Nøgne Ø God Jul

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

Deep, dark mahogany body with crimson highlights. Small, asymmetrical, bubbly khaki head. Minimal sudsy lace. The aroma is rich, robust, and inviting with darkly roasted caramel malts, dark chocolate, coffee, oak, and hazelnut liquor showing through. The taste is exactly what a winter warmer should be. Rich, creamy coffee blends smoothly with bittersweet chocolate, burnt oak, dark caramel, hazelnuts, and a touch of vanilla. Very earthy in its use of wood and nut flavorings. Some piney hops show on the back end, adding bitterness. Well balanced, and not too sweet. Substantial body. Very smooth. Lingering, dry roasted finish. A nice, warming, roasty slow sipper. Great beer.

500ml, pours dark brown with tannish white head. nose is smokey, bakers chocolate, and stale malt. taste has a healthy amount of dry bakers chocolate, oak, vanilla, dark berries, and licorice. palate is smooth and creamy but a tad watery with no alcohol. a solid beer that’s tasty and easy to drink. i vote for this to be a sweet stout.

Rerate 2004, bottle conditioned: Recipe has been changed this year. The beer is now much darker, nearly black. Good tan head. Complex aroma and flavour, a distinct roastiness but also spices and leather. Full rich flavour, bitter aftertaste - this is a damn good beer!! Rating 2003: (500 ml bottle). Christmas/Yule ale from Norway’s sole uncompromising micro brewery. Only 5000 bottles made. Bottle conditioned. Deep copper colour, hazy only when yeast is poured. Moderate head. Aroma of oak, leather, caramel and spices. Flavour is malty and spicy, alcohol is evident. Drier than I expected. Good bitterness. A good beer, but after all the good things I’ve heard about it, I expected even more.

Pour is dark blackish brown with a thin dense tan head...smell is sweet with caramel, molasses, and lightly rusty...thick sweet mouthfeel, with almost no carbonation...taste is very sweet with some roasty and cocoa flavors along with a little bit of dark fruits...spicy with cardamom and nutmeg...finish is lightly spicy...

On tap at the 2009 Pizza Port Strong Ale Fest, this beer was very thin, very mild, quite benign.

Dark brown colour. Light brown head. Not much aroma. Full-flavored though, mild, sweet and warming.

From Superbrugsen, Aarhus, DK. Bottled, Dec. 2007. Malty caramel and a touch of alcohol. Raisins and x-mas spices

Bottle labelled Winter Ale. Poured a dark brown color with a smallish light brown head. Fantastic aroma of chocolate, nuts, caramel, dark fruit and vanilla. Somewhat thin palate and somewhat creamy; a slight smokey finish. Flavor really starts to come out with a little warmth. Chocolate, nuts and caramel dominate the flavor.