Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Imperial Stout
Grimstad, Norway

Bottle. Pours jet black with a cascading, luxurious milk chocolate colored head. Aroma is cooked fruits and lots of roast and coffee. Flavor is very bitter coffee, roast, and just a touch salty. Thick and silky on the palate.

A: This really is a beautiful beer. It pours black as night with a nice puffy espresso colored three finger head which settles down nicely to a nice pillow atop the beer. There is a good deal of bubbles rising too the top, and some lacing is left behind as it’s consumed. S: Not real powerful but there is the smell of chocolate, coffee, and caramel in this malty masterpiece. T: It starts out nice and malty with a strong taste of very dark chocolate. It finishes pretty bitter with the taste of dark roasted coffee, charcoal, and a hint of citrus showing thru. Wow this beer is hopped rather nicely for a stout (75 IBU). As it trails off down the throat there is a big puff of smokiness left behind with a sting of booze. M: This is a thick full bodied beer. It has a nice smokiness and bitterness in the finish that seems to last which is really nice.

(bottle - 500 ml) Dark black pour with a creamy tan head. Aroma is roasted malts and very mild chocolate. Flavor is the same. Incredibly roasted at the start with a subtle chocolate middle, moving to a roasted and coffee-like finish. Smooth and creamy and hides the alcohol well, even though it warms up at the end. Really rich.

Bottle. Pours jet black and appears to be quite think. Brown half inch head that disappears pretty quickly. Some lacing. Aromas are amazing. Roasted malt, liquorice and perhaps a little soy sauce. Quite medicinal and very complex. Flavours are initially quite sweet and medicinal. A little coffe and dark fruit also. Finish is quite bitter with dark choclate, roasted malt and resiny hops. Mouthfeel is spot on with minimal carbonation. Great beer

Coffee aromas with dark cocoa, dark fruits like raisin and prune. Flavours much the same but develop into lots of spice like aniseed, but milk chocolate keeps returning. Some alcohol. The flavours start out with a cocoa bitterness but turn into a fruitiness like boysenberries. Finishes quite sweet. Very nice beerr, full bodied and relentless flavours.

500ml bottle poured into a Snifter at 48°. Color is a solid black with good carbonation and a small tight brown head. Aroma is a sweet roasted scent with a little coffee. Starting with a full body it has a smooth mouth feel that goes down light and crisp. Finish is lightly sweet with coffee and toasted honey then a moderate bitterness with chocolate and a hint of smoke. After taste is light with a dry bitterness. Overall this is a great Imperial Stout with deep rich flavors and yet comes off with a clean almost light feel.

Pours a rich black with a thin brown head. Aroma is very malty with hints of chocolate, caramel, and toast. Full bodied with low to medium carbonation. Flavor is also quite malty with chocolate, caramel, toastiness, some burnt flavors, a little licorice, and spices. Very impressive overall; a treat for sure.

(Bottle at Pikkulintu, Helsinki) Poured black with small brown head. Aroma was mostly of liquorice and burntness. Full bodied palate with medium carbonation. Tasted of burntness, chocolate, hint of sweetness, light spiciness, hops and bitterness. Burnt, spicy and bitter aftertaste.