Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition

Pours a oily black with a small brown head. Aroma is moderately sweet, roast coffee, whisky, grapefruit, dark chocolate, raisin and plum. Flavor is sweet, dark chocolate, vinous, earthy, coffee, scotch, molasses and slightly alcoholic. Creamy full body, low carbonation. Slight burn on the way down.

50cl bottle, via Papsoe. Pours an inky pitch black body, 100% opaque, even at the edges. Minimal wispy chocolate brown head that ran to a thin ring immediately. Very minimal visible carbonation. The nose is heavy roast and dark fruits, but not as much alcohol as I was expecting thankfully. Lighter notes of burnt malt, fudge, and yeast. The flavor starts off nice, heavy roast and coffee with bitter chocolate, but the finish just makes me cringe. All that hot alcohol and burnt malt reminds me of rocket fuel. The flavor gets a little better as it warms toward room temp. It gets sweeter, smokier, yeastier, and some smoked meat and vinous flavors emerge. For such a big Stout, the flavor seems to thin a little on the back end, diluted by the alcohol perhaps. The mouthfeel is full bodied and oily in texture with nice minimal carbonation. It really coats the cheeks, making the finish linger on forever. After a while it started to take on a really salty finish. Overall, this is just one of those super high ABV Imperial Stouts that I just can’t get into too much.

For a 16% beer the alcohol is hidden fairly well. It is noticable, but still not over the top like the Mephistopheles. Nice mellow coffee and chocolate flavors with a sight alcohol burn at the end. Poured pitch black with medium sized head. I can’t count how many amazing beers Adam and I share. This is another beer that blew me away. Solid stout. Not really worth purchasing, way overpriced.

Bottle #02188. Very Opaque black/brown. Motor oilish texture with oily legs. It had a small amount of brown head immediately after it was poured. Fruit, sugar, alcohol, and were dominant with a faint presence of chocolate and coffee. The hops were almost non-existent. This beer is 16%? Really? The alcohol is very well hidden. As the beer warmed I could taste more of the alcohol and sugar. The coffee and chocolate flavors also became more pronounced as well. It was smooth and thick and felt moderately heavy on the palate. The beer was very complex, but the flavors were well integrated. Very unique and definitely not overrated! My favorite Nøgne Ø beer!

Thanks to akevitt for sharing. Bottle #02188. Pours a pitch black, opaque body with thin layer of rich brown head. Sweet, fruit-like aroma with bourbon and hints of chocolate. Thick, heavy, almost motor oil mouthfeel. Flavor profile is complex with dark chocolate, coffee, bubblegum, raisin, and bourbon. Finishes like a decent bourbon with a slight alcohol bite. Tends to taste a little more alcoholic as it warms, but the fruit character also comes out more as well.

Bottle #01714, courtesy of kmweaver & shared with theisti. Pours a deep, opaque dark chocolate brown, almost black, with an oily surface and a thin, dark brown ring of bubbles clinging to the edge of the glass. The nose is of a dry red wine and sea salt over a dark roasted malt base. Interesting. Medium-bodied and oily-slick with a roasted and vinous finish. The flavor is of sweet, roasted malt, chocolate, raisin and a slighlty dry red wine (like a Cabernet or Merlot). This is a truly unique beer. I loved it. Thanks again for sending this one, Ken!

bottle had in the parking lot before MBG Winter festival....poured close to black if not black with a thin tan head. a more aggressive pour resulted in a bigger head....nose made up of rich choolate, brown sugar, and molasses. no apparent coffee or roast in the nose surprisingly.....flavors or rich chocolate, dark fruit, molasses, and sugar. extremely boozy but i didn’t expect the alcohol to be too hidden at 16%.....was a little underwhelmed by this. hopefully some age will help this one out.

Thanks to Pantanap for letting me try this! Pours thick and oily into the glass. Says it is made with coffee, but I get none of that on the nose. Lots of molasses and brown sugar. Taste is much the same. Still no coffee. Thick and cloying. Big rich molasses. Sticks to the glass. Also, I pick up quite a bit of booze. Too much booze. I think this would have been fine at 12%. Overall, rich and intriguing, but not worth the price tag and a little unbalanced.