Haandbryggeriet Dark Force

Brewed by Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: Imperial Stout
Drammen, Norway

Serve in Snifter

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A solid black body with a small brown head. The aroma is slightly spicy with malts, hops, and some coffee and chocolate. The flavor is also spicy with more coffee and chocolate along with a sweet and crisp wheat aftertaste. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

500 ml bottle into snifter. Batch 90: Aug 07 bottling, best by Aug 2011. Pours pitch black color with a nice 1 finger dense tan head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap. Some spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas of big licorice, soy sauce, roasted malt, coffee, dark chocolate, biscuit, herbal, light charcoal, wood, earth, and molasses. Nice and interesting aromas, with good complexity. Taste of dark roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee, molasses, smoke, wood, licorice, earthiness, light soy sauce, and light herbal spiciness. A bit of earthy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of smoke, roasted malt, chocolate, and earthiness on the finish for a bit. Nice balance of flavors, with no cloying sweetness. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is pretty much completely hidden, nothing more than a hint of warming after the finish. Overall this is a damn nice and unique imperial stout. Very smooth and balanced; with some interesting and complex flavors.

Im having mine at The Beach Club in Oslo. Om eating hamburger with chipotle and a cheese cake. The beer has a Nice coffey flavour, velvety, sexy... Fantastic!

Great aroma out of the bottle and into the tulip. A substantial head quickly fades to a tan ring above a lovely black body. Lots of dark roasted coffee and semisweet chocolate. This is really good. If the body was a little more viscous, then this would be rated considerably higher. That said, I muchly love this great extra from a great trader.

Norwegian wood? Norwegian beer is good! And this beer exemplifies full mouthfeely goodness. Burnt coffee/chocolate on the palate follows a foreboding appearance in the glass. All that is promised is delivered. Not for the faint of heart, mind, body or soul. mmmm

Sorry for the german rating, but this is a lousy rating from my "newbie" time (2007-2009), and it’s not worth of being translated. I just added it for the statistics, and to complete my backlog!
Ins Glas ergießt sich das wohl schwärzeste und lichtundurchlässigste Bier, das ich in meinem Leben jemals gesehen habe. Schwärzer als die Nacht und jegliche Sphären des Weltalls. Die Krone ist sehr hoch und langlebig, cremig fein. Der Geruch: Stoutartig, absolut lakritzdominiert, holzig, leicht alkoholisch. Dann der Antrunk. Stramm röstmalzig mit rauchigen Nuancen, wieder mit viel Lakritz und bitterer Schokolade. Untermalt wird es von einer leicht alkoholischen Note, und wie JZ schon erwähnte, es erinnert doch sehr an einen Sherry. Im weiteren Verlauf ändert sich nicht mehr viel, es bleibt sehr röstig-rauchig, lediglich etwas holziger wird’s. Die Lakritz-Note gibt den Ton an. Wenn man einen Schluck etwas länger im Mund behält, wird er unglaublich rauchig-kratzig. Schwer verdaulich das Ganze, aber ein wahrer Aromen-Leckerbissen!

50cl bottle batch #271, bottled 19.02.2010, @ home shared with Dutchdrebus and Ansjelaah. Pitch black color, big full vast medium brown head. Smell malts, earth, coffee, mocca. Taste dark malts, coffee, mocca, some bitter, slightly hops. High, fizzy carbonation, a little bit too thin, medium body.

Pitch black with a lovely mocca brown head. Smells chocolate, coffee, roasty, sharp, glue and alcohol. Tastes roasty, coffee, chocolate and nice, but also watery. Crispy texture, bit thin but still an okay palate. Good, but not great.

Pours dark as night with a thick, bubbly, aggressive dark mocha head. Aroma is malty, creamy, fruit, berries, spicy, alcohol, licorice. Taste is dark chocolate, spicy, creamy, earthy, grass, long bitter coffee finish. Very clean flavored. Very drinkable for 9% alcohol. Far too carbonated. Aside form that, really good.

2010 Vintage 50 cl. bottle – bottled on 19.02.2010 – batch 271 @ home – purchased @ Alvinne: pitch coffee black with a lovely huge mocha head, smells like heavily roasted malts, frozen coffee, liquorish, touch molasses, ashes, taste is initial burst of lots of ashes, scalded, burned, roasted malts, coal, followed by molasses, liquorish, raw crushed coffee, beans, aftertaste is ice-cold coffee, burned coal, over-carbonated, slightly hoppy, ash/roast bitterness, wow this is heavily carbonated, harsh beer, unrelenting like an enemy