Nøgne Ø Porter

Good sized frothy milky brown head of very fine and dense bubbles. Minimal carbonation. Sweet malty aroma with plenty of chocolate, roasted grains, chocolate covered cherries and a hint of smoke. Color is essentially black. Rich roasty flavor. Full bodied and full of flavor. Dark bittersweet chocolate, coffee, some licorice and milk late swallow. Very easy drinking. Finishes creamy smooth and roasty. Slight lingering bitterness. A great porter!

750 at the Seattle International Beerfest. Pours deep black with thin tan head. Big roasty ashy and coffee nose. Bold attack with firm carb, medium body, forward coffee roast and ash mid palate. Clean finish. Wonderful stuff.

Bottle from Quake1028, which was a BONUS! Thanks! Pours black with a brown creamy retentive head. Roasty and chocolately aroma. Medium bodied. Flavor of burnt malts, coffee, and chocolate. Very bitter and dry finish, with some sourness and nutshell flavors at colder temps, and more expresso/ coffee grounds when warm. This is much bettter at cellar to room temperature. This may be a porter in body, but the robustness dances very close to stout territory. Overall, not too bad. I must admit that I was expecting this to be much better.

Black pour, small almond head that stays the whole time. Aroma of roasted malts, coffee and a touch of raisens. Flavor is a sweet mollases powered by roasted malts and dark chocolate. This beer needs to warm. More sugary sweetness comes out as it warms with dark fruits as well. More smokiness in the aftertaste that really lingers. The coffee stays throughout as does the chocolate with sugary sweetness and smokiness in the finish. Good but not great.

Pours with a thick brown head atop a very deep, dark brown body. Earthy aroma contains notes of cocoa, roasted nuts, and a slight twinge of pine needles. Flavor is initially chocolate and nutty sweetness, quickly taken over by bitter espresso and pine with a dry finish. It’s rare in my experience for a brew to do both sweet and bitter/dry so well, without the flavors becoming muddied. A top notch porter.

This bottle of Nøgne Ø Porter was picked up during my last visit to Green’s. When uncapped, the beer formed a rapidly rising head in the bottle, but the quickness of my hands avoided any spillage. In my imperial pint glass, this formed a four finger tall beige head, which looked in stark contrast to the deep black color of the body. The hefty roastiness of the aroma indicated that this was going to be forceful porter, the kind of drink the vikings would have enjoyed before going on a berserk raid in an alternate brewing universe. Coffee and chocolate were everywhere in the nose. The taste was sharp yet soft as the astringent taste and silky body rubbed shoulders in the same glass. I did not get much of the dried fruit flavors that were mentioned on the back label, but coffee and toffee were definitely abundant. Slight sourness in the aftertaste, and a hint of bitter cocoa lingered on. Some brashness in the mouthfeel from the roast grain, but it was right at home in the style. Well done imported porter, which is not the typical case.

My bottle (500ml), shared with tupalev. Pours black with ruby hues and a good size lasting light-brown head. Nice aroma of roasted malt, dark fruit, chocolate and coffee. Flavour of roasted malt, roasted coffee, and dark chocolate. Short dry finish. Alcohol’s well hidden. Medium bodied, somewhat creamy mouthfeel. Great Porter, incredibly easy to drink.

Aroma was malty rich but still not to overly complex. A tad sweet but balanaced with a nice amount of dryness. A real solid porter considering this isnt one of my favorite styles.