Nøgne Ø # 100 (Batch 100)

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Grimstad, Norway

Amber hue, start by saying I like hoppy ales but this was a little bit much, it tasted like a Nøgne Ø brew which is excellent when they stick to what they do best wih darker ones, I think they are an excellent brewery, this has their ususal characteristics but added a very dry hoppy tecture, it didn’t seem like the hops were indigenous to the brewing location at all , maybe IPAs are better when from America.

(500 ml bottle via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=3 target=blank>TheCheeseMan, thanks Daniel!) Pours very dark tobacco brown with almost three fingers of tan head that recedes to a thin cap that stays. Very nice appearance. Aroma of slightly sweet candyish malt (but different than most barleywines), chocolate and coffee (but different than a stout, not roasty) and cinnamon I think. Mouthfeel medium-full, slightly heavy but soft, fairly smooth. Broken, weepy lacing. Flavor is quite hop-forward, surprising because aroma was not hoppy. Bitter grapefruit. Chocolate - light milk chocolate and some rock candy but sweetness actually quite reserved. Has chocolate and coffee in the taste but not roasty. Interesting - looks more like a barleywine than a big IPA, and tastewise it could go either way. Moderate alcohol apparency.

Bottled, from Holiday Wine Cellars. I had to give this beer a 5 on appearance...awesome beige head that caps off the nearly black, mahogany colored liquid. Continuous spotty lacing throughout the snifter. The nose is mostly sweet dark malts and raisin fruit with some chocolate and honey notes, improving with warmth. Chocolate and vanilla extract is more present in the flavor, with caramel toffee, burnt sugar and a grapefruit punch coupled well with the bitter hops. Doesn’t really look like an imperial IPA but more like a barley wine, but the sappy tongue-biting bitterness at the end of each sip stays true. Interesting and enjoyable, I’ll bet it ages nicely.

Bottle. Really, really dark brown with a fine beige head. Musty and earthy notes, some cocoa even - hugely complex spice profile that shows up with the malts... nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon. Raisin and vanilla in there too. Flavor is almost a perfect echo to the aroma, but the alcohol is really apparent in the back end. The chocolate malt works really well here and adds the earthiness. Big bitter finish, but doesn’t overwhelm. Great beer, the bottle says barley wine-style and the site says DIPA. I think it’s closer to a barley wine.

Nøgne Ø # 100 is very dark brown beer with big beige head. Aroma is complex and fine. There are some sweet malts, some roasted malts, aromatic hops and twinkle of alcohol. Flavour is also complex: slightly sweet, but same time roasted flavour combined with pleasant aromatic hops and also medium bitterness is found in the end. Smooth to drink with full body completes this great beer. Complex aroma and flavour infuence to everybody and makes you to smile.

Deep, translucent and cherry cola in color with a dense, foamy tan head with no intention of leaving anything but extreme lacing on the sides of the snifter. Fierce aroma of bing cherries, rhubarb, crème brulee with caramelized passion fruit, caramel vats steeped in rye and a Disarenno amaretto and almond liquor hug the dark fruited figs. Suffice to say, the nose is nirvana. Flavor dawns aggressively, with harsh resounding Chinook to a touch of dry, gritty, cocoa-infused forays. Thick body with ripe black cherries dripping from a plum sauce and melted caramels before the bitterness kicks in again. Buttery grease seeps off the roof of the mouth, catching bitter blackened rye flakes on the way. A rhubarb and caramel torte graham cracker crust flavor rings with their sweetened, darkened fruit flavored melody as a blood orange with scorched brandy sauce seals the exit doors.

Bottle from Pizza Port Bottle Shop ( I think). Pours with a dark brown body topped by a thin to medium thick head with some lacing. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a grassy yet piney hope note and a little pepper with a bitter finish. Full bodied and warming.

Pours a very dark brown that only shows light when it is the thinnest part of a glass. Big light tan head. Nose is slight hops with a big hit of alcohol. Flavor is strong. Seems fairly dominated by alcohol. There is a definite hop presence there, but I feel like it would help this beer a lot to just lay down for a few years and mature. Feel is well bodied on the liquid and the carbonation is good as well. Overall this is a nice brew. But like I said, it could probably use several more years on it’s side.