Pours black with a thick head, most of which dissipates rather quickly leaving a fine layer. Aroma is a little bit funky, fruity and with distinct berry aromas, especially blueberries and cherries. Smells a bit like a tangy cherry-blueberry pie. Mouthfeel is thick, smooth and creamy and quite carbonated. Flavour is juicy and malty, with lovely dark malts showcasing mostly chocolate and some caramel. Very sweet, but not cloyingly so. But unlike an imperial stout apart from that. Like a very juicy (and even somewhat funky) pastry stout mixed with elements of a fruit beer. Blueberry intermingled with some cherry. Even some cola. Again some rich pastry notes. A very peculiar beer, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it, unlike any other impies. Super interesting.

Black with a minimal light brown head. Aroma: Great sweetness of red berries, with some vanilla and fruit. Sweet with a warm sweet berries end. Different and perfect!

Collaboration of HaandBryggeriet with Frontaal and Cervisiam, a (very) strong sweet stout with blueberry, from a colourful stubby bottle. Fairly thick and creamy, mocha ice-coloured beige, slowly thinning head lacing in small dots over a very dark bronze-brown beer, as good as black in general appearance, with hazy mahogany edges of a few millimeters off the edge. Luscious, powerful, 'differently' desserty aroma involving impressions of warm blueberry crumble, hot chocolate sauce, coffee cream, acorn shells, 'haemoglobin' iron, milk powder, maple syrup, treacle, cassis, subtler hints of marzipan, brown beans, rum, madera, salsify and dark green tree leaves. Sweet onset with a balancing sourish edge and a touch of gravy-like umami, but mostly dominated by strong dried blueberry effects (also adding the sourishness as well as a dim spiciness typical for this fruit), candied date, pear syrup and a touch of ripe red apple; soft, refined carbonation, very full, viscous, oily mouthfeel made slicker by the addition of wheat. Thick, fluffy 'chocolateyness' prevails in the middle, with very mildly bittering toasty and nutty edges; hugely soft and velvety, the beer effortlessly rolls along over the tongue towards an aromatic, warming, soothing finish where the aromatic, almost ethereal spiciness of intense, dried blueberry shows up again in full glory, as in a condensed form, but sweet toffeeish malts remain the head component. Some coffeeish and herbal-leafy aspects as well as 'blood-like' iron accent add fullness and complexity, while the alcohol becomes altogether very peppery and whisky-like in the end, with a burning, all but astringent effect after a while, pushing the beer's basic sweetness aside a bit. Spectacular in the nose, but a bit too harshly boozy in the mouth for me; still original and intense enough to deserve a top score and understandably belonging to the top-50 of sweet stouts on this site, though we are very far removed from the original English milk stout in this day and age and intense beers like this are bound to please the hordes of geeky craft beer enthusiasts, I suppose. Slow sipper, quite unique and very enjoyable on a winter evening, that much is certain.

Bottle at home from Oslo, 31st December 18. Pours black, thinnish, aroma is interesting, berries, caramel, chocolate. Taste is Berries and chocolate, slight sour and some sweetness, but not overly sweet, it's a complex and different to the norm Imperial, which keeps it interesting for me. Good one and the final beer for 2018.