Kaggen! Stormaktsporter
(has 10 batches)

20/1/2024. Bottle shared at CLBF/IKL. From Nisse666, cheers. 2016. Pours black with a small beige head. Aroma is chocolate, nut, caramel, roasted malt, chocolate spread, slight meaty edge. Moderate sweetness and medium roasted bitterness. Full bodied, soft carbonation.

Here we are then: the barrel aged version of one of Sweden's most coveted beers, the honey-flavoured Stormaktsporter by family brewery Närke, the fame of which is due in large part to this very website - as is the fame of this Kaggen version, coming in second on the list of the "best beers of the world" (and holding a similar position on both Untappd and Brewver). Needless to say, I just had to taste this one when I unexpectedly got the opportunity, as the 2019 vintage (one of several since the first one appeared in 2005) has, since this year only, been sold through a selection of specialist shops in several countries including the Netherlands and Denmark. No doubt the 'whale' value of this legendary beer has waned a bit due to this very fact - several online shops still stock it today and ship internationally - but it remains one of those bucket list beers I have been dreaming of for years, and now a bottle finally reached my tasting table. Medium thick, dense and creamy, lightly membrane-like lacing, greyish beige, stable head very slowly breaking over an opaque black robe - showing a burgundy red hue only at the very end. Dense and initially somewhat 'closed' aroma, gradually unfolding an array of beguiling scents: cocoa nibs and high quality dark chocolate, pronounced oak wood (still including a vanillin touch), molasses, whisky, ground walnuts, cold espresso, dried prunes, roasted almonds, aquavit, freshly crushed black peppercorns, dry caramel, warm brown bread (crust), fudge, dried figs, dark brown honey, dried heather, some light notes of reduced beef stock, bayleaf, clay, cinnamon rolls, burnt blackcurrants, old ebony wood, Japanese soy sauce, dried beech leaves, wet leather and salmiak. Dense onset with a perfectly tuned, i.e. somewhat restrained and 'noble' sweetness (dried fig, dried blueberry or blackberry, touch ripe blue plum) with a faint hint of beef stock- or gravy-like umami surrounding it, softly carbonated with immediately thick, heavily oily, 'viscous' mouthfeel. Thick malt slabs of dark chocolate, black cocoa, brown bread, fudge and cold black coffee ensue, piled on top of each other but working as one compact bittersweet whole filling the entire mouth cavity - as any decent imperial stout or imperial porter should, of course. The subdued sweet dark fruit and umami beef stock accents travel along this huge dark maltiness, which increases in bitterness as the roasted effects build up and a robust amount of peppery hops, well hidden under all that dark maltiness but adding considerable bitterness 'behind the scenes', starts to set in; dryness is achieved by a pronounced woodiness (bringing back those wonderfully noble oak aromas retronasally) but also by the booze, which was noticeable early on already and grows in the end - with whisky- and gin-like effects. The alcohol puts up a fight against that massive malt bittersweetness and almost wins, but things get balanced again in the finish and aftertaste, where this alcohol warmth and spiciness makes the malt bittersweetness glow up in the dark rather than brutally scorching it, as it sometimes does in conceptually similar beers. Glimpses of praliné, bayleaf, liquorice and marmite subtly and briefly pop up in the aftertaste. This is indeed high nobility, a beer to contemplate in serenity and in earnest, and even though the booziness is perhaps just a tad too strong for me (I really must find the basic Stormaktsporter one day) even after three years of maturing in the bottle, there is no doubt that this brew fully deserves its near-mythical status, with an old-fashioned roasty bitterness, perfect mouthfeel for its style, utterly solid structure and density of flavours. The perfect accompaniment to a chilly evening in late December and with whales like this, I cannot but give a 'symbolic' score of near perfection. Another one off the bucket list, and worth every penny.

Bottle, 250 ml. Shared with Zec, JFK10000, MiroB at my Grande. Vintage 2020. Black with brown head. Nice chocolate, wood, cocoa, bourbon, layers, nice bitterness. . Medium+ bodied.

Woo hoo, adjourn slain whale. Thanks Craig. Pours clear black, minimal head or lacing. Aroma is molasses, honey, chocolate bourbon. Flavor is medium sweet, light plus bitter. Light plus body

2019 bottle, many thanks Nicklas - so here it finally is! Black color with beige head. Aroma is big wood, tiny ash, chocolate, roast. Taste is big roast, cereals, sweet honey, but great balance. Slightly warming finish, quite roasty and a dash of hops too. Great intensity in sweetness and somehow drinkable dryness at the same time.

250ml @ Matt's new place. Vintage 2019. Appearance: almost black with a beige head. Aroma: roasted malts and seeds, some burnt oak, sweet. Taste: along the same lines, dark fruits, some vinous character. Overall: it's a good beer, but it's far away from being TOP-2 on RB.

Poured from 250mL bottle (2019 vintage). Black with small light tan head. Some nice oak notes, roast malt, background of mild fruits, very feint leather note, solid balanced beer.

Bottle split at L6 Tasting, big thanks to Danny, 25/05/23. Black with a tan cap that thins to a swirl. Nose is chocolate shavings, roast malts, dried fruit rinds, hint of coffee. Taste comprises dark malts, light spice, milk chocolate, charr, brown sugar dusting, molasses. Medium plus bodied, fine massaging carbonation, semi drying close with a balanced spike of alcohol. Solid well balanced impy stout.