Nøgne Ø God Jul

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

IThis black ale is a cross between a porter (albeit some coca-cola taste from the carmel etc.), a stout from some toasted barley, a dark ale, shwartzbeir, and an underlying citrus without being overhopped. Well done! chose this as #2100 review, as this brewery is up and coming and I’m really enjoying what they produce.

Bottle (500ml). As "Nøgne Winter Ale". Opaque deep reddish brown, solid lasting plug of tan foamy head (4.5 but hey why not 5?). Deep almost burnt roast grainy malt, heavy overtones of currants, raisins, figs, increasing alcohol, dark baker’s chocalate and molasses. The taste is THICK, bitter chocolate, burnt malt, background of tart fruit (more like cherry), the alcohol isn’t really detectable in the miasma of roast and bitterness. Thick, chewy body, almost viscous, mild carbonation, pretty intense bitter chocolate and syrupy malt - I’d call this a reduced stout, but whatever, another fantastic beer from this brewery - t’umbs up, baize!!

Bottle 500 ml
Appearance: Gusher , dark brown ale with creamy tanned top. Nice lacing presented.
Nose :Highly aromatic hops straight up front with muted grainy malts and coffee notes.
Flavor/Palate : Medium bodied. Mineral, earthy feel with semi dry alcohol. Drinkable brew with good hop accents. Alcohol slightly overexposed to my liking .Quiet good but it requires further maturing.

This strong ale pours a deep brown color from a 500ml bottle. Medium to large sized white foamy head. Aroma is sweet and spicy, with lots of clove and some chocolate. Medium bodied Strong Ale. Malts are caramel and sweet, with lots of chocolate and dark fruit. Hops are earthy and floral. Spiced with cloves. Well balanced. Smooth tasting, Good XMAS beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Bottle from Premier Gourmet, shared with Mabel. Very dark brown almost black body with a good creamy brown head. Roasty acidic aroma of dark roasted malts, very light touch of raisins or plums, mild chocolate. Flavour is a touch simpler than expected, but with plenty of roast and hop bitterness. Just enough malt sweetness to offset the bitterness a bit. Pleasant glimpses of dark bitter chocolate are fleeting, but frequent, before coming into a more solid presence in the aftertaste. Minute coffee notes to the roast. Gains flavour complexity as it warms, Average to medium palate (3+). Very nice.

This bottled brew came courtesy of one of the distributors in Indianapolis, IN. It poured a small sized head of foamy medium to large sized mostly lasting brown colored bubbles. The head formed a fair lacing as it receded. The body was opaque black with no visible carbonation. The aroma contained notes of strong dark malt chocolate and some spices with a strange tar note. The mouth feel was thick and malty with a tingly hop finish. The dark malt and mild chocolate herb spice flavor was quite nice.

Bottle. Large beige thick creamy head that really lasted. Excellent lacework. Dark mahogany color. The initial sniff was roasted malt, liquorish, hint of chocolate and Christmas spice. Some dried fruit and almost port wine like. Over the palate burned malt, caramel and liquorish are dominating the picture. But some hoppy and even smoked notes can also be detected. Full bodied with an average carbonation and a hint of alcoholic texture. Well balanced moderated bitter and sweet flavor. Bitter burned malty finish.

Bottle at Ølbaren. Black - offwhite head. Burned, roasted, light smoked, licorice, hoppy finish..... nice light finish.