Dark Horizon 5th Edition
Nøgne Ø

Dec. 2017: 500 ml bottle, batch #1383, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 16%, 100 IBU. Black colour, minimal beige head. Aroma of roast malts, coffee, leather, oak, chocolate and vanilla. Minimal carbonation, but the beer is not completely flat. Warming mouthfeel. Sweet flavour of roast malts, coffee, molasses, alcohol and dark chocolate, followed by fairly distinct bittering hops. Good stuff, but appears not perfectly balanced. Would profit from some more carbonation.

A 500ml bottle in a nice circular case, bottled on 3rd March 2015, and poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse to no lacing.

Aroma: Roasted malts, liquorice, chocolate, coffee, molasses, dark fruit, prunes, booze.

Taste: Moderately sweet, light to moderately bitter, roasty, dark chocolate, coffee, liquorice, molasses, caramel, dark fruit, prunes, booze.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: A nice sipper. Good sweet and bitter balance, but perhaps, although not unexpected given the ABV, it was a touch boozy. Not overly so, but not hidden either.

 

Dark brown appearance with a sparse tan head, limited retention, no lacing. Molasses, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, roasty sweet malt. Medium body, soft carbonation.

 

 

 

Interesting flavors, but maybe too boozy. Could probably have let it age a bit longer. Some roastiness, nuttiness, a bit bitter, a slight sweetness, but a heck of a boozy burn on both the nose and taste.

 

 

Small pour at Pingvinen in Bergen for 109 NOK ($13). Nose of ethanol, roast. Super boozy, anise, some bourbon, maybe rum, heat, roast, booze, Wood, black licorice and boozy caramel finish. Way too hot. Feel is creamy but the ethanol overpowers and burns a bit. Fire in the tummy. Every component score would be .5 higher if not for the heat, hence the slightly higher overall score. Glad I split a small pour... interesting but not worth seeking out.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a deep brown color head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of coffee, nice rich black chocolate notes with some light roasted malt notes is quite enjoyable. Taste is a nice mix of floral coffee notes with nice rich black chocolate notes with some roasted malt and just enough residual sugar notes to offset some of the bitterness. Body is full with good carbonation and light warming alcohol notes. World-class imperial stout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 500mL bottle fits nicely into my Duvel snifter (no, I'm not sharing this with my wife). Pitch black, small tan head.
Strong coffee aroma, some chocolate, a little vanilla.
What a taste! Dark coffee with cream, milk chocolate, and a bit of vanilla.
Thick and chewy. You would never guess that it was 16% ABV.
The price was absurd, but I would buy it again anytime.