Style: Imperial stout
Brewery: Amundsen Bryggeri
Origin: Norway
Size: 44cl
Alcohol: 12%
Price: 65kr
Systembolaget: 10424 (sold out)
This is a collaboration between Amundsen Bryggeri and Emperor’s Brewing. Amundsen is Oslo’s biggest brewery and one of Norway’s largest craft breweries. Opening in 2011 as a brew pub, they quickly expanded and now own a 42Hl capacity brewery which opened in 2016. Emperor’s Brewing is based in Coalville, Leicester and has a Star Wars theme to all the beers it creates. This has been produced with lactose, raspberries, cocoa, coffee beans, vanilla and cinnamon. Now, as a big Star Wars fan, I couldn’t resist buying this beer. For me, a big part of the Christmas and New Year’s time is curling up and watching movies with family. Star Wars is always a series that gets a new viewing around the festive period, so I thought it would fit nicely into this tasting.
This was deep brown to black in colour, with a head that disappeared almost straight away. When it poured, it was clear that the body was thick and creamy, with almost no carbonation. The aroma was intense, with the coffee grounds and cacao nib notes pushing through the deep over ripe raspberry and cinnamon. The alcohol was also noted escaping the glass when sniffed. It must be said they have done a great job with balancing the big range of aromas, with nothing completely dominating the others. The fruity raspberry notes were stronger in the initial hit when sipped, and these slowly faded to showcase the bitter chocolate and coffee bean taste. The alcohol was warming but never boozy, with the spices helping to hide it well. The aftertaste was dry and bitter but never in an overpowering way, with hints of red fruit to balance in the background.
This was an amazing imperial stout with so many different flavours to pick from. They managed to balance the big range of flavours on show in the beer, which could have been so easy to miss. If you like imperial stouts, Amundsen and Emperors have created an absolute banger that you should track down as soon as you can.