Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter Pure Swedish Oak

Formerly brewed at Närke Kulturbryggeri
Style: Imperial Stout
Örebro, Sweden

Serve in Snifter

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Vintage 2009. 250mL bottle at Man in the Moon, pours black with a small ring of tan head. Aroma of deep dark fruits, syrupy caramel malts, some toasted oak, wood and subdued roasted malt. Flavour is very complex, bringing out notes of licorice, dried dark fruits (dates, figs), toasted oak, wood and a low roast character. Extremely viscous, fruity and syrupy. Having not (yet, hopefully) tried the regular Kaggen!, I’m not sure how this differs - the oak is not that dominating, unlike the cognac in the Konjaks! version. Very complex and quite a bit more syrupy than I generally like in an impie stout, but it’s still somehow exceedingly drinkable. Finishes quite sweet and syrupy. I still prefer the regular Stormaktsporter. Excellent, but doesn’t live up to the hype and certainly not the price (495SEK!!).

Pours thick and black with a very thin tan head. Nose is peppery, fruit like berries and citrus, boozey and wood. Taste is sweet, slightly tart and big bitter. The mouthfeel is creamy yet has a nice bite. The body is heavy and the finish is long! ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle at Man in the Moon in January 2013, labeled as Svensk Ek! Stormaktsporter 2009. The bottle cost 495 SEK. It poured pitch black with a small tan head. The aroma was fantastic of honey, roasted coffee, licorice and oak. Nice full body with a smooth carbonation. The taste started out with a big malt and honey sweetness. Also coffee and oak. The aftertaste was long and fairly bitter. As it warmed up I noticed more licorice and dark chocolate. Delicious and complex. Just lovely!

In short: An amazingly drinkable complex big porter/stout with interesting woody notes.
How: Bottle 250ml (called Närke Svensk Ek! StormaktsPorter 2009) at Man In The Moon, Stockholm<.br/> The look: Black body topped by a small tan head.
In long: Nose is oaky and chocolaty. Taste is very smooth, round creamy chocolaty malts, some vinous notes, pleasant oak that adds some nice woody notes without crashing the party, some figs & dates, chewing on a cigar, roasted cashews, more… Carbonation was soft and the body was a little too thin for the style, felt thinner than the base beer. Supposedly aged in oak barrels that contained whisky but to me it tasted like virgin oak, I didn’t get any whisky flavor, but I did get lots of oak. To make a long story short, you take the regular Stormaktsporter, you thin out the body, you hide the hops, you remove the alcohol presence and you add fun woody notes. This beer is absurdly drinkable, as easy to drink as a 5% session stout. Basically this treatment of the Stormaktsporter adds as much as it takes away from the beer. The result is something that is slightly different but as good if not better than the base beer. Not like the Konjaks treatment that overwhelmed and totally destroyed the beer. Of course is it a Narke Stormaktsporter so imho this one is again a bit overrated, Narke are not the best impy stouts in the world, however except for the Konjaks all Stormaktsporters are excellent imho. This is a beer I would love to have again and again, but given its rarity this is about as unlikely to happen as the original lineup of Oasis reuniting to repaint my living-room.

Draught at ÖÖWF labeld "Svensk Ek" - checked with Berith so OK;) cons 2012-11-16 Örebro AR: chocolate, coffey, scottish butter fudginess, creme caramel AP: pitch black thick fluid, wee creme Brown head F: heavy dark chocolate, roasted coffee, honey sweetnees, warming feeling, wee grainy

Pours black with a small and long lasting golden head. The aroma has got heavy bourbon notes. Or... Its liqouresque, but without that sweet vanilla thing going on. Some porter sourness. And coffee beans. Taste: Sour in a more vinous than porteresque way. More of that not so sweet bourbon... Coffee. Butter. Smooth. Overall: Not as complex as I would have hoped for. I understand that this beer isn’t trying to be balanced... but I would personally have liked some more sweetness to lighten things up.

Bottle "Svensk ek!" at Man in the Moon. Pours heavy black with a rather smal brown head. Aroma of bourbon and lightly rosted coffee. Smooth mouthfeel with light porter tartness. Taste of red berries, chocolate liqoure and cacao powder.

Bottle at Man in the Moon, Stockholm. It pours jet black, with a thick, rocky tan head. The nose is rich chocolate, roasted malt, toasted coconut, blackcurrant jam, hint of balsamic vinegar, oak, roast and salted caramel. The taste is rich espresso coffee, strong oak flavour, dry, roasted malt, slight acidity, dark fruit/berry, soy sauce/balsamic, and bitter, chocolate, with a dry, woody finish. Full body and fine carbonation. Flavoursome and well balanced. Another great Imperial stout from Närke!

A - Pours a dark brown/black, light tan-colored head. S - Classic Narke Stormaktsporter base with a mix of smoke and oak. There’s a lot more smoke then I thought there would be, but it work. Chocolate, oak, smoke, roast, and toffee. Really good stuff. T - The oak is easily detectable, but not overpowering. Roast, chocolate, oak, toffee, and light expresso. Basically Stormaktsporter mixed with a dose of smoke and oak. The smoke is not on the level of the Rausch Kaggen!, but it’s there for sure. M - Medium to full, soft and creamy finish, so good. O - I am a huge fan of this beer. Better then the Cognac but not quite as good as the Kaggen!. Somewhere in the middle of all that awesomeness. Want more...plz thx!

Bottle. A huge thank you to my friend in the "cool" cat t-shirt. Joan Jett black pour with a dark mocha colored head. Classic StormaktsPorter fudge and caramel aromas with boozy Cognac highlights. Nice lacing. Fantastic body and mouthfeel. Smooth warm boozy overtones with sublime chocolate, fudge, and carmel notes with undercurrents of dark roasted malts and expresso. Wonderful balance with enough bitterness from the roasted malts to offset the sweet chocolate/fudge/caramel characteristics. Another gem from the crew at Narke....
Earlier Rating: 9/30/2011 Total Score: 4.4
Bottle shared with the District posse. Joan Jett black pour with a mocha head. The nose is fabulous with that classic Stormakporter fudge and undercurrent of oak, dark roasted malts and caramel. Bold dark roasted malts, fudge, vanilla, all kinds of wood, and brewer’s licorice notes. Just another insanely awesome beer from the Swedish master’s that I was lucky enough to try..............