Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter

Brewed by Närke Kulturbryggeri
Style: Imperial Stout
Örebro, Sweden

Here I am, rating #200!!! Words can’t express how thankful I am to Maria and Andreas for sharing the previous lovely beers and this beer. Jess and I had a spectacular time on our Scandinavian adventure meeting all the great RBers there. Please let us know if you’re ever in NY and we’ll show you around with some awesome beer. Now that I’ve gotten rid of the sappy stuff, let me continue with a song. You guys know the words, so sing along: <P> Oh! Kaggen, please believe me
I’ll never do you no harm
Believe me when I tell you
I’ll never do you no harm <P> Oh! Kaggen, if you leave me
I’ll never make it alone
Believe me when I beg you
Don’t ever leave me alone <P> Alright, now to the ratings. First the 2006 version. <P> Pours black with tan head. Aroma is of roasted malts, honey, raisins and some rummy oak. Way more dark fruits and alcohol than the 2005 version. Taste is chocolate and raisins again, mixed ever so well. Rather oily and slick mouthfeel. Finish is somewhat boozy with more chocolate covered raisins. Delightful stuff. 8/5/9/4/18 <P> The rating I’m giving for this beer is for the 2005 bottle, because it was that freakin’ good. Pours deep black with magically appearing tan head. The aroma is heavenly; sweet chocolate, honey and the perfect amount of bourbon. If someone could turn that into a candy, they’d strike it rich. At first taste my thought was "Liquid perfection." The maltiness is off the charts but in the best way possible. Chocolate, caramel with light bourbon and vanilla touches make for a delightful experience. Palate is oily, slick, and full. Finish is predominantly chocolate and lingers almost forever. If Rick James were still alive he’d say "Kaggen’s a hell of a beer!"

Aroma has definite vanilla and bourbon notes up front. That gives way to some deep vinuous notes and bakers chocolate if you take your time. An incredible aroma for sure. The appearance is black with a deep brown head. The palate is medium to full with carbonation that is just bordering on being too high. The taste is deep chocolate, very thick roasted (almost burnt) malt. Bitter chocolate and burnt coffee in the aftertaste. Earthy and tobacco flavors throughout. Just a bit of alcohol in the flavor, but not nearly what you would expect for 10%. Very strong flavor profile.

Thanks to WeeHeavySD I finally got to try this before that bullshit Belgian Festival. We should have just gotten more beer and stayed at the hotel. Anyway, this lives up to the hype. Dark and surprisingly sweet. No alcohol detected. Just sweet, syrupy stoutness that left a nice, silken, candy coating on the palate. It must be a real pain in the ass to make this stuff because it’s pretty complex and you practically need to be fellating the brewer to get your hands on some. But, ya know, dog bless the person ready to go through the trouble. I rather enjoyed this ale. You know how it is... sometimes you hear the hype and it’s usually mostly based upon how difficult the stuff is to get. Then you try and and it’s pretty good, but not worth the hassle or the hype. This actually fits into the category of worth the hassle and the hype. Nice.

Date: 04/04/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Vintage: 2006

Appearance: black, fine tan head, streaks of drippy lace, tick viscous liquid coats the inside of the glass and turns it brown,
Aroma: huge dark chocolate aroma with sweet dark caramel and honey plus a touch of vanilla, a fair amount of balancing oak,
Body: big thick body,
Flavor: rich dark chocolate flavor, lots of honey and dark caramel sweetness comes in with some vanilla to enrichen the chocolate, touch of roasted adds bitterness, the oak rises up to add a whole new dimension of complexity, alcolol comes in after a while to open it up and add additional sweetness,
Overall: the thick rich chocolate rules the day with the honey and vanilla sweetness backing it up

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***4

2006 bottle obtained via trade with marsiblursi led by Puddintane. Oily black pour with a creamy tan head. Aromas of bready malt, whiskey, vanilla, oak, baker’s chocolate, caramel/toffee, and some honey. Flavors of light smoke, bready roasted malt, whiskey/booze, oak, caramel/toffee, a bit of maple and bitter chocolate. Thick body, bitter/roasty/boozey over a soft carbonation, bittersweet/roasty finish. Nice to finally try this elusive and well made brew. Really nice overall, a lot going on but not to the point of sloppiness.

bottle courtesy of hopscotch: pours an oily black very small esspresso tan thin head. aroma is great roast adn chocolate. some great dark fruit aromas and good coffee. the flavour si a good strong deep roast, great dark chocolate some more robust dark fruits. fantastic finish that is sticky to the palate leaving you wanting more.

2006 Bottle @ Merritt Island tasting, courtesy of hopscotch and the Orlando crew, kisses for saving a schnitt for latecomers!!! Gorgeous black silken body with luscious tan lacing, giving a satiny palate. Robust coffee aromas and flavors with lots of bourbon swirling around. A smooth, tasty, well-crafted and refined brew well-deserving of its accolades. An honor to drink.

2006 bottle obtained via trade with marsiblursi thru pudditane, huge thanks!! Pours inky black color with a small, light yellow/brown head. Aroma is vanilla, chocolate, toffee, oak, alcohol. Flavor is chocolate, honey, caramel, vanilla, toffee, prune, yeast. Palate is full bodied, light to medium carbonation, finished syruppy, oily, creamy, bitter, and warming. This was a wonderful, world-class brew, tons going on here, and I liked it better than Westy 12, however I would not put it #1 or #2. Waaaay greatful I got to try this, and loved every last drop!