boozy peaty whiskey notes, utterly gorgeous lip smacking vanilla, viscous, oily and huge alcohol but oh so bloody good. Finish is of biblical proportions and just doesn’t stop. The light sting of alcohol reminds you that this is really serious stuff. Palate. Oh... my... f**king... GOD. Honestly it is unsurpassed by all I have tried previously. Totally unexpected carbonation that is so very good. Fizzes and zings around the mouth and prepares your palate so very well for the following rich velvet cream. Impossible to explain. It’s just stunning.
On the way to tipsy after half a bottle. Totally incredible beer. Having had this along side the regular Stormaktsporter I have to say that in all honesty it is hard to pick the winner between the two. Both are stunning but when geeking out and writing numbers the Kaggen just edges it. Oh, another thing, it has the best sediment of any beer ever, I’m convinced of that. I once drained every last drop of the sludge of three bottles into a glass and filled it halfway with water. It was STILL gorgeous. I kid you not. Right, that’s it. I’m off for a wank. I mean... erm... oh sod it.

Bottle @ ChristianScheffel tasting. [thank you sooooo much, Christian]
[my 1800th rating]
Well... perfection is a 5.0 rating, and this certainly is!
[2006 vintage]
Looks fantastic, completely pitch black oil look. There is a slight ring of foam on the top. Aroma assault me directly. Wood, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, prunes and raisins. Thick and oily mouthfeel. Flavour is so fantastic, I can’t even describe it. There are so many flavours and everything is perfectly balanced. Cap said it well: "this beer stands on every edge known, but never, ever, falls into the ravine".

Alright, I had the chance to get a sample of that (2005) in Copenhagen, then I tried the new 2007 version at Oliver twist a few weeks later and retried, some days after, the 2005 thanks to my very generous Göteborg hosts: Marsiblursi. First off, the regular Stormaktsporter is an excellent imperial stout and rather tough to beat in complexity. I don’t quite understand the purpose of setting it in a barrel. It is apparently a rather short journey that it takes (2,5months), yet the effect is considerable as bourbon is obvious in the nose, but the low duration has allowed the body to keep most of its thickness, silkiness and richness.
So what do I think about it? Well, first off, I prefered the 2005 version which is 1% lighter and more developped and rounded around the edges at this point. The 2007 is still a fair bit boozy. The 2005’s complexity is more obvious and the concentrated fruitiness from the regular comes across more naturally. Appearance-wise, they both wear a fair diminishing dark beige head. Totally opaque, oily body, pitch black. The 2007 actually left legs on the glass. Gentle alcohol flavours, rum-soaked grapes, heady nose with wild leather smokiness, mint, vanilla (strong), chocolate roastiness and hard to pick up single fruits. Complex nuances, age-worthy, silky full body with honeyed and brown sugar tones. Very creamy, smooth carbonation. it manages to feel quite vinous at the same time, full on truffles, earth mushrooms powderiness and growing date square undertones. You can eventually all kinds of little nuances, which is the sign of a great beer. Still, at the end, I’m not convinced I prefer the barrel version and remain unconvinced that the rarity does not make me try harder to pick out stuff. Certainly a fine experience though. I’ll just give both Stormakts the same score.. but it is a sipper and I’m less into those that I once was.

Without doubt the best porter ever made. Aroma is so comlex so vinous just AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!� RERATING Bottle at rbesg07, thanks to Per. Aroma seems far less vinous than i remember, roasty and lots of chocolate. Taste is similar, perhaps the palate has lost something here, still a very very nice beer, but doesnt seem as good as the first time i had it. RERATE: 4th bottle now had at duff’s. Again lacking vinous character though it is still there. Dark fruits and chocolate still here however. Carbonation still quite nice though.

Bottle... This beer rocks!... Pitch black ale with a mid-sized, creamy, brown head. The nose is of rich milk chocolate and coconut with a small dose of acetaldehyde. I’m supersensitive to the stuff, so most wouldn’t even detect it. Despite the ethanal, the aroma is wonderful. The flavor offers terrific balance between sweet chocolate malt, woodsy sourmash and moderate scorched bitterness. Full-bodied with a mouthfeel of heavy cream and almost lively carbonation. Burnt, bitter, not-too-boozy, chocolate finish. World class effort!