A rich, dark ale in which a generous sweetness perfectly balances roasted malt bitterness. Serving temp. 10°C/50°F. Great with vanilla ice cream or dark chocolate. Ingredients: Marris Otter-, Munich-, crystal-, chocolate-, black-, oat-, wheat-malt and roasted barley. Columbus hops, English ale yeast and our local Grimstad water.
Beer Ratings and Reviews:
[1] Review by Mingo51 from Mingo Jct, OH, USA who has tried this beer once. (4/2/2008 1:06:19 AM)
"This beer pours an opaque pitch color topped off by a tall, thick dark brown head that retained well and left great lace. Aroma is a little mild though still having some nice roasted and caramel malts coming through. The mouthfeel is rich and smooth but very thin given the style. The flavor starts off with strong roasted coffee leading mellowing into some nice molasses and anise flavors and finishing dry with a light hoppy touch and some prevelant alochol."
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
10/10
Mouthfeel:
7/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.8)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 16.9oz @ $6.49 Unit Cost: $6.14 per Pint
[2] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (1/21/2008 11:36:17 PM)
"Early 2007 USA release, Sampled January 3008
Pours with a frothy, three-finger thick, chocolate tinged, dark tan colored head. The beer is quite simply black, whether held up to the light or not, but it did show a clear, dark chocolate brown color as I was pouring it into my tulip glass. As I pour this I get aromas of prunes and raisins. A deeper inspection of the aroma yields these notes again, but this time with a substantial roast side to them. Deeply roasted notes of espresso, dark chocolate, burnt-caramelized fruit, well toasted whole grain bread. Heady notes of slightly warming alcohol contribute a coffee liquor note as well as having touches of fruity brandy. After a bit of time the beer loses a bit of the appetizing fruit notes and becomes more burnt, acidic and roasted than before.
Thick and chew, but with a substantial burnt acidity to it that somehow keeps this a bit lighter than it is: The burnt acidity adds some acrid notes to the beer though, so it is not any more drinkable. Sweet, thick malt notes show through the roast character though and contribute to burnt, caramelized fruit notes of raisins, touches of prunes and a hint of berries. At times this can seem soft, creamy and inviting, but at other the roast character can intrude a little too much. Chalky burnt grain, bitter roast malt and a substantial hop bitterness when on provide a great balance to the sweet fruit and chocolate-like malt notes up front, but at other times can magnify the burn, roast, acrid acid character in this beer.
As the beer warms up a bit, the burnt acrid flavors become more under control; the beer becomes more soft, rounded, creamy and dark-chocolate like. Really this beer needs to be much closer to 60°F / 15°C than the 50°F / 10°C recommended on the label. This, much more integrated, smoother flavor, after the beer warms up really saves my experience of this beer.
A huge, roasted, malty Imperial Stout; at best this can be quite tasty and balanced, and even at worst it is still a solid example of the style. Imperial Stout fiends definitely need to get a hold of this one, but prepare yourself for a huge burnt grain character. The roast / burnt grain character should help this beer to age for quite some time, the one year of age on this does note even show up.
Purchased: Liquid Solutions"
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
7/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.7)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 500ml @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
[3] Review by yngwie from Kristiansand, Norway who has tried this beer many times. (12/27/2007 7:33:15 AM)
"Bottled at Uptown. Huge dense, head. Never seen a head that brown. The beer is just black. No color to be spotted at all. Mild, chocolatey, coffeeish, roasted aroma with hints of cigar. The flavor has some honey-cake in it too. Full bodied with a long bitter aftertaste, that gets a little astringent at the very end. Rating: 7-9-8-9-8-4.1 (051103)
Rerate: Still pours black, with a big, dense, brown head. Still leaves nice lacings. Something has happened to the aroma though. It still has chocolate and coffee, it has roasted malt, but it’s much more intense than I remember it from earlier samples. And the hop-aromas are just lovely. I mean really lovely. Heavy on the pine and resin, yet fruity, much more evident than I can remember from any of the other bottles I’ve had. Just wonderful, I could sit with my nose deep in the glass for ages, and sure I did. The cigar smoke mentioned in my first rating of it are undetectable, but it has a vanilla note in the far back. This time tasted at 12 degrees centigrade, maybe it has opened up much more, at least it is a completely different experience than at the first rating. The flavor plays almost the same tune as the aroma, but the chocolate is a bit subdued, and the coffee more pronounced. It is still thick and chewy in the mouth, I didn’t have to taste it to understand that, it was evident when pouring. The lovely hop is surely present in the flavor as well, giving it a heavy bitterness that balances all of it’s dark sides, and there’s still room for fruityness. The finish is almost as lovely as anything else. The coffee and chocolate disappeares a bit fast, but the roast and bitterness stays with you for a long time. The dangerous part of this beer, as with all beers from Nøgne Ø, is that the alcohol is damn well hidden. If this is how the beer tastes like at the moment, I’m definately in for some more bottles. (070913)"
Aroma:
9/10
Appearance:
9/10
Mouthfeel:
9/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
9/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 500ml @ $11 Unit Cost: $10.41 per Pint
[4] Review by staleyiv from Newnan, GA, USA who has tried this beer once. (12/21/2007 2:16:51 PM)
"I had heard much about this new impy stout and I was happy to come across it the other night at a new packy in Buckhead, Atl. and I look forward to this for sure. Aroma is very deep and full of whiskey overtones as well as some creamy chocolate and tobacco leaves with very fine port quality coming through that is very malty and bready and dynamic. Appearance is a charcoal black and is very thick but a very dark and rich brownish red when held to the light with a full head on top that is well-carbonated and a brown in color and diminishes to thick and creamy lacing on the glass that has legs. Mouthfeel is extremely robust and full with multitudes of deep complexity as well as balance with a palate that is well-rounded and velvety smooth with some chewy overtones as well. Flavor is of sherry port and whiskey with overtones of leather and tobacco with an aftertaste that is of bitter hops and massive malty sweetness with a finish that is clean and robust as well as sharp and smooth with not much alcohol noticeable at all with even some raisins and rum cake characteristics as well. Overall, a fine example of the style and a perfect candidate for ageing and one of the best examples I have had in sometime for sure and is very pretentious. "
Aroma:
9/10
Appearance:
10/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
9/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 22oz @ $6.49 Unit Cost: $4.72 per Pint
[5] Review by Stoutlover72 from Northern, California, USA who has tried this beer once. (6/9/2007 9:55:14 AM)
"What a great, great beer. While the first beer I tried from them (Pale Ale) knocked my socks off, their 2nd beer (God Jul) was just okay. This one was simply excellent. A rich, inviting aroma of roasted malts, espresso, dark fruits, chocolate pie, slightly nutty with a subtle kick of hops. Appearance was stunningly beautiful. Thick, viscuous black liquid, a rich, dark tan 3-finger head. Mouthfeel was thick, yet velvety soft and not a bit of syrupyness to it. Flavor was more roasted malts, vanilla, chocolate, some coffee (reminded me of some kinda of chocolate covered coffee candy), black walnuts, pines with a subtle caramel undertone. Excellent beer. Been awhile since I had a truly tasty Imperial Stout, as some of the ones I've had lately were really ashy. Not this. Incredibly well done."
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
10/10
Mouthfeel:
9/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
9/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.4)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 500ml @ $7 Unit Cost: $6.62 per Pint
Do you want to see the rest of the reviews? Sign In or Register FREE! = BeerPals Only
Review this Beer:
You must be a member to write a review. Please sign up or log in.
(3.8)
