Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon Second Edition

Formerly brewed at Nøgne Ø
Style: Imperial Stout
Grimstad, Norway

Bottle @ PIB... Poured black with a light brown head. Roasted grains on the nose. A nice delicate alcohol flavor. Creamy and delicious. Strong toasted almond malt flavors.

Bottle from la bodega. Black with a fizzy dark brown head. Chocolate espresso molasses and brown sugar aroma. Thick syrupy bright palate. Big cherry taste up front chocolate burnt sugar and coffee taste. Alcohol well hidden for a 17.5%

Bottle shared at Noogfest High 5 gathering. Poured black color with a moderate creamy brown head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate roasted coffee, chocolate and small alcohol aroma. Medium to full body with a sticky smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy roasted sweet flavor with a medium to heavy bittersweet finish of moderate to long duration. Another standout brew.

Bottle pours pitch black with tan head. Aroma is alcohol, chocolate roast, and has some yeast smell as well. Mouthfeel is rich and viscous. Its really dense. Flavor is alcohol, rich chocolate and coffee flavors with some dark roast malt on the back end. The dark roast is slightly astringent, but not over the top. This is a tad bit hot through and through. In another year of so when the booze settles down this will be a world class brew. Even with the booze now its a great beer. It will be just excellent in another year or two.

Sampled at the Noogfest High 5. Bottle 6103. Holy shit this has alcohol! Black pour with a ring of brown head. Bourbon, chocolate, coffee, and ALCOHOL, with a bitter coffee chocolate finish. Definitely hot and way too expensive. But damn, still admirable.

Original review date 3/17/2009... #07310; bottle instructs us to wait until fall 2009, giving it about 2 years of conditioning from the creation date of 11/5/2007. I just finished a big fat steak so it’s time to grip it and rip it. Warms for about 20 minutes, I crack it open and after another 10 it’s into the Portsmouth snifter... This pours so dark it almost has a bing cherry-red tone to it. Pretty flat - wisps of dark brown sugar in place of where head should be. Lacing is moderate to sparse for the time being. Viscous and chunky. Second pour reveals a little more head, but nothing of great import. Bubbles are scared of this deal. This stuff is hardcore 07 jet BLACK. Slate abounds with very austere char of the grill. Boozy perfume emanates from brown sugar, maybe molasses and a little bit of heavy fruit cake. Definitely some patent tannins and huskiness. Hops are all pine to me. The creamy coffee notes and residual brown sugar sweetness soothe a palate which is left for scorched earth from the steady, calculating booziness of this. Of course it’s hot...that’s what we expect from such a youthful 17.5% ABV bomb. But warm this up and the balance emerges. It’s bordering on smooth. Sure, there’s a whole lot of coffee tones and a little feel of cacao nibs. But this gets to be more creamy with warmth. Wow - I’m getting impressed. I can feel the boozy heat of this after a few minutes - it’s so warming I feel like I should be drinking it out of a flask (c’mon now, for 20-something bucks shouldn’t you?). There’s still a little perfumy alcohol burn - actually there’s quite a bit of one - but there’s sheer velvet - maybe even rich Corinthian leather - backing this up. Tannins fade away with warmth - you’re left with the creaminess, maybe a little hop bite and a lot of coffee and residual chocolate raw materials. I wish that little perfume issue would go away - the brown sugar sweetness is a little sterile for me with that...but I keep reaching for this one and it doesn’t disappoint. Maybe it’s not a pillar of Beautiful Chemistry - actually it is showing some synergy - everything works together and balances for the most part but it tastes a little cold and calculating - as if it needs a little soul. Hopefully age tames the beast and we see what this crate will really do in a few years.

Noogfest High 5. Sample from a bottle thanks to someone. Dark brown, red edges thin tan head. Aroma is alcohol burn, roast, chocolate. Taste is syrupy, huge alcohol, soy, chocolate.

Had 4oz. pour at Seattle International Beer Festival. Pours dark black with small lacey head. Aroma of bitter chocolate and some alcohol. Taste of a little chocolate, raisins, alcohol, smoke, and dates. Really good. Kind of burns the lips after a few minutes. I really enjoyed this one.