Style: Imperial stout
Brewery: Sweden
Origin: Omnipollo
Size: 33cl
Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: 95kr
Systembolaget: 10528
This is the third barrel aged collaboration with Siren Craft Brew, this time aged in oak bourbon barrels. This version was first released in December 2022, but the original beer has been around since 2017. Imperial porters can trace their roots to strong English porters brewed for export in the 1700s, which were said to have been popular with the Russian Imperial Court. This beer is produced with toasted coconut and maple syrup as adjuncts and is brewed at Dugges Bryggeri in Gothenburg. Omnipollo are well known for their massive imperial stouts, and so I had to have at least one in the tasting. I would have liked to have had two of them in the selection, but there just wasn’t enough room in the budget to accommodate another in this tasting. Luckily though, this was big enough on its own!
This was jet black in colour and had almost zero head when poured. This was clearly an extremely thick beer, as it poured like syrup when decanted into glasses. It was almost reminiscent of motor oil in a glass when swirled. I could smell the beer from half a mater away, it was that pungent. Those massive coconut, milk chocolate and maple syrup notes exploded from the glass and were simply divine. With the first sip, the toasted coconut came through strongly, followed by a sweet espresso note. Burnt chocolate, salted caramel and vanilla were all present too. The alcohol warmed the back of the throat, and you could definitely tell it was 12.5%. The aftertaste was sticky and lingered for a long time, with dark roasted coffee and pancakes the main aspects.
This was a big stout and I loved every minute of it. Warming, sweet and toasted, this stout is exactly what I think of when I think of an Omnipollo stout. It is slightly over the top, but not enough to make it undrinkable. The price tag is rather high, but it is worth it.