Nøgne Ø # 100 (Batch 100)

Bottle 50 cl. Apperance; Black, with some redish, with a nice lightbrown head. Aroma; Hoppy, fruits, plumb and some malty sence. Flavor; nice sweet malty, chocolate with a hoppy sence. Fine bitter ending.

Bottle. Pours very dark brown with an off-white head that lasts well and leaves lots of lace. The nose is quite hoppy and has aromas of malt, toffee, pine, mint, ginger and other spices. Flavour kind of similar to the nose but has a bit of chocolate, less spice but still strong mint and toffee. Full bodied, almost creamy, long finish and very easy to drink.The bottle I had was printed entirely in Norwegian so I’m not sure how it was described on the label but I would have to say that it didn’t seem too much like either a DIPA or a barley wine. More like an unclassifiable strong ale. Delightful though.

So this is brewed to be an Imperial IPA but inaccurately labeled a barleywine? One one hand it tastes like a mix of the two and on the other hand it tastes like neither. Pours a deep amber-brown color with a real thick long-lasting tan head. Some nice lacing left on the glass. Spices jump out in the aroma, interesting, with wet leaves, toffee and pine. There’s definitely a strong hop profile here, it’s interesting though, I guess I’ll call it resiny and piney with just a little bitterness to compliment the malt, until the finish where there’s a sharp bite. Sweet caramel and toffee balance the hops nicely. I also keep picking up an assortment of spices in the flavor, juniper, ginger, perhaps even cinnamon. There’s a note or two of chocolate but it stays in the background. A very interesting beer and one that I enjoyed a lot. Complex, different but very good, and really rather easy drinking for 10%.

650 mL bottle. Says "Barley Wine" on the label, but it clearly isn’t. What it is, is the most wonderfully odd IIPA I’ve ever had. Dark chestnut brown with a small head and nice lacing. Not a lot of hops in the aroma; more caramel, roast, and licorice. Almost like a porter. Hops are there, though. Hops show up in the flavour, though. But there are still elements of a really smooth, creamy porter, or even a milk stout. Beautiful, lingering bitter finish. Excellent!

This hard to find and fairly expensive import was highly recommended in an article I read. The minimal label makes it look like someone’s pet project, a small experimental run by some brewer or chef. Nice creamy head and brown pour. Excellent aroma! Sweet, honey malts; earthy, floral hops; and a touch of cheese or vinegar. Unusual and full flavor. Somehow Nogne brews make me think of the forests of Norway. There seems to be a touch of spruce or juniper - maybe even rosemary or horseradish? However, the label says there is nothing in this but malts, hops, and water. Nogne 100 has an astringent finish and a strong aftertaste. It is sharp and dry, and it takes a little getting used to, but this is a very impressive brew.

Brown in color with a decent sized beige head. Aroma is of brown sugar, caramel, chocolate, malt and spicy hops. Taste is heavy in caramel, with malt, citrus and hops.

16.9 oz bottle. Pours a pretty dark brown with a big tan head that fades fairly fast. Strong aroma of resinous hops, pine and toffee. The flavor is mostly bitter with a big sweet malt base to help the bitterness. Fullish body with mild carbonation and a thick syrupy mouth feel, kind of a harsh finish. If this is really an IIPA then I’ve never had one like it. More like a Barley Wine, like the label says. My first beer from N(insert o with a line through it)gne (insert O with a line through it).

Brun foncée, avec une mousse persistante et plusieurs particules en suspension. Elle est également asser pétillante. Forts arômes de sapins et d’épinettes s’en dégage et plonge dans les narines. En bouche, on retourve toujours des saveurs de sapins et d’épinettes. Bière très spéciale qui devrait être dégustée autour d’un feu de camp en plein millieu d’un bois. Très spéciale, mais asser difficile à boire vue ses fortes notes de connifères. À essayer.