Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter

Brewed by Närke Kulturbryggeri
Style: Imperial Stout
Örebro, Sweden

Re-rate bottled at Akkurat and at SMÖF. The flavours are now more mature and balanced. The silkyness of teh regular Stormaktsporter now combines well with all the attractive barrel induced flavours. It has grown one step further on bottles.
[Draught at Oliver Twist, Stockholm] Intransparently black, small pale brown head. Rich aroma of licorice and wood. Sweet with full body and concentrated flavour of coffee, tar, oak and whiskey. Salty finish with vanilla and chocolate as well as a fair amount of bitterness. The barrel character does not overpower the other flavours, making it more balanced than many other barrel aged beers.

Deep black in colour with a thin tan head and light lacing. The aroma is of vanilla, bourbon, roasted malts, some alcohol but all the while rather sweet. The flavour is warming, quite sweet, creamy, vanilla, roasted malts and some oak. Warm and sweet mouthfeel, medium/large body, medium carbonation. Finishes long, warming and quite bitter.

This intensified more and more as I drank this. The alcohol is quite warm at time and the chocolate picks up at the end. Initially I really didn’t care all that much for this. My initial rating was a 3.6 but the more I drank this the more flavours came out. Lots of smoke started to come out as did some oak. The body starts to intensify as it warms as well and the mouthfeel became really silky. Very good, world class.

250ml bottle obtained in a trade with a very generous ratebeerian, thanks, you know who you are.
Opened on October 8, 2008.
Vintage 2006.

Tasted at the February Northern California Beer Tasting. This Imperial Stout pours an eclipse black color from the bottle. Small to medium sized foamy tan head. The aroma is chocolate and toffee, dark fruit, chocolate, oak and licorice. A very full bodied Imperial Stout. The malts are chocolate and toffee, dark fruit, licorice, oak and some bourbon. The hops are earthy. An incredibly full mouthfeel, a real tongue coater. Lots of chocolate and coffee flavors as wellas some dark fruit and vanilla. Nice balance. Good beer. Mouthfeel is very full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

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.

A huge thanks to WeeHeavySD for sharing this at the Woodshop#3 tastitng. Thick, chocolatey, roasty, very tasty. Got some dried fruit in the flavor too. Complex & tasty in every way.

[To celebrate my rating number 7500 - I choose the present number one beer, which I sampled at the RBESG 2006] A pitch black beer with a thick brown head. The aroma is very powerful with notes of malt, alcohol, chocolate, and over ripe fruits. The flavor is extremely sweet malty with lots of chocolate - bitter dessert chocolate that is, as well as notes of roasted malt, alcohol, and wood, also light notes of whiskey mixes in. The alcohol burns slightly in the throat. Nice one.

Date: 04/04/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Vintage: 2006

Appearance: black, fine tan head, streaks of drippy lace, tick viscous liquid coats the inside of the glass and turns it brown,
Aroma: huge dark chocolate aroma with sweet dark caramel and honey plus a touch of vanilla, a fair amount of balancing oak,
Body: big thick body,
Flavor: rich dark chocolate flavor, lots of honey and dark caramel sweetness comes in with some vanilla to enrichen the chocolate, touch of roasted adds bitterness, the oak rises up to add a whole new dimension of complexity, alcolol comes in after a while to open it up and add additional sweetness,
Overall: the thick rich chocolate rules the day with the honey and vanilla sweetness backing it up

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***4

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!