Nøgne Ø God Jul

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

1 year old bottle. Strong winter spice, lightly lactic aroma. Big malts, very chewy and rich. Super-thick, perfect body, carbonation is dead on. Flavor has less spice than the flavor but is really balanced, and has combined well over the past year. Slight hints of booze. Beautifully aged.

Aroma: sweet, lovely yeast. Fresh, fantastically good hops, roasted, powerful malt, a bit coffeelike-bitter. Slightly of alcohol and allspice. Very complex, vaguely smoky and sourish. Very well balanced, faint grapefruit- or Sevilla orange-scent. Appearance: extremely dark brown with browntinted, fluffy, appetizing head that sticks to the glass. Flavor: rare, sweet like burnt sugar, very full-bodied, lovely, slightly burnt with a rough ’bite’. Exceptionally deep, a very round and sourish aftertaste, fruity, rowanlike. Palate: as good as perfect, right co2, right body. Very close to a 5, only the slime hinders. Very good with an extra old Swedish, salty Präst cheese. Definitely a choice for Christmas. I believe in Nøgne Ø.

Beer pours dark brown with a tan colored head that is somewhat retained. Aroma is BIG and malty with roasted nuts, also some milk chocolate and a touch of licorice. Flavors of roasted malt with some real nice chocolate flavor, lots of nuttiness and a bit of strong coffee in the finish. This is a really enjoyable beer. I hope the other Nogne are as good.

500ml. bottle: This one had the "Winter Ale" name on the label. This beer pours a dark, murky opaque brown color. There was a bit of a dark tan head on mine. It subsides quickly and leaves some lacing. Nice nose to this one. Chocolate, caramel, raisins, hints of coffee and other fruits. What a full rounded flavor. Chocolate and coffee up front, but very well balanced with the caramel malts. Very tasty and easy to drink. You have no idea that this is 8.5%.

500 ml bottle from Cellars Wine and Spirits on Larpenteur, Roseville MN (June 2007), drunk at cellar temperature from a Chouffe tulip. A huge, lasting caramel-crème head tops the darkly translucent molasses body, lacing thickly as it gently drops….spicy-bready aroma, wonderfully “Christmasy” with caramel, molasses and hints of nutmeg, dark bready yeast….the body is very full, moderately sweet, rather yeasty, very Belgian dubbel-esque with bready, caramelly malt characteristics, little in the way of hops, a hint of orangepeel….lightly tart towards the finish, low to moderate carbonation; this is excellent.

Bottle (2008 "Winter Ale" edition). Head is initially large, frothy, light brown, fully lasting. Body is dark brown, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (caramel, nuts, cookie, chocolate), lightly to moderately hoppy (apricot, flowers, grapefruit, resin), with notes of raisin, anise, toffee, leather, brown sugar. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. Quite delightful. Rich and complex aroma, sweet and warming without being cloying, and the use of hops is quite unlike the typical American treatment (not abrasive or overdone at all). Fruity and spicy with no apparent adjuncts; still offers the essence of a winter brew without beating you about the head with spices. Very well done. I’d buy it again.

Bottle from BevMo, Mission Valley. Deep ruby in color on the pour. Strong roasted malty aroma with dark fruitiness and a nice hop character. Dark and roasty flavors. Very full bodied and flavorful. Light hop finish. Solid winter brew.

Darl reddish brown coloured. Sweet and fruity with spicy and malty notes. Full bodied and well balanced.