Style: BA imperial stout
Brewery: Dugges
Origin: Sweden
Size: 50cl
Alcohol: 13.9%
Price: 120kr
Systembolaget: 10469
Dugges originally released an imperial stout in a series called “Grand”, but when they produced it again they barrel aged it in Kentucky rye whiskey barrels with vanilla and this was the result. Half of the batch was blended with coffee to produce the sister beer “Irish Coffee”. This was a one-time brew and was first released in Systembolaget in September 2023. Dugges has a reputation for making amazing massive imperial stouts, so I knew I wanted at least one in the tasting, and I’m happy to report that this did not disappoint!
This had a thick, deep black body with hardly any head forming except for a thin line of brown bubbles around the outside of the glass. The aroma was big, with massive toffee, honeycomb, milk chocolate and cream notes bursting from the glass. The taste was thick and creamy, and I was surprised that this didn’t contain lactose because the body was so rich. It tasted like drinking liquid Werthers Original. You feel the 13.9% in the chest upon swallowing, but it was still very smooth and surprisingly easy to drink. The coffee notes were almost non-existent, with those bitter notes run over by the toffee and honeycomb saturation. With almost zero carbonation and a heavy body, this kept the palate sticky for a long time after swallowing.
This was truly a dessert in a glass, and I thought it was absolutely lovely. Massive sweet notes were backed up by a viscous body and lovely aroma. I can understand why this would be too sweet for some people, but I personally thought this was a perfect end to the tasting!