Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition

This is our first edition of Dark Horizon. It is the first, for us anyway. There will be more to follow, and even though they will be other editions, they will still be firsts. “Let’s go crazy!” said Tore. The last time he said that, we created #100, which proved to be a success. How could I not agree to his suggestion? “How crazy can we be?” I responded. “Go all the way!” he answered. So we started off with a beefed up Imperial Stout, extra dark and extra bitter, not much to it really, but maybe a bit over the top. When this brew had fermented, we gathered again on a sunny Saturday morning, ready for next move. Half a ton of demerara sugars and our homemade extract of coffee were waiting for us. Standing there with sticky sugars all over the brewery and us, I just couldn’t resist asking Tore: “Don’t you have better things to do during week ends?” To this point he still hasn’t answered me. After adding a hefty volume of wine yeast, we left this brew to itself for month. A good month, that was.

This is ale; it is also a wine, and a coffee drink. We’ve been playful and brewed a hybrid. Do yourself and your friends a favour and share this bottle with those you deem worthy. Dark Horizon is indeed a global brew. Inspiration from the US Midwest, malt from England, bottles from Germany, name from Japan, sugars from Mauritius, hops from the Pacific rim, Yeast from Canada, coffee from Colombia, brewed in Grimstad, Norway.

All bottles of Dark Horizon are numbered with its unique number, and all together we launched 6000 of this brew.

37 P, 75 IBU, 16% ABV.

4.2

550 reviews

Grimstad, Norway

Community reviews

3.8 Thanks to nimbleprop for this aged whale. Pours inky black, very small brown head, dissipates very quickly with minimal lacing. Aroma is loads of molasses, brandy, some anise/licorice, chocolate and hints of coffee, raw alcohol. Flavor is fully sweet, light bitter. Medium light body, oily mouthfeel, abv is totally masked other than the nose. Shockingly well preserved for as old as it is. Slayed.

4.0 Bottle: Thanks Papsø: Served in a Chouffe glass: Black beer with a creamy beige light brown tan lacing. Aromas of liquorice, soy, light boozey, bay leaf... Flavours of bitters, roast, liquorice, light boozy, some bay leaf and laurel tints, light roast, herbal roast, raisin and light nutty. Aftertaste is bitter, grassy lot of roast, raisin, liquorice and hay... Low carbo, creamy boozy mouthfeel, close to full bodied... Decent imp!

4.4 Pitch black and was quite oily with a thin light brown head. The aroma is wonderful and rich, dark chocolate and roasted coffee also some wood and dark sugar. Flavour started out with a mild caramel sweetness, mild coffee and chocolate and was very smooth with a nice bitter chocolate after-taste. Some port wine, dark fruits like raisins and plums with the smoothness of the mouth-feel being the key to the success of this beer.

4.0 Bottle 75 CL Thank you Hermod. Pours dark black with brownish lacing head. Notes of roasted nuts, coffee, dark chocolate, pretty thick stuff, yeast, dark berries. Very good. - beerbasher

4.2 Bottle, thx hermod! Black. Intense dark smooth roasty nose. Coffee, a bit of soy, dark slight salty licorice. Full bodied, slight oily, but finishes clean though. Dark chocolate, dark fruityness. Real nice. Amazingly easy though. Best beer in a while. -- bb

4.3 50cl bottle, thank you oh6gdx!! #00951. Pitch black color, thin brown head. Coffee, mild tartness, salty licorice, dark bread, plums. Flavor has cocoa, coffee, roasted malt, licorice, plums. The finish is awesome, long lingering roasted, coffee, lingers forever. Massive, but so good. Been long wanting to try this.

3.7 Aroma is dark fruits, belgian sugar, yeast and sweet malts.Taste is a fruity and sweet maltiness. A light bitterness arrives and finishes smoothly. Quite deep and complex. Appearance is a slightly cloudy amber body with a thin pearl head that retains fairly well.

4.1 500 ml bottle. Black as night body with dark brown head. Aromas of milk chocolate, liquorice, some coffee and alcohol. Taste is pretty sweet, with chocolate, vanilla, liquorice, some oak, maybe some dark fruits and coffee. Sweet aftertaste, pretty sticky motuhfeel. Medium to full body with low carbonation.

3.7 10/10/2014: Nogne O Dark Horizon 1.Edition... Pours black, no head on the top. Aroma is alcohol, a touch of soy sauce, dark malts, and a hint of coffee. Chocolate malt, coffee, caramel sweetness. The coffee comes out more in the finish, but still isn’t overwhelming. Medium-light body, smooth, milky texture, a touch thin. Very good and holding on, but not great. This is nothing special and and definitely NOT WORTH THE PRICE. 1 pt. .9 fl. oz. (16 alk/vol) capped bottle (#02874) in cardboard tube.

