Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood

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

Bottled. A deep red beer with a huge brown head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of smoke - is that beechwood? but also some notes of caramel and spices. The flavor is sweet with notes of smoked malt, caramel, juniper, roasted malt, and some wood, leading to a dry woody and somewhat smokey finish, where the smoke lingers for a long time.

Bottled sample. Hazy brown in colour with medium carbonation. Fairly heavy beechwood and alder smoke aromas, along with a hint of orchard fruit. The smoke is a bit more restrained in the mouth, and is balanced by sone notes of mild juniper and roasted malts. Medium bodied and dry finishing. Quite nice overall.

Bottle. Pours a hazy brown with a 2 finger foamy tan head that leaves decent lacing. The nose is smoky malts, cured meat and juniper. The taste is bbq ribs, burnt malt and light ashy chocolate with a bitter juniper/piney finish. Medium, prickly body. Interesting beer – I like it.

Deep ruby brown, large foaming head. Nose is remarkably smoky, some burnt wood but mainly smoked meat. Malts are semi-dry with touches of cocoa powder and molasses. High effervescence. Finish is fizzy, smoky and short. Very enjoyable.

Bottle into stein. Pours chocolate brown, kind of murky, with a huge, fluffy tan head. Some visible effervescence around the edges of the glass. Nose is quite smoky, with an organic peatiness around it, raisin and dark fruit underneath. Taste has lots of dark fruit (raisins) and cocoa up front, some brown sugar as well, with the peaty smoke coming in about midway and really coming out around the finish. Finish is juicy, smoky, just a hint of smoked sausage, echoes of raisins and brown sugar wrapped in smoke. Really nice. Smoke contributed to the beer without totally wrapping up the entire character like some rauchbiers. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, light carbonation. Drinkability is really rather high for a smoked beer - I could have drank more than one of these, and the sweetness in this coupled with the smoke would make this an absolute grand slam with pulled pork barbecue.

Foggy amber pour, with a large whitish foam head. Earthy aromas of raisin, sweet malt, slight red berries and peat/smoke. Poured into the dimple mug and the lacing lasted strong throughout the entire beer, but was not as sticky of a mouthfeel as this might indicate. Flavor has some malt, light red fruit, prune and, brown sugar, smoke. Maybe juniper berry, but I really have no idea what juniper berry tastes like. Solid medium body but finishes very clean with not much lingering good or bad. There is a creaminess to it that works really well with the flavors. I thought this was a little dopplebock-esque, with all the good comparisons that might come with it. Unique, drinkable and worth trying. For sure one of the best of this style, whatever that may be, I’ve had.

1PT .9FL OZ, capped bottle (Batch NR 109-brewed Nov 07, best before Nov 09, sampled Jan 09): thick & smokey aromatics with undertones of dark fruit, hickory and pine needles. Gorgeous burnt ruby coloured body with a large off tan, bubbly head. Overly carbonated at first, but settled into a smooth, almost silky texture. Dark, caramelized ham flavour, leaving a sticky, brown sugar and herbal taste on the lips. A great accompaniment to a snowy winter day...complex enough to change and develop over the course of the afternoon, yet simple enough to be straightforward delicious the whole time. I really love the interplay here: smokey, hoppy, earthy, fruity. Great.

Brown in color and cloudy with a large beige head. Aroma is very smokey (tobacco and firewood) with some notes of caramel and malt. Taste is of black pepper, smoked jalepenos and chocolate.