 Ofortuna (315), Grafton, Wisconsin, USA
May 10, 2008
2006 vintage courtesy of the unbelievable generosity of Ughsmash. Many thanks for knocking out the last of the beers I most sought out.
Ah, Kaggen - how you have eluded me all this time. So many perfect scores have been bestowed on you. So many arguments have been fought over whether you are the best beer in the world. Finally my time has come to evaluate all the hype and praise.
In a nutshell, if falls far short of expectations. The aroma was very nice. The excellence of barrel-aging was very evident in both the aroma and flavour. This alone allows me to appreciate the high degree of skill that was involved in this process. However, there was a stark lack of balance here with each flavour component seeming a bit disjointed from the others. The body was also a tremendous letdown for me as I was expecting something quite....well, "imperial" in nature. I got very ordinary and run-of-the-mill. Nothing huge in regards to the viscosity. Which is fine if there’s a multitude of complexity and refinement in the flavour as was evident in the original batch of black hole from Mikkeller, for example. However, while there were some interesting vinous notes along with some nice use of specialty grains, it was all rather uninspiring.
cgarvieuk (2536), Edinburgh, Scotland
Oct 3, 2008 Bottle RBESG 07 ... Deep Deep black ... rich malts rich and fruity little bit meaty ...thick syrupy rich malts lots of depth and character rich fruityness and lots of roast malts. 4.0
TK 2 Bottle at home ... Deep deep black ... rich roast malts ... rich chocolate and coffee ... not as viscous as Dark Horizon and not such an alcholic spirit burn ... deep fruit malts in amongs the roast. This is a great sized bottle to settle down with. A beer this nice should be small and slowly savoured.
This beer sums up all that i didnt like about RBESG (though it was still a great day) Bottle stored at home allowed to settle well, served and savoured over half and hour on a much cleaner palate. At RBESG i could see the potential of the beer but dont think the beer was given the respect it was due or the time needed to full apreciate and savour this beer. 4-> 4.3
Tk3 TOMS Ultimate Glasgow tasting ... On reflection and compaired to th other on the day , while this is still a stunning beer it didnt hold up for me to some of the others. 4.3->4.2
Tk 4 : Quick swallow at RBESG No notes but 4.1
TK5 Draught at EBF Copenhagen 08 ... Deep black ... toffeee roat malt nose ... rich tofee ... sweet molasis ... rich sily and smooth ... little tobacco ... little honey 4.1
Interesting that its higest rating was in the Comfort of my own home. I do find that i tend to enjoy my beers more when im relaxed at home, not frantically looking at whats comming next at a tasting or beer festival
mtangaa (4), Hvidovre, Denmark
does not count  Sep 30, 2008 Tasted at EBF08. It’s dark, it’s heavy. Oily and bitter. Served a bit too cool, and with too little head.
TBone (5116), Pori, Finland
Sep 29, 2008 (Bottled vintage 2006). Sampled to celebrate my 40th birthday. Courtesy of oh6gdx (who brought this bottle from GBBF 2007).
Pitch black color, good dark brown color. Oak (oak barrels), tobacco, dark malts, vanilla, some licorice in the nose. Full-bodied. Main flavor is licorice, dark roasted malts, molasses, dark chocolate. Then nuances: oak, vanilla, honey in portwineish palate. Very very complex and highly drinkable. Kick of alcohol in the atfertaste. Long mix of roasted malts and vanilla in the aftertaste. Normal Stormaktsporter is one of my favourite beers and this even tops it.
Ethereal (927), London, Greater London, England
Sep 24, 2008 On tap at EBF 2008, Copenhagen. 2007 edition. Finally, I get to sample this again! I had a couple of bottles of the 2005 version at GBBF 2007 but then lost my notebook that evening and my lack of a rate for it has been chafing ever since. Black with a small tan head and a perfumy aroma. Velvety smooth and highly drinkable, with the alcohol utterly hidden. Rich roasted malts, molasses, prunes, liquorice and chocolate combine for a sublime flavour but without a hint of stickiness. A classic.
TEJA (144), Stockholm, Sweden
Sep 24, 2008 Two samplings
1:st at Stockholm beer festival, from a 4 cl shot glas (pored into a sniffer). Litle foam. Small aroma of chocolate. Taste of chocolate liqrich and port wine. Big body
2:nd Draught at Akkurat.
Big brown head that lingers, thick enough to eat with a fork. Aroma of chocolate and dried fruit. The taste is overpowering with loads of chocolate, liqrish and vanilla. A perfect body with just as perfect bitterness.
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