Nøgne Ø Porter

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Porter
Grimstad, Norway

Bottle purchased at Liquor Max in Loveland. Pours black with a small fizzy light brown head, somewhat diminishing, fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (straw, chocolate, toasted, nutty), light hops (perfume, grass), average yeast (dough, leather) with notes of light alcohol. Medium bodied, creamy texture, soft carbonation and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.

Bottle. Bountiful dark chocolate aroma, very nutty with a good amount of toffee and even more roast. Sticky ripe fruits there, too, with some milk chocolate and malted milk balls. Opaque black pour, even under light, with a gorgeous lacing, rocky, creamy tanned/light brown head. Robust, very dry roast flavor, strongly nutty with slight breadiness and hefty chocolate. Faint tongue-prickling, probably from the Centennial. Faint hint of salty licorice. Smooth and silken, but very thin-bodied, almost watery at times. Aftertaste is dry and slightly salty, lots of nutty roast and slight, dark warmth. Solid, repeatable porter - but just barely misses out on Greatness.

Bottle.

Pours deep black with a dark-tan head; the aroma is a lovely blendy of sweet light chocolate cake and coffee, some robust fruity (blackberry?) notes along with a definite vinous tinges. After the sweet aroma, the flavor is relatively dry and nicely balanced, hints of smoke, burnt coffee, vinous whispers, a lovely dry finish. Mouthfeel is relatively light despite the 7%, making it lovely to sip without the bursting intensity of some stronger variants. This is quite an impressive porter, and I’m very glad that I got to enjoy the whole thing in sips over the course of an evening, rather than simply trying it at a shared tasting. Bravo!

500 ml bottle in Duvel glass. Pours black with lasting light brown head. Strong chocolate and bread aroma. Excellent flavors of mild dark chocolate with a clean crisp finish. Excellent soft mouthfeel, medium body. Excellent.

From a 500mL Bottle. Pours a mostly opaque, blackish brown color with some coppery highlights edging the glass. A thick head of well sustaining charred foam floats easily on top. Lots of soft, medium roasted coffee in the nose with a pleasant chocolate maltiness. A hint of prune skins and toasted cashews, drizzled with some raspberry sauce; mostly though, it’s just a great chocolatey mocha coffee nose. Not too bitter, roasty, or tannic. Light to medium bodied, creamy carbonated mouthfeel. Some nutty almond chocolate starts out the palate, meets some mild raisins halfway through, and finishes with a more bittersweet intensity highlighting coffee and dark chocolate liquore. A smidgen of ash is left in the final smack. Lots of good solid flavors without much residual sweetness, allowing the malt bill complexities to speak for themselves without any gimmicky coaxing. It gets a little bit warm on the backend, but doesn’t detract too much from the experience. This is really one that I would classify as a stout, but they can call it whatever they want - at the end of the day, it’s still a pretty damn good beer.

1 pt .9 fl oz bottle from Blue Max in Burnsville, MN. Pour is a deep brown with red highlights. Head is khaki and about 1/2 inch tall. Aroma is licorice, hops and roasted malt. The taste starts with a very nice roastiness, plenty of malt, some hop bitterness and then finishes with a strong coffee flavor. Really nice palate to this one, solid, but not overly huge. Really picks up flavor as it warms. Nice beer.

I have a winner for rating #2800. From a bottle, new arrival at John’s Grocery. The body is very dark brown, near black with traces or garnet at the edges when held to light. The head is long lasting and medium khaki colored. The aroma is rich roasted coffee with some good hot chocolate. There is also a hint of fresh peas. The taste is lightly roasted almonds with some espresso in the finish. There is a little bit of bread crust and even some tangerines in the finish. The body is relatively thin and smooth. Everything I look for in a porter. This is a great beer, not just an amazing porter.

500ml bottle.
Pours jet black, with an espresso head. Fantastic hoppy aroma, with loads of rich dark chocolate. And what a delightful taste! Burnt darkly roasted malt, crisp bitter highlights, some gingerness too. And my - what a long aftertaste carrying all of the above. Covers the alcohol very well too.