Akevitt
HaandBryggeriet

What an unusual beer, and what a treat!

Batch 981, brewed and bottled in 2016. I just picked it up in a Colorado liquor store, so no idea where it's been sitting for more than four years. At my high altitude (6600 feet), the beer exploded when I opened it, a real gusher, but that sometimes happens at altitude, so I'm not marking off for that. A big head and a dark body, obviously.

I haven't ever had Aquavit, but I assume that's what is responsible for the spicy aroma. As someone else said, it's a little like gin. There's also a bit of wood from the barrel aging.

The taste itself is heavy on the liquor influence, all in a good way. The underlying beer is an excellent baltic porter, with plenty of roasted malts. It's not in the least sweet. The mouthfeel is super smooth.

My 2016 bottle is listed as 7.5% ABV. That's very surprising, as the liquor seems powerful. Good deal, you can drink a lot of this stuff without a heavy booze hit. I'm going back to the store to look for more bottles. This is one of the most interesting and enjoyable barrel aged beers I've had in a couple of years. Maybe it's just the novelty of the aquavit, instead of the way more common bourbon barrel aging, but I love this.

 

 

Poured a black body with minimal head and lace down the glass. The aroma has a touch of anise or some spice in it, along with touches of roasted malts that are borderline coffee. Thin, not watery but light, with a slightly sticky, sweet, cola-like taste with some dryness and clean finish. Worth trying as it is a peculiar beer.

 

2018-06-14
16.9oz bottle served in a snifter. Batch 981. 7.5% ABV. Brewed: Mars 15 2016. Bottled July 11 2016. No recollection where I got this bottle.

Pours black with a medium sized light brown head and a ton of carbonation. Smell is booze, wood, plum.

Taste is booze, more plum, less wood. Tastes like a liquor and a stout. Surprising so much alcohol is present in the flavor of a relatively modest ABV beer.

Mouthfeel is thick, slick, a little filmy. Overall, it's pretty good.

Poured from 500mL bottle into a tulip. Bottled July 11, 2016.

Appearance: rich, extremely dark brown hue with two fingers of pillow dark-tan foam. A beautiful pour.

Smell: woody and evergreen-y up front, no doubt from the aquavit. There's also a sweetish, rich underlying maltiness that is very appropriate to a Baltic porter; together they smell quite nice.

Taste: sweet and yeasty up front, with great notes of dark fruit (the hallmark of a good Baltic porter) subsides into a more herbal, astringent and somewhat drier finish as the barrel and aquavit take over. There's an overall highish level of booziness, but I think it works here.

Mouthfeel: rich body with a good level of carbonation and a very nice creaminess indeed.

Overall: what a treat. This is definitely a dessert-type beer, but man is it ever good.

 

Pours a deep dark black with two fingers of khaki head

Nose has an herbal characteristic, with light vanilla

Taste is toasted sugar, vanilla, oak, and again an herbal/floral note. It’s certainly a unique differentiator....must come from the aquavit barrels?

Lighter bodied for the style and ABV....very smooth and alcohol is camouflaged.

Again, very unique. Not what most in America would be expecting from a barrel aged porter, but the change of pace makes it that much more enjoyable

 

 

500 ml bottle into tulip glass; batch 981, bottled on 7/11/2016. Listed as 7.5%. Slight gusher on opening, but not bad. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 2 finger dense and rocky khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, oak, gin, caraway, dill, herbal, and toasted dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of nuttiness, molasses, licorice, anise, coffee, smoke, char, raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, Akevitt barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, oak, gin, caraway, dill, herbal, and toasted dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of nuttiness, molasses, licorice, anise, coffee, smoke, char, raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Light roast/char/herbal hop/spice bitterness and oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, oak, gin, caraway, dill, herbal, toasted dark/brown bread, light nuttiness/smoke/char, dark fruit, roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, Akevitt barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a fantastic roasted bitter/sweet and oak/spiciness balance; with zero acrid/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from hop/roast/spice bitterness. Medium-plus carbonation and body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/silky, and lightly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol for 7.5%. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged Baltic porter! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, Akevitt barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. Very rich and complex malts with awesome barrel integration; and mild complimenting fruity yeast/earthy hop character. Never overwhelming on spice character. A very unique but highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.

 

 

 

 

L: Dark brown/ oily
S: Chocolaty, roasted barley, woody, like drinking a good beer in at your fire place in a cabin in the snow covered woods.
T: Intense flavors, standard porter, chocolate/coffee aftertaste
F: Smooth

this is so good and so weird, it tastes like something mikkeller would do, or has done even, with an herbal spirit barrel and a rich and creamy and also very bitter loosely english based porter, its just awesome, and any negative commentary here should be taken as hate speech, for real, there is no disliking this! almost a little purple grapey in aroma and flavor, with a deep dark roasted coffee complexion too. the barrels arent that woody in it, but it almost tastes like gin, high botanical, juniper and sage and such, with a little medicinal element too, its fancy and weird, and even if the bottles seem a little oxidized, i really think it flatters the beer. porter not stout, its like when you cant define something but know it when you see it, thats this all wrapped up! aftertaste is pipe tobacco and spearmint, just crazy beer. tons of fizz too, this really pops on the palate, and feels light for such a dark and strong brew. its dry for a second too, but then it comes back, sweet and licorice forward, anise, and more gin. there is nothing else like this, no equal, and one of my favorite breweries in the world keeps killing it!!!