4.0 #02314/6000 From notes. Tasted on 6/30/12 at the 1st Annual Chimipalooza, I shared this 500mL bottle. Pours inky black with a very thin, slow-forming brown head that leaves a very thin collar of lace. The nose is sweet molasses, dark chocolate, mocha, vanilla, and just a touch of smoke. The flavor is a touch sweet with the same molasses and vanilla up front, moving to all of the bitter mocha, dark chocolate, and light smoke. The body is massively full with light carbonation and a super long roasted, molasses, and dark chocolate finish. This showed a bit of oxidation, but was still holding up nicely.

4.0 Duft av kaffe, bek, sjokolade og vanilje. Sort av farge. Lite brunt skum. Smak av Lakris, sjokolade, kaffe og vanilje. Takk til Yngvar for å dele denne.

4.8 Big thanx to Yngwie. Been wanting to try this for quite some time. After starting a beertrading company ive been found worthy :-) Did not have that big expextations because of age. The second ed has aged much more porly. This is a great im stout. Not even oxsidised. Impressive big beer. Aroma was big with loads og chocolate and coffee. Flavour alot of the same. This is how they all want to make their imp stouts :-)

4.4 Bottle at Craig’s. Pours black, nose is fruity, chocolate, liquorice, taste is rich chocolate, bitter, fruity.

4.1 Vintage moment at Finn’s Castle : Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 1st Edition (16%). Beige low tight head in the snifter, black-black-brown body. A bouquet of liquorice, a bowl of chocolate stuff mixed with coffee beans, and the whole candy shop passes my nose. Taste; caramel power-malts, liquorice, lots of dark fruits, cinnamon, ginger, chocolate - you name it (’coz I forgot...). Very nice fruity on palate, full body, and about completely hidden alcohol (oups). Finishes fruity, caramelly, dark dark barley malty, warming. Full taste without black holes. Luxurious slow sipper for the sunset. Thanx 2 Finn :)

4.4 Huge thanks to OldMrCrow for sharing this beauty with my wife and me one night. Pours deep and dark with no head. Chewy, dark candied fruit; roast, chocolate, well-placed oxidation; like dark, sweet, condensed grape juice (with alcohol, of course - I suppose they call that port?). Not picking up any coffee here. It’s on the sweet side, but really really nice -- doesn’t show its age at all. Impressive. This is a huge beer, but no heat except for the lingering burn in my throat that I’d love to go on and on -- this is impressive. Really impressive. Full body, slick texture that is just full enough but not quite thick or viscou. Soft carbonation. Damn this is good. Seriously goddamned good. Thanks again, Crow!

4.0 Courtesy of dpjuart. Pours black. Aroma of molasses, dried dark fruit, and alcohol. Flavor is dark and roasted. A little soy sauce. Carbon and caramelly sweetness. Body is rich and sweet.

4.1 Bottle shared thanks to drewbeerme at pre-DLD tasting. Pours a thick used motor oil-like black without a head. Aroma of roastiness and dark fruits. Taste is super sweet with a light booziness to it. Super sticky and thick. Thanks for the taste, Drew.

4.0 Bottle share thanks to drewbeerme. Poured black with no head. Aroma of dark fruits and booze. Light carb thick bod. Super dark fruit taste with booze finish.

4.4 Bottle shared w/ Mr. and Mrs. Prufrockstar April 2014 I’m not sure quite where I got this but where ever it came from it spent five years sitting in the cellar, sitting there first to let it age and later as I fell out of love with imperial stouts. Pours dark with very little head. Surprisingly red wine-like in the aroma, plenty of coffee, hints of smoke. Sweet, intense flavor first suggests canned iced mocha but quickly reveals so much more than that. Dark grape juice, Madeira, a bit of salt late. Gosh this held up well over the years. Soon enough; no flab, no cardboard. Late enough; perfectly integrated without any heat even at 16%. I’m really, really impressed. The beer of the night on a night of great imperial stouts. tl;dr summary: Perfect imperial stout at 5 years.

4.2 Bottle #5461 traded for in NV and finally enjoyed in OH 5+ years later. Dark and slick appearance like used oil with only a few brown bubbles from the pour. Bold aroma of dark fruit, coffee, molasses and a hint of sour cherries. Flavor is actually a sweet, syrupy, fruitiness upfront that mellows into some nice coffee. Honestly, the 16 ABV is buried deep. Pretty drinkable for something this big. I think time has helped this tremendously.

3.9 Black with virtually no head. Aroma is liquorice, soy sauce, roasted chestnuts, fig, booze. Slightly syrupy mouthfeel, sweet on the palate with a little balancing bitterness. Taste is liquorice, chocolate, coffee, oak, hint of soy sauce.

