Nils Oscar India Ale

Brewed by Nils Oscar
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Nyköping, Sweden

Hazy orange with a good head. Hoppy and fruity aroma. The flavour is marked bys biscuits, orange, caramel and grass with a bit of roastiness lingering.

delicious beer to be sipped gets better towards the end as the carbonation fades bringing a different dryish mouth feel. Happy to find from alcohol stores in Finland to have more of it.

Light copper, small white head. Nose is citric hops and caramel malts. Hoppiness quite light for an IPA, but pleasant. Flavor hopped, more british than american. Not much malts to be found. Somewhat stuffy bitterness dominates in the finish. Medium bodied with strong carbonation, perhaps a bit thin mouthfeel. Clean, but not that special IPA.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, off-white, mostly lasting. Body is light to medium amber. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, toasted grain, caramel), lightly to moderately hoppy (flowers, apricot), with notes of canned peaches and sherry. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter, slightly husky. Medium body, watery/velvety texture, lively carbonation. A little odd and not particularly IPA-like. Seems a little old/oxidized but AFAIK these haven’t been available in the US that long. The aroma reminds me a bit of Biere de Garde. A bit too sweet with a slight woody/husky/vegetal aftertaste. Ho hum.

My bottle (12oz) shared with HogTownHarry & tupalev -- courtesy of kp. Pours a clear orange with an average size frothy off-white head. Aroma and flavour of U.K.-style hops backed by caramel malt along with some fruit and spices. Average bodied. A simple but good IPA that would make for a decent session beer.

Pours with a frothy, initially almost three-finger thick, pale tan colored head that leaves some lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer pours from the bottle without a trace of sediment and is a clear, concentrated copper hue as it sits on my desk, when held up to the light the copper becomes much more characteristic with an almost metallic sheen to it. The aroma is quite malt focused, when compared to a typical American IPA, but certainly is hop focused. Aromas of lychee, herbal pine and sweet citrus zest are most noticed. The malt, while secondary contributes aromas of soft caramelized bread crust, biscuit malt and just an overall, really nice malt character. The hop aromatics are surprisingly almost more focused on the herbal / pine notes than the typical Amarillo notes of super fruit.

Nicely bitter from the get go, though not aggressively so. The bitterness seems to soften a bit through towards the finish, but then picks up a bit of green-hop astringency that accentuates a biting bitterness that lingers on the tongue for quite some time. Sweet caramelized malt notes don’t nearly bring out the hop fruit character that I was expecting, though there are some soft flavors of grapefruit zest, a touch of lychee and some apricot notes towards the finish. A deep, rich grain / malt character provides a backdrop to the hop notes; it has quite a biscuit character and just a chewy maltiness. This is quite drinkable, almost has the heft of a Pale Ale more than that of an IPA.

Not nearly the Amarillo character I was expecting; while I was not expecting an over the top hopped IPA, I was expecting a much more fruit character that is the signature of Amarillo hops. It makes me wonder if the brewer exercised a very soft hand when it came to the flavor and aroma hop additions, especially since the bitterness is here fairly well. Still this is a tasty brew, though with this great malt character it could have use an excessive addition of Amarillo dry-hopped in the conditioning tank. For all my complaining, it is actually an enjoyable brew that I would be happy to have again.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson AZ

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry and Blankboy, Blankboy’s bottle. Some malt, some hops, some spice in mild but pleasing aroma. Light orange, foamy white head. Nice hop bite up front in taste - very orange citrusy and sweet. Flavour is a little muted overall, and the body is a tad thin for the style, but it is enjoyable and an interesting take.

Bottle (330ml). Shared with blankboy and tupalev, blankboy’s bottle. Bottle has different label, as "Nils Oscar India Pale Ale." Gold pour (hint of amber), smallish frothy white head. Floral and sweet aroma, dry leafy hop character. Taste - similar, with tea and mild lemon, not very hoppy - decent, but not even really a UK-style IPA. Light, slightly watery mouthfeel, mildly astringent, quick finish and a slightly dry bitter aftertaste. Ehh.