Haandbryggeriet Nissemor

Brewed by Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: Old Ale
Drammen, Norway

0.5 l bottle. Dark reddish brown color with thick but diminishing tan head. Thick aroma of caramel, chocolate, dark fuits, port wine and berries. Chocolatey, nutty, caramelly and berryish flavor. Chocolate and some woody spices (licorice?) in the finish. Sharp repulsive carbonation. Fairly complex beer but there is something dull and unpleasant in the taste.

Opaque brown color under an impressive mound of tan foam. Scratchy, woolen nose comes with spruce tips, Dutch processed cocoa and black cherry pits. Surprising, but restrained, malt sweetness is followed by dry chocolate before a massively spicy, herbal and coniferous finish. Flavors linger despite vigorous pinpoint carbonation; silky texture, light weight.

Bustling and lively despite time in the bottle; a spicy treat.

50 cl bottle, brewed on April 2007, best before April 2009, composite total score.

Hazy maroon and grape-skin hue, bottle conditioned, with a tall, soapy, light tan head. First smel is of damp wool and quite strong at that. Grape skins follow with hints of milk chocolate. A touch of smoke and pipe tobacco (unburnt) comes next. Caramelised pineapple and strong perfume find their way out of this elixer. Hazelnuts, leather, coffee and an airy beach aroma round out the package. Moderately sweet to begin with flavours of red grapes and dark chocolate. Fairly dry with elements of toasted whole wheat bread, leather and tobacco. Grape like acidity throughout with a light pepper tingle in the aftertaste. Lingering flavours of chocolate and cough syrup. Dryness starts to build vinous aspects--oak and cherry pits. Medium bodied with an oily texture, explosive carbonation and some light astringency. This beer is positively fascinating and wonderfully complex, but it feels as if there’s no focus at times and maybe the beer is just being busy for the sake of being busy. Still, a good sipper and really powerful in aroma and flavour for 6% abv.

Bottle@Home. Floral aroma with some licorice and black currant. Ruby color, light brown head, good lace. Light sweet, light bitter, roasted, licorice, little soapy. Body is a bit thin. Flavorful but a bit out of balance. Thanks Yngwie.

50 cl bottle. Dark brown color, big beige head. Dark malt, yeast, fruit, hops, hints og choclate and coffee.

Bottled. Dark brown beige head. Warm gluhwein aroma, nuts and fruits. Very silky, strong malty taste with christmassy undertones.

500ml bottle. (6-4-7-3-13=3.3)
Not really an ’old ale’, IMHO. Opaque brown, head the size of a pint glass. Methinks the bottle conditioning went a bit OTT. Mostly hoppy nose, some spicy sweetness to that. Doesn’t feel too fizzy in the mouth though, reasonable carbonation. Taste is very bitter, clear hop taste present, a little astringent. Behind that there’s a reasonable roastiness - quite burnt in fact. The finish is the astringent hoppiness. Tongue is numbed a bit - hard to blame that on 6%, so it might be the hops, or it might even be clove in the spicyness - is that the secret ingredient?
Rerate: 500ml bottle (Batch 55) (7-4-7-4-13=3.5)
Burnt caramelly taste, some marmite. Sweet hoppy aroma. Dry toasted bread finish. Improved with age, almost seems like a different brew.

Bottle 0.5 l. Pretty much opaque brownish black with a foamy dunkelweizenlike head. Nose is fruity with spices and malts. Nice and fresh, but hard to pick up anything specific. Flavor is a bit sweet and sour (baltic porter style) with a dry roasted finish. Very foamy carbonation (bottle conditioned?). Ashiness and sourness of a good porter combined with fruitiness and mouthfeel of a belgian double. Very interesting and damn good.

Bottled. Very dark ruby red colouur with mediumsized beige brownish beige head. Aroma is mild caramel malts with some spices and licorace. Also some slight bittering notes. Flavour is quite much the same, but leaves at a quite mild stage. Once it warms up it gets some rubbery hints. Surprisingly watery in the flavour.