It’s time for my second beer from Dugges Ale & Porterbryggeri this week. The first one left me feeling a little flat but my hopes were high for their 1/2 idjit Imperial Porter, the ‘younger brother’ of Dugges floor-kissing’15% ABV Idjit Imperial Stout.

At a ‘mere’ 7% ABV 1/2 idjit is still a porter worthy of it’s imperial tag. When the word imperial is used in conjunction with a beer these days it really means ‘drinker beware’, as imperial-style beers are invariably extreme both in terms of flavour and strength.

The term imperial doesn’t originally relate to porter at all but in fact to Imperial Russian Stout, a beer brewed in the 18th century in England for export to the court of Catherine II of Russia (who  apparently liked a drop of the strong stuff). It had to be strong (normally around 8-12 % ABV) to stop the beer freezing on its way to the Baltics.

That’s enough history lesson for one day. Let’s get to the beer.

Dugges 1/2 idjit pours an inky black with a short-lived praline-coloured head. The dominant aroma is instantly recognizable – burnt toast – backed up with smells of bitter dark chocolate, cold black coffee and charred wood.

Dugges themselves promise a distinctive taste of salt liquorice and yes it was there but not at the levels I had feared (I bloody hate salt liquorice. It’s supposed to be a sweet for goodness sake. Salted tyre rubber more like).

Much more pleasant were the beer’s delicious coffee and cocoa tones, a burnt brown sugar sweetness and a sprinkle of cigar ash in a bitter/dry finish. There was some salt and sappy pine courtesy of the hops, which played nothing more than a supporting role to this porter’s impressive malt cast.

Oh yes, my faith in Dugges is restored! No half measures with this beer. You’d have to be a complete idjit not to try it.

Dugges 1/2 idjit

An Imperial Porter

7% ABV

Systembolaget Article Number: 11729 (but only available for a couple more months, so hurry while stocks last).