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Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition

 (RETIRED)
Percentile
100
overall
Formerly brewed at Nøgne Ø
Style: Imperial Stout

Grimstad, Norway

bottled
available

on tap
unknown

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
4104.22/5.04.2/5.0Special16%97.9Snifter
Commercial Description:
This is our first edition of Dark Horizon. It is the first, for us anyway. There will be more to follow, and even though they will be other editions, they will still be firsts. “Let’s go crazy!” said Tore. The last time he said that, we created #100, which proved to be a success. How could I not agree to his suggestion? “How crazy can we be?” I responded. “Go all the way!” he answered. So we started off with a beefed up Imperial Stout, extra dark and extra bitter, not much to it really, but maybe a bit over the top. When this brew had fermented, we gathered again on a sunny Saturday morning, ready for next move. Half a ton of demerara sugars and our homemade extract of coffee were waiting for us. Standing there with sticky sugars all over the brewery and us, I just couldn’t resist asking Tore: “Don’t you have better things to do during week ends?” To this point he still hasn’t answered me. After adding a hefty volume of wine yeast, we left this brew to itself for month. A good month, that was.

This is ale; it is also a wine, and a coffee drink. We’ve been playful and brewed a hybrid. Do yourself and your friends a favour and share this bottle with those you deem worthy. Dark Horizon is indeed a global brew. Inspiration from the US Midwest, malt from England, bottles from Germany, name from Japan, sugars from Mauritius, hops from the Pacific rim, Yeast from Canada, coffee from Colombia, brewed in Grimstad, Norway.

All bottles of Dark Horizon are numbered with its unique number, and all together we launched 6000 of this brew.

37 P, 75 IBU, 16% ABV.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
fb (49), Norway
4.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/510/105/518/20
Aug 23, 2008  
Bottle 50cl, #00203, after about 1 year of storage. This is a spectacular beer. I am very happy to have another 18 bottles left.


 mjs (1463), Helsinki, Finland
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/104/517/20
Aug 23, 2008  
(Bottle #4769 at Pikkulintu on 2008-08-22) Pitch black. Tan-coloured small quickly disappearing head. Vanilla, alcohol and roastedness in nose. Full-bodied palate with little carbonation. Vanilla, alcohol, roastedness, coffee, liquorice and chocolate in taste. Surprisingly soft.


 estoppel (1028), Buffalo, New York, USA
1.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
3/103/52/101/53/20
Aug 12, 2008  
Bottle #02648. Very dark black, minimal tan head, sweet nose. Vile. I allowed this to age and dry out for more than a year, but it was still vile. My girlfriend actually kind of liked it, in a way (she said to imagine a shot of espresso with way too much sugar, and just take a sip or two), but I found it to be so cloyingly sweet as to be undrinkable, as did the other two people who tried it with us. So the gf decided to add some caramel creme liqueur to this monstrosity and it was, surprisingly, better. But the beer itself is simply vile. (The gf wants me to add that it curdles like an Irish car bomb when your add the liqueur).


 DougShoemaker (2856), Toronto, Canada
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Aug 7, 2008  
Aroma is roasted malt, dark chocolate and some fine coffee notes, jet black, a tiny tan head and a bit of lace. Flavour is a full on roast malt, coffe for days, dark chocolate too. Full bodied, very well balanced, the alcohol is noted but appreciated. Beautiful!


 radiomgb (1957), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Aug 7, 2008  
Deep black in colour with a lingering but thin tan coloured head, some light patchy lacing. The aroma is sweet, only small amounts of alcohol which surprised me, roasty, molasses, chocolate and liquorice. The flavour is quite warming, lots of dark chocolate, some coffee, quite sweet with some raisins as well. Warming and sweet mouthfeel, large body, medium carbonation. Finishes quite warm, long and sweet.

Wow, this one put me on my ass. It packs quite a punch. Very intense but at the same time never overwhelming. The alcohol never became a distraction which is testimate to the brewer. Well done.

500ml bottle obtained in a trades with jasonmech77 and TheCheeseMan, thanks Jason and Dan.
Opened on February 29, 2008.
#01367.


 MitchWayne (264), Kokkola, Finland
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/57/104/517/20
Aug 7, 2008    Updated: Aug 15, 2008
This very much hyped brew was a must try and I was pretty excited when I got my bottle in that nifty looking black box. When I finally dared to go all the way and stripped it and opened it up I was all ready to rock: let’s try this maverick brew. I was left with mixed feelings, dark horizon was certainly unique and interesting but also a bit too unbalanced. Looks beautiful in a glass, matching the name pretty well. The aroma has a lot of alcohol and soy sauce, the liquorice is also present with burnt notes. The mouthfeel is thick and this is certainly what you would call vinous, the range of tastes is astonishing in a way but the alcohol is a bit too domnant for me along with the sweetness. Overall a must try but not one of my absolute favorites. Have to try the second edition this year and see if they improve the recipe.


 fishingnet (1045), Brandon, Florida, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/104/516/20
Aug 6, 2008    Updated: Aug 12, 2008
Bottle courtesy of Retorp. Thanks Joe for letting me pull this out of your cellar when the last thing we needed to do was drink more. Pours black with a small tan head. Huge aroma of vinous dark fruits, roasted malt, coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel. Taste is the same as aroma but less prominent. Full mouthfeel with a moderate to strong amount of bitterness and warm but smooth alcohol. A damn fine brew.


Sephiroth (66), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
4.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/510/105/520/20
Aug 5, 2008  
Thanks to whomever sent me this gem. Pours black as night, good carbonation. Coffee and chocolate stand out on the nose, the alcohol is apparent, a vinous quality is there as well. All the flavors are remarkably well integrated into the overall experience. Coffee, chocolate, roasted malt, and a slight yeast character are seemlessly intertwined. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel, this is world class.



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