Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition

courtesy of Tony @ OTH. Pours black, no head. Aroma is malty and chocolate. Taste has plenty of chocolate malts, filled with roasted coffee. Nice vanilla undertone. There are also some subtle notes of barrel/oak? This is a monster abv, but the beer remains very enjoyable to sip.

500ml bottle. Pours semi-viscous, black with a thin light brown head and specks of lace. Smells dark and sweet roasty with some sweet chocolate and coffee. Tastes sweet and roasty, chocolatey with coffee of course and a good bit of booze. Full body, good carbonation.

#4154. Intensely black, loose mocha head. Coffee beany and tarry aroma, strong wood chip mint, dark chocolate and salty liquorice. Mild alcohol and smoky hp sauce come in the mix when it warms up. Tarry flavor, alcohol and dark chocolate, then comes a huge mocca bean kick, leading to a smooth dry and bitter finish. Very intensive. Full bodied, low carbonation, not as sticky nor heavy on the palate as you’d expect. Some decanting opened it up further, and I actually found it more balanced slightly cooled. What a dessert for that night.

Bottle No. 01144, aged about one year. Pours an impenetrable, pitch black color with a small, smooth, coffee colored head. The foam settles relatively quickly to a wispy film with a thin edge. There’s no lacing, but dense, sugary sheeting slowly meanders down the glass, back towards the surface. The aroma is intense, massive, syrupy dark chocolate notes showing along with black licorice, molasses, stewed figs, raisons, and Belgian yeast. I only get faint hints of espresso, as the boozy licorice notes seem to overpower everything else. Flavors are similar, black patent malts and syrupy, dark cocoa comprising the malt base. Hot licorice liquor and boozy, vodka soaked dark fruits show alongside burnt cane sugar and overly roasted coffee. The body is massively sweet, sugary and cloying. There’s good substance there, but it’s mostly sugar driven, and it’s overly hot. I put this in the grossly overrated category. It is just too over the top. I prefer both Dogfish Head WWS and Mikkeller Black when it comes to these hyper-imperial stouts.

Bottle #00405 thanks to bu11zeye. My 1000th rating... Pours very thick with a light brown mocha hued head that reduces to waves of foam across the cavernous black body. This beer is so dark, I though the label was black (it is actual see through). Some strong alcoholic legs left on the glass, above tons of dots of lacing, and a brown film from the viscous black liquid in the glass. The aroma is room filing, with dark currants, alcohol burn, licorice, yeast, dark chocolate truffles, and french roast espresso. Taste is...well...wow, Sam Calgonie eat your heart out! Incredibly long duration...easily over two minutes on the first sip. Taste is of currants, sweet butterscotch, brandy, that goes to roasty, then fruity, to nutty, with tons of chocolate, and just enough espresso roast to round out the flavor perfectly. Completely mouthcoating and velvety, light carbonation; a beautifully executed beer.

Sample thanks to JoeBrew at Darkness Day. Pour is black with a nice tan head. Aroma is coffee, chocolate and caramel malts with a slight presence of alcohol. Flavors is bourbon, chocolate and coffee with some alcohol but for a 16% it feels more like a 10%. A little sweet for me but a decent brew.

RATING #1000!!! It was actually the 1000th beer over a year ago, at my house with brian, adam, and joey to celebrate this historic night. Bottle from capones thanks matt for this offering. Pours a dark black body with a tan head. Sweet malty aroma of coffee, maple, sugar, coffee and chocolate. Very alcoholic with tons of roasty coffee, lots of etoh and a distinct well balanced warming. A bit vinous lightly hopped but hardly noticed. Dark fruit of raisin and fig. Awesome beer, i loved it!

Bottle (sample) at Bishops Arms, Järntorget, Porterfestivalen. Very black color with a brown head. Aroma: Deep roasted, vinous, alcohol, chocolate, sweetness, roasted bread. Flavor: Very roasted, raisins, chocolate, coffee, bitterness, alcohol, licorice, molasses, cherries in alcohol. Complex, thick.