Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon Second Edition

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

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.

Sampled from a bottle @ Seattle IBF 09. Black pour, with a tiny film of bubbles on top. Aroma is boozy, with chocolate, coffee, port, and a bit of dark fruit. It’s really, really big - but in all honesty, it’s too big for its britches. It’s a World Wide Stout with more coffee than port, and it doesn’t cover its alcohol nearly well enough. Great underlying flavor, and it might do well with some age, but this was a bit of a disappointment for me.

Been wanting to try this one for a while now... Bottle #07654, November 2007, 17.5%, into snifter. Pours a very dark brown, not quite black, opaque, with a gorgeous little head that is the color of milk chocolate! That’s pretty dark for just foam. My hand is getting sticky from holding this, and all I’ve touched is the bottle and the snifter... Aroma is glorious; Cherry/berry at first, then huge cappuccino/dark chocolate/fine coffee. Then follows with alcohol, but not overpowering the aroma. Also a little tar and leather, smoke. Very complex aroma. Flavor: Wow, this beer is hefty. HUGE dark chocolate, cacao, a little espresso, fruity upon finish. Very tarry cigar flavors. Amazing; The booze is so subdued! You can taste it and feel it a little, but it is so mashed down by the huge chocolate and other flavors, keeping that bitch in check. Wow again: Flavor is just so complex and amazing, I don’t even have the words to describe or emphasize further. This is, without a doubt, one of the 2 or 3 most amazing beers I’ve ever experienced, right up there challenging Dark Lord, and easily knocking The Abyss down to third on my impy list. Mouthfeel is oily, greasy, not as full as DL, but still very hearty. Man, I have to get more of this as soon as possible. I am in total disbelief that this isn’t in the Top 20 or even 10. Memo to all big impy lovers: This one will change your life. Overall, world-class+++. ( At this time I now bow to Nogne.)