Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin/Stone Special Holiday Ale

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Grimstad, Norway

Intense sweet winey, piney, citrus, and fudge with walnuts nose, some nice rum notes too. Dark blackish brown with deep amber hues, smallish fresh espresso shot head. Sweet coffee candy, big herbal tangy bitterness. Small, but poignant carbonation, full body, extremely silky creamy mouth feel, minty bitter, rich finish with late long alcohol warmth. Excellent beer. Extremely sophisticated, refined with complex and unique flavors. This beer may have just moved into one of my favorite beers of all time--certainly the best holiday beer.

Pours an opaque very dark brown, black at first glance, with a modest tan head. Aromas of caramel, chocolate, sage, ginger, alcohol, flowers, and other spice. Moderately sweet taste with a spicy finish; lightly roasty with flavors of chocolate, fruit, coffee, and spices. Full bodied, thick velvety texture, and soft carbonation. Much more stout-like than I was expecting but still very good. Flavors are all very well integrated and balanced.

Bottle Pours a good brown with a light tan head. The head is creamy and lasting. Leaves fast lacing. Has a good aroma of ginger, cloves, and oranges. Has a light carbonation. The flavor is good. Light roast, bready, and a touch gin like. Has a medium body. The texture is slick like syrup. Has a good finish and a good aftertaste. This is unusual but very good.

50cl bottle. Pours murky brown with tight tan head. The aroma is strong with ginger. There are also notes of cloves, cinnamon, and mandarin oranges. The flavor is lightly roasty with soft chocolatey bready fruitcake and strong flavors of ginger. Crystallized ginger with toffee and soft spicy bitterness at mid-palate. The beer finishes dry with cocoa and strong spices. The mouthfeel is crisp and bubbly with a slight chalkiness and a medium-full body. Overall - interesting, but a bit too much ginger.

500 ml bottle poured a clear dark chestnut with a lasting tan head. Aromas of toffee, carmel, sage, juniper and a hint of nuts. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of carmel, toffee, sage, juniper and light nuttiness with a smooth lingering spiced finish.

Bottle… Cloudy, dark mahogany ale with a small, creamy, khaki head. Great retention. The nose is very cola-like with standout spices and herbs – juniper berries, sage and caraway are easily identified. Full-bodied with a sticky mouthfeel and modest carbonation. The flavor is sweet cinnamon, brown sugar and winter spices. Finishes sweet and caramelized.

Bottle. Dark hazy almond brown syrupy pour with very little carbonation and a very alcoholic cloying menthol cherry aroma. Flavor is much better than the aroma, rich and complex floral flavors are immediately followed by pepper, carameland hops. Slightly warm on the finish and mellows out nicely. Decent.

Name: Special Holiday Ale
Date: December 01, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Hop City, Atlanta
Appearance: opaque dark brown, fine beige head, bits of drippy lace
Aroma: sweet and spicy aroma, lots of ginger, minty menthol character
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, lots of spicyness, bright minty ginger, sweet caramel, light bitterness follows the spices
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+ /4