Nøgne Ø # 100 (Batch 100)

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Grimstad, Norway

dark brown with an attractive beige head. nice sticky, creamy mouthfeel. aroma notes of a not quite ripe mandarin orange, bitter hops that evolve quite nicely as the beer warms up, some subtle chocolate notes. great beer.

Bottled. Dark brown colored, brownish head. Very hoppy nose, but also lots of malts present. Bitter flavor, chocolate, hops. Finishes initially bitter, but later on more sweet. Seems to be in between a DIPA and an Imperial Stout. Very nice brew.

pours clear, brown, frothy, tan foam, caramel, cereal, medium sweetness, lightly bitter, medium body, creamy, average carbonation, astringent,

So apparently there is some debate as to the style of this fine beer? Let’s have a look. Initially appears brown but is actually a deep red in color. Big head of medium bubbles has serious endurance and leaves behind fat stripes of lace. Nose is sweet with a strong American hop character, lots of mellon and a bit of pine and citrus. Starts sweet, and barleywine-ish but w/ a lightness of palate not suited to that style. There is a bit of malt depth here not befitting a IIPA either, a sort of very slightly roasty undercurrent plus maybe some English malts or a bit of German Munich malt, I’m not sure. Carbonation is soft but mildly vigorous, which really helps hold the mouthfeel together. I am not sure I would call this complex so much as exceeding well balanced. The sweetness and malt character have a gentle tug-of-war with the hops going on which ebbs and flows as the beer progresses. Really, I don’t think you could say this is solidly in the IIPA or the barleywine style. It’s something else entirely and I would say better than most beers that are done to either style. I love it.

Bottle. A murky reddish brown color with a thick foamy tan head. A well spiced malt aroma with chocolate, wood and green hops. Smooth, green, hop filled, well spiced malty goodness in the flavor. Its rich and delicious.

Bottle. Murky dark brown with medium tan head that lasts. Aroma is very interesting - dried fruit, tangerines, malt vinegar, earthiness and booze with notes of Heinz 57 sauce and ginger. Taste is sweet then salty citrus fruit that ends long and bitter. Taste has notes of caramel and butterscotch. Smooth palate

Had to get another one of these for the pure rating of it; Nøgne Ø’s "Batch 100" is famous among Norwegian craft beer lovers and a must on my list. I used one of Ægir Bryggeri’s good-looking weissbier-ish glasses for the tasting - I find them very adept at communicating both flavor and appearance in a beer. # 100 pours a deep, brown and clear body into the long, sleek glass, topping itself with a long-lasting head in beautiful, dense off-white. The nose sends me head first into a massive compound of flavor; caramel, fiery hops, malt extract, raspberry, candy sugar, bread, sweet licorice - the complexity is marvelous, and yet strangely balanced! There has been some dispute over the correct style of this beer; no wonder, perhaps, since I would say that the Batch 100 is a hybrid of Barley Wine, IPA and Brown Ales, carrying elements from all of these genres. The massive taste strikes my palate like a tsunami with the first mouthful, kicking off with burnt toast and coffee notes before a powerful hop carousel spins wildly away, finally landing me into a soft bed of caramel malts. A very strong and hoppy aftertaste with hints of cough syrup and grass makes sure I don’t forget about the IPA and Barley Wine influences. The impression after each sip lasts in my mouth. Wonderful, but heavy: the booze is well hidden, only occasionally snarling at my feet somewhere in the hoppy aftertaste but giving itself away mainly through the warming feeling following each sip. Excellent for a long, cold winter such as the one we have this year. We are talking beer innovation at its finest, and so many lightyears away from some of Nøgne Ø’s lesser fortunate attempts at genre-mixing. The Batch 100, however, is without a doubt one of their best brews.

FIRST OFF THIS IS NOT BY ANY MEANS A DOUBLE IPA. A cloudy rootbeer in color with a thick sea foamy like head that lasts forever. Aromas of cocoa, hops, pretzels and buttered popcorn. Full bodied withan even carbonation. strong roated malt flavor, hoppy bitterness and sweet.. Overall, more like a Barley Wine or Old Ale, not a Imperial IPA.