Nils Oscar Julöl 2001 & 2002

Formerly brewed at Nils Oscar
Style: Scotch Ale
Nyköping, Sweden

Wonderful fullbodied winter warmerm saturated with nuances that make you just want to sit down and enjoy. And enjoy again and again...

Vintage 2001. Dark amber color. Great malty aroma with toffee and some butter along with hioppy notes. The flavor is malty, with sweet fruity and nutty notes. Turns into a very pleasant mild finish. Also the typical hops for the Nils Oscar Brewey was there. Very good and I think time has been good for this one.

2001 bottle, 5 years old. 7.0%. Powerful, sweet peppery aroma. The aging gives it a little sherry flavour, but not too much. Clear brown colour, small light brown head. The flavour is quite bready, but it goes well with the considerable maltiness and pepperiness. Nice, creamy mouthfeel. Very nice and warming.

Dark amber color, with ruby shades; thick head, but reducing quickly.
Malt aroma, not really deep; a delicate roasted barley aroma.
Very interesting flavor, much equilibrated, round feeling, without being heavy; perfect balance of bitterness and sweetness. An original, peculiar note of roasted malt; a lot of caramel. It presents a roasted barley note, usually missing in the Swedish Julöl.
A lot of caramel in the palate, not too much hop.
Really interesting, but must try after some years of aging.

Vintage 2002: Very delicious! Smooth, soft and mild. Brown reddish color. Strong special complex aroma. Caramel, malt and brown sugar. Low carbo- AAARGH JENS GOES BERSERK! -nation. Nice flavor of malt and caramel. Burned and smoked. The palate is very vinous. Nice strong brew. Slightly alcoholic aftertaste.

Bottled. RBESG -05. Hazy copper colour. Light tan head. Smooth malt nose. Chocolatey and toffee notes in flavour, and all in all very smooth.

Let me tell you a story about a beer that will probably be like the ’Ugly duckling’ by H.C. Andersen. When I first sampled this as the tradition bids at Stockholm Beer Festival in sept. 2001 I thought that it would probably be the least ageable(is that a word) of their Christmas beers. I no longer have that thought! When I sampled it for real this day in sept. 2002 it has grown so much that a teenager that just hit the puberty would be jealous. Suddenly I see why this beer won the Beer World Cup this year, why it costs almost 50 SEK (approx. 5 USD) fo 50 cl here in Sweden. What´s all the fuss about then ? Well, the appearance isn´t that much too write home about. It´s quite ordinarily red-brown(although the red part of the colour is quite amazing in this one). It has no head. The aroma opens up very tight and a bit spicy with tones of licorice and prunes. But, after a couple of minutes it opens up like a defenseline after a really good playcalling. Suddenly you feel the potential with sweet malty tones, chocolate, red meat, coffee and a little bit of alcohol. You start too think ’is this really scottish?’ when you get flashbacks too Chimay Bleu. Then you taste it. The flavor isn´t that different when it opens but it opens alright. It starts out with bitter chocolate tones, licorice, molasses, a bit fruity and quite smooth. It opens up with hints of biscuits, thinner (the alcohol content showing itself) and a bit peppery finish. The bitterness is quite low and hits you really late and a bit like a bitch slap. I see great things for this beer. It´s quite sweet right now, the alcohol content is high and it is well crafted. I will cellar the rest of my bottles with great care and high hopes and think you should do the same if you get the chance despite the fact that it costs as much as a really good wine do in Sweden. Oops, this was a long one but the beer is worth it.

Dark reddish brown. Very malty, balanced malt sweetness, warming alcohol, perhaps still slightly too young when I sampled it. Rather bitter.