Nøgne Ø God Jul

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

500ml bottle. Pours a sinfully dark black body with big, thick brown head that paints the glass with lace on the way down. Rich roasted malt aroma; plenty of coffee, dark chocolate, roasted nuts and toffee, supported by hop aromas of grapefruit, bitter orange and pine. Hints of dark fruits and raisin also in the mix. Big mouthfeel, hugely lengthy with an excellent balance of drying bitterness and rich sweet malt. Moderate carbonation works well. I’d best describe the flavour as somewhere between an Imperial Porter and American IPA. Lots of roasted malt, toffee is quite prominant, with meaty undertones malt and bitter chocolate, mixed in with bitter orange, grass, cedar hop flavours. Notes of dried fruit come forth with warmth as the beer finishes slightly bitter, quite warming, with a lingering note of strong coffee. Really nice beer. Wasn’t sure entirely what to expect, but I was very happy what with it. Not entirely sure what this "American strong ale" catagory entails, but i’m liking the beers i’ve tried thus far.

Pour basically black with a tan head. Smell is rich, bittersweet malt, cocoa. Taste is similar and more like a thin bodied porter with an added very subtle, but well blended spice component. More chocolatey and dark with a faint spice perhaps. This is actually very enjoyable. Some definite sweetness, but it is a bit bitter and dry enough in the finish to make it easily drinkable. One of the better beers from them, actually and not a style I typically am crazy for.

Extremely dark brown pour with modest beige head. Aroma is chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, citrus, and cream. Dark fruit slips in there with subtlety. Flavor is roasty and sweet. Coffee, chocolate, raisin, a slight alcohol presence, and a bit of roast. Palate is silk and velvet. Very roasty and dry finish. Very nice.

Pours almost black with a smallish, dissipating head. Aroma is atypical of an ASA, more like a porter; coffee, cream, chocolate, caramel- lots of malt, not much hop present. Tastes much like a porter, but slightly more fruitiness and alcohol, and not as overwhelming with the caramel aspect. Palate is very smooth ,very well done. Very good beer.

Picked this up at Five Points Bottle Shop in Athens, Georgia. I cannot remember how much I paid for it. VERY carbonated. I had to suck the foam from the bottle, booooooh! Nice head color; off-white in apperance. Actually has a nice black color with a nice tan head. This is a very good looking beer. Huge sweet barley wine-type style aroma. This beer is very sweet and very aromatic. I wish it had more hops, but just a very caramel sweet malt aroma. The beer is very pugent. Smooth palate. A very smooth beer. A huge sweet malt flavor. Slight buttery taste. This beer is pretty good, just expect a very sweet/malty taste.

Bottle pours dark and opaque with dense, beige colored head. The aroma smells of dark chocolate, mixed nuts, cigar ash, and dark fruit. The chocolate is extremely present in the flavor, also showing notes of cola and cinnamon. The overall mouthfeel is slick and oily with a sweet approach and slightly bitter finish. Good beer, anytime of the year!

From an $8.49 bottle this unfortunately was a gusher and about 3 ounces of the beer foamed out of the bottle onto the tabletop. Once I got it under control it poured black with a light tan head and really thick lacing The nose was of ripe fruit along with chocolate and nuts. Mouthfeel creamy and slick. Flavor runs to malts and light hops. A very nice drinking beer and just a little expensive when so much of it gets lost while opening the bottle.

Light tan head good size very dark ale good carbonation aroma caramel malty chocolate nutty flavour caramel rich roasted tastes chocolate mellow bitter mix of dark fruit hoppyness finish mild bitter good malty taste okay ale smokey flavours