Haand Bryggeriet Dark Force Double Extreme Imperial Wheat Stout

What can I say, with name like Dark Force, how could I pass it up? Furthermore with a style description of “Double Extreme Imperial Wheat Stout” it sounds like a must try. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a Wheat Stout before, but I’d be expecting something like an oatmeal stout.

Here is how Haand Bryggeriet describes Dark Force:

Dark Force is as far as we know the only wheat stout in the universe. This is a true wheat beer made from mainly wheat malt and lots of dark roasted malts and plenty of both bittering and aroma hops to create this unique and tasty beer.

ABV: 9%

IBU: 65

Bottle: 500ml

Bottled On: April 09, Batch 217

Appearance:

Big, thick, huge, loosely packed head, with what appears to actually be layers of foam.  Pretty cool.  This cappuccino colored head sits neatly upon an ink black wheat stout.   By the time I went to take a sip only half the head had dissipated, leaving still a good inch of foam, nice!  After all the head disappeared, (halfway through the beer) the viscosity of the beer was very evident on the glass.

Aroma:

Moderate aroma on this beer, noting over the top, yet not understated either.  On the nose there is a bit of dark chocolate, dark roasted grain and a bit of smoke.  As I’m inhaling the aroma, there are so many bubbles popping in the foam I also get the smell of seashore.  Kind of a salty wet aroma.

Taste:

A very interesting beer, immediately it is a bit briny and surprisingly smokey.  There is also a significant coffee and bitter sweet chocolate flavor.  After a couple of sips this beer has changed fairly radically, which is a sign of a deep complex beer.  While it retained much of the smokiness, notes of alcohol, licorice, and plumb started to come through along with some woody bitterness.

Glassware: Nonic or Goblet

Calories: A 9% stout using the Calorie Chart would Estimate between 270 and 295 calories per 12 oz.

Overall Impression:

There must be a ton of roasted grain in this beer to have such woody smokiness, since they don’t say anything about using smoked malt.  But regardless, this is a great beer.  I really enjoyed the changing complexity of the beer.  Definitely a must try beer.  Not the best stout in the world, but very interesting.