4.2 Bottle sampled at at tasting. From notes. Roasty chocolate and dark fermented fruits. I would love a bottle for myself.

4.1 Big thanks to Geokkjer, Meilby, and yngwie! Pours a opaque black with small tan head. Huge nose of molasses, caramel, bourbon, oak, vanilla, cinnamon, and some alcohol heat. The palate is super silky and warming, with flavors of roasted malt, coffee, vanilla bean, maple, and dark chocolate. Really nice and I think some bottle age helped it.

4.2 Huge thanks to Geokkjer, Meilby, and yngwie for sharing this bottle! Pitch black, viscous pour with a small mocha head. Nose is peat, smoke, and tons of roast. Burnt sugar, cocoa powder, licorice, coffee, vanilla, and dark fruits. Such an intense aroma. There’s a nice sweetness to the flavor of graham cracker and vanilla. Tons of roasted malt, some smoke, burnt sugar, and cocoa powder. Licorice, dark fruit, and coffee. Really intensely smooth and silky mouthfeel.

3.0 Bottle. Pours oily black. Nose is sweet chocolate, coffee, fudge brownie, dark fruit, oak, caramelized sugar, brown caramelized sugar and vanilla. Taste is mostly chocolate, black licorice and very sweet dark fruits soaked in alcohol. Finishes with alcohol soaked fruits and then just alcohol. Medium body. Very boozy. Way too sweet.

3.6 Bottle via SL 07.. Black in color... decent little head.. Smells boozy... sweet. Taste is sweet for being 5 years old.. Not boozy but warming from the alcohol. Not sugary sweet but overall sweetness which surprises me for being so old... Medium body little oily.. Overall: Nice brew.

4.3 Bottle courtesy of Marsiblursi. Pours pitch black with a small dark mocha head that quickly dissipates without leaving much trace on the glass. Smell is sweet, salty and vinous with roasted malts, alcohol, port wine, dark roast coffee, salty liquorice candy, charred wood, bitter chocolate, leather, ketjap manis, lemon zest, flower nectar, plums in brandy, dark grapes, madeira wine, dark bread and hints of brine. Taste is sweet, slightly bitter, salty, malty and vinous with roasted malts, dark roast coffee, high quality dark chocolate, leather, port wine, alcohol, resinous wood, salty liquorice candy, prunes, dark grapes, sweet dark bread, warming brandy, minerals, soy sauce and hints of smoked meats. Mouthfeel is round, tiny sticky sweet, rich, complex, warming boozy, vinous and full bodied. Finish is sweet, bitter and tiny salty with roasted malts, dark chocolate, dark roast coffee, leather, charred wood, lemon zest, port wine and alcohol. A huge, rich, complex and tasty beer. Impressed with the aging, this holds up nicely.

4.1 50 cl bottle @ FF tasting. Bottle #04175. Still quite delicious, alcohol well hidden, no notes of going bad or anything like that. Still quite balanced and tasty. 50 cl bottle @ ISKTR 2017. Bottle #04139. Rated on 20170818. Rating: 9-4-8-4-18=4.3 This has aged very nicely, lots of dark fruits on the nose, some dark chocolate and licorice up front. Flavor is balanced with bitter chocolate, vinous notes, cocoa, mild alcohol burn at the end. Very nice still. 50 cl bottle @ Ravintola Esplanadi, Tampere. Rated on 20090319. Rating: 10-4-9-5-19=4.7 (highest rating to date) Pitch black oily color with a small beige head. Aroma is very intense with liquorice, dark roasted malts, some dark ripe fruit notes and lots of dark chocolate. Flavor is very complex with dark chocolate, liquorice, dark toasted malts, some tar, soy notes and hints of coffee.

4.4 Feb- 07 på Plan B sammen med reisevennene fra Harstad: innehaveren skulle snart stenge og vi var de eneste igjen (pussig...). Da kom ahn med en flaske DH1 og sjenket opp i småglass til oss. Det ble helt stille rundt bordet da vi tok den første smaken. Magisk. Synd at jeg aldri fikk tak i en flaske. En ølbegivenhet vi alle husker for bestandig.

4.3 500mL bottle, pours jet black with a small light brown head. Aroma reveals a complex array of different things, port wine notes, sherry, dark fruits, lots of booze and slight notes of oxidation - don’t get any of the coffee. Flavour is complex and rich as hell, with sherry, port wine, dark fruits, fairly high sweetness without every being cloying, with the 16% not making any effort to hide itself (though it’s not intrusive of the complexity or drinkability). Some light smokey and woody notes to round off the sweetness beautifully. Tastes like it’s had age on its side, though I wouldn’t leave it much longer as there are slight notes of oxidation. Supremely rich, complex and warming. Certainly a treat.