Beer Here Dark Hops

Beer Here
Brewed at Nøgne Ø
Style: American Strong Ale
Copenhagen, Denmark

500ml Bottle. Classic label, alien hops Men in Black style. Thick, black pour with a half inch layer of tan froth that laces beautifully. Loved the aroma, smells like freshly cut pine, roasted grain and chocolate chip cookies. Flavor is heavily roasted with significant char taste. A little chocolate and hop resin are present behind all that roast. Bitterness abounds throughout each sip, but isn’t overblown. Mouthfeel is medium, with an oily texture and lively carbonation. Sharp, dry and bitter finish on the back of the tongue. More like a very hoppy, roasted porter than an IPA to me. Enjoyed this one, but would have liked a little less roast and a more prominent hop flavor.

Black pour with a huge and fluffy tan head. Aroma is is of chocolate and citrus hops. Full bodied with high carbonation. Sweet flavor, bitter chocolate with a resinous piney/citrus hoppiness. Lingering citrus aftertaste. I didn’t think this one would work. It is unique, complex and tasty.

Pitch black with a huge dark brown head that leaves very nice lazings. Aroma is extremely hoppy and roasted with notes of caramell. Flavour is intense roasted and "green hoppy" with a dry caramell finish. Very flavourfull yet balanced, drinkable and fun.

Bottle.
Pours darker than northern Norway on the Winter Solstice at 2 am. Aroma is cigarette ash, cocoa, and coffee. Flavor is brackish coffee and cocoa, roasted nut, and a smoky hops finish. Thick and coating on the tongue. Very strong and assertive. No bull with this one.

500 ml bottle purchased by my Dad at Zipps in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pour is a murky brown black, with a thick 3 inch deep tan head, which falls with beautiful coating. This was much darker looking than I was expecting, which is odd since it has the word "Dark" in its title. Aroma is roasted malt and bright fresh pine hoppiness. These two aromas really work together, melding nicely and fresh smelling. Taste is the roast up front with the pine and straw taking the middle and finish. Taste is really quite simple, just the two flavors, but as with the nose nicely melded. Palate is bright active carbonation with a medium to light mouthfeel and a clean bitter finish. Aftertaste reveals only a hint of alcohol. This was unique and well crafted beer, nice one. Pretty much a hopped up big porter, but super drinkable.

500 ml bottle sampled@RBNAG 2009, Vatlandsvåg. Completely black body with a big, foamy brown head. Strong aroma of hops, coffee and roasted malt. Flavor is sweet, roasted malt, rather bitter, citric and lots of coffee. A big and powerful beer, still very balanced and complete. Long, nice malty and bitter finish.

500mL bottle. Pours a seriously dark brown out of the bottle and is an opaque black in the glass with a massive dark tan, creamy head that shows great retention and lacing. A fantastic looking beer. The aroma is interesting as the first thing I notice is the green herbal hops with hints of citrus. But there is also a big roasted dark malt presence with dark chocolate as well. Two big and bold aromas competing for supremacy. The taste starts with a huge herbal, almost spicy, green hop kick - extremely bitter on the tongue from start to finish. behind the bitterness is the dark roasted malts, which take on an almost charred character in the finish with the hops bringing an astringent bitterness at the same time. Whoa. The mouthfeel is medium to full-bodied but feels a little lighter than that at times due to the massive herbal hop profile which keeps the malts from settling in. Lots of carbonation as well, maybe a little too much, but that’s being picky. I wouldn’t call this one extremely drinkable but it’s still fun to drink with all the competing flavors popping on the palate at once. Very creative and quite tasty.

20091116 500ml bottle from State Line. Nearly black, viscous, a bit murky, with thick and lasting dark brown head. Aroma is roasted, rich, chocolaty, grapefruit, gin, spruce, and cigar ash. Medium to full bodied up front with slight thinning and aggressive eff across the middle and late ashy astringency and some quite harsh pithy bitterness. Flavor adds some tootsie roll, tobacco and licorice notes, but also some unfortunate vinyl and burnt rubber. I’m sure I’ve had this before, but I don’t recall when or with whom. Okay stuff.