Nøgne Ø God Jul

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: American Strong Ale
Grimstad, Norway

Very dark/black colour, lots of rasted, caramel, malty tastes, roasted, a complete christmas ale. Good but better with heavy food.

black patent/ and or mollasses dominate the flavor profile. Astringent bitterness, and some weird flavors. Gushed out of the bottle, most likely due to over priming. Not a repurchase.

bottle - Totally opaque black color with medium sized tan head. Aroma is full of thick chewy malts, light roasty notes, fair amount of toasted caramel, fairly vinous, notes of plum, figs, raisens, very faint citrusy notes towards the conclusion of the aroma. Flavor is malty, somewhat roasty, notes of vanilla and oak, slightly creamy, touch of burbon. Finish is slightly sweet, but well balanced overall. When too cold, this demonstrated some metallic off notes, but these seem to totally dissapear once the beer warms and is allowed to breath a while. Overall a ver nice brew, very black and slightly roasty, but not really porter or stout like. Fiarly unique overall. and definitely good.

Bottle (Winter Ale) and served in my Duval snifter: Wow, a darker hue than expected, near opaque with a creamy beige head and good lace. The aroma has notes of leather and non-aromatic Turkish pipe tobacco, vanilla bean, peat bog moss, massive overall earthy esters and a hint of walnut.

The taste is malty yet not overall sweet, I think a note of nut and spice helps there. Chocolate and vanilla notes that is a bit Baltic in nature. Finishes with more earthy notes of anise, coffee, tobacco and maple wood. The mouth feel is rich, chewy and oily towards the finish.

Weird beer, not exactly XMAS in spice but a solid dark ale nevertheless... I would drink again. (Think PP Older Viscosity light)

The pour reveals a deep brown almost opaque body with a mountainous creamy light brown head that ever so slowly fades leaving curtain of lace to drape the glass. Nose has a rich toasted malt aroma, hops also peek through, caramel and spices end this wonderful nose. Front has a toasted grain sweetness, the hops provide the bitter contrast, top is moderately full in feel. Finish has a spicy hop presence, sweet grains, bittersweet chocolate and the acidity determined quite dry aftertaste, and a real unexpected treat in my humble opinion.

Tasted 2007-12-13. Fresh bottle. Pours dark brown with light brown head. I once picked some wild hop plants in my local area and soaked them in water. I let it sit for 24 hours and then I tasted it. This beer comes very close to that - only this is pleasant, and the ’hop juice’ wasn’t so much. The aroma of this beer is the freshest hop you could imagine, and the taste is a nice balanced hop bitterness combined with chocolate malts and coffee. Very good - very tasty!!

Dark black-brown pour has a medium off-white head and beautiful depth to the color. Nose is muted with malty sweetness and carbonated liveliness. The texture and palate are really the best part of this brew with a nice silken heaviness that is well rounded out and even. Flavor is nice with some chocolate and coffee, a slight hoppiness at the back, and roast. This is clearly well-crafted and the texture alone makes it a remarkable brew.

In the bottle at the 2007 Crescent Moon Holiday Beer Tasting. Mostly black in color with a suggestion of sepia brown. Has a quickly disappearing dark beige head. The aroma of PDQ chocolate mix in milk. A very silky palate. The texture rings the tongue. Slightly smoked, but a BIG chocolate bolus throughout. This is like a southern chocolate pie!