Nøgne Ø India Pale Ale

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Grimstad, Norway

500mL bottle. Pours a hazy dark gold with a very large head. Aroma of citrus, pine, caramel and honey. Some slightly roasty flavours in with the malt, some really nice hop flavours when it warms a bit, medium sweetness and medium-high bitterness. Almost explosive carbonation; I had to let it sit for a while before it was drinkable. Medium bodied with a bitter finish.

Draft. Pours gold with a white head. Floral hoppy aroma with a light citric sweetness. The flavor has floral and citric hops with a light malty sweetness. Not bad.

Bottle. Cloudy cider caramel color with healthy white head that lasts. Aroma of big grapefruit, pear, light orange, spices and caramel. Taste is also big grapefruit and caramel, along with spices. Finish is crisp and has medium bitterness that lasts.

Lovely toasty and gently vineous nose. Pours dirty, muddy brown with WAY too much sediment. The flavour is excellent - hints of chocolate and raisins cowering behind a monstrous bitterness that leaves you gasping for more. The finish is more of the same, and adds up to a nice IPA - but for that sea of sediment.

A really nice nose full of baking brown bread, light caramel, flowers, dried apricot and lemon citrus. Mild and complex notes on the palate, too. More aggressive on the caramel and floral notes -- a little herbal and a little grassy -- with some nice spices on the finish. Regular appearance and palate, though reserved in both aspects, so not unpleasant at all.

500 ml. bottle. Pours a lasting, beige sea foam head with heavy lacing, over a dark amber (SRM 10) hazy, heavy with particulates, body....nose is caramel, toffee, pine, citrus...taste is sweet caramel to start, leading into resin, pineapple, finishing with a medium lingering bitterness....mouth feel is fairly thick and chewy, carbonation adds a creamy texture. This is quite a nice IPA with all the necessary features. It is not as gentle as the English styles, nor as highly hopped as the "West Coast" often are. BJCP 8/3/16/5/8

Got to compliment Nøgne Ø on their IPA. It looks fantastic, pouring a deep orange with floating sediments hurled around in the glass by fiery carbonation. The smell, too, is amazing - very fruity with that little hop punch that leaves me with just the right amount of anticipation. Taste doesn’t disappoint either; full, grassy hop notes, floral and fruity at the same time. Stinger hop aftertaste lingering in the mouth. Perhaps a bit too bitter for me, somehow, in comparison to the rest of the flavor. I know all the IPA fanatics and hop-heads just can’t get it bitter enough, but personally I enjoy bitterness much more when it’s blended in balance. Overall, a very aromatic and tasty IPA; perhaps not for the beginner but a treat for those being previously acquainted with the style.

Tap. Dark amber with a thin white head. Citrus, caramel, and earth. A lot of citrus but not offensive. Nice bitterness and malt finish.