Nøgne Ø # 100 (Batch 100)

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

The look is a murky brown color with a decent off white head. The smell is alcohol, celery, hops, caramel, and malts. The taste is alcohol, pine, hops, caramel, some bitterness..

Another great Vegas trip find!
Poured out a freaking HUGE head - light brown and thick that leaves some messy lacing and still has surface coverage after 5 minutes. Really dark brown brew too. The smell is pretty nice but seems quite mellow for a BW. Molasses, caramel and a wack of malts including a mild chocolate, dark fruit, dark orange, sweet candy, nice thick citrus - very active nose. Great taste that does not have a painful amount of aggressive hops. Huge and heavy caramel and biscuit malts complimented with an early mouthfull of strong hops which bow out to the malts. Hops early - malt middle - hop finish. Pine, some grapefruit, lemon, licorice, more stuff. The taste is massive, just as you would expect. As this warms it becomes very intense with the hops steamrolling the malts lead by pine. Somehow I can detect a saltiness. A very smooth mouth feel with lots of long lingering bitterness. Leeaves a very nice coating in the mouth. Hey - there is the 10% - it was hiding in my bloodstream. Oh man, I think I need to eat at some point today as my motor skills have declined sharply. The Lagavulin 16yr Scotch and JW Lees Harvest I’m about to have won’t help out much! Booyah!

Delicious beer shared at Diego’s. Awesome. Pours a dark, dark amber color. Very sweet aroma up front with honey, caramel, brown sugar, raisins and then moves into floral hops tones. Flavor is really good. Bitter and sweet with a big malt backbone. Flavor is full of spices, caramel, apples, citrus and piney hops round it out nicely. Very good.

Pours a deep brown/red, and opaque; really, no light comes through. Small fluffy tan head reducing slowly. Aroma is of honey, spice, berry, flora. Flavor is of nice roasted malt, raisin, cherry liqueur, fruity hops in the middle and end. Booze in flavor and finish is neither hidden nor outspoken; about what you’d expect for a 10% ale. DIPA? Barleywine? I say somewhere in between, though really closer to a barleywine because of the subtlety of the hops and the sweet brandy and brown sugar flavors, despite what it says above. Mouthfeel is smooth, low carbonation, mediocre. Nothing really life-changing about this ale, but I could still drink it everyday and be very satisfied. It’s one of the better barleywines I’ve had, though not mind-blowing. Definitely worth a rate by barleywinos and non-barleywinos alike. Overall, very good.

Originally reviewed 4/11/2008... Poured from 500 into Cab glass... This pours much differently from expected. Very dark - almost like an RIS...or a root beer? Hugh 4-finger head so bready I can see layers. Minimal carbonation in root beer-colored, moderately opaque body. Excellent lacing. Austere, bitter, piney hop aroma. Sweetness emerges from carbonation. Almost a juniper secnt in there. Slight, soapy hop scent mixed with sweetness - almost sarasparilla, in continuing with root beer theme. Roasted chocolatey malt does not show at all on the nose but it’s prevalent in taste. Mild sarasparilla notes - slight hop bitterness flows from grassiness to floral/soapy over time. Slight, nice citrus tang. Well-balanced. Doesn’t exactly drink like a barley wine, but very mellow and enjoyable. There’s even some apple cider in there for traditional barley wine crowd. Strangely complex and off the reservation; that’s a good thing in this case. There’s a puckereing hop feel from start to finish, backed by deep, mellow malt. Alcohol is there but comforting. The balanced caramel syrup consistency works well. This is very enjoyable stuff - its weight makes it more of a sipper.

Now we’re talking. This is the one beer from the recent Scandinavian explosion that has really worked for me. I mean, really worked. Yes. Incredible, constantly evolving aroma - Xmas spices, spruce, Jaffas, piney hops, cola. It tastes great too, like a big rich brown ale with plenty of Dutch spices (almost too much) and big piney bitterness. The spice thing is weird, it seems to be a bit of a Nøgne Ø house character so I’m guessing there aren’t any spices actually added. But anyway... It actually manages to taste rather Nordic to me, if I can make such a judgement without knowing the vaguest thing about Norway, whilst simultaneously having a very ’new world’ micro type swagger. Killer beer, perfect for winter. If it wasn’t so expensive I’d be smashing it all the time.

Athens, Ga. - Five Points Bottle Shop - 500 ml bottle. Pours a dark brown with an off-white head. Fresh fruity aroma with hints of dates and prunes with a hint of spruce. Flavor is full bodied and full of bittersweet goodness. Some tangy citrus, baked brown bread, dates and raisins all blend together nicely. Mouthfeel is thick and rich.

Bottle:Batch 360. Pours deep brown, with a 1" mocha coloured creamy head. Strong chocolate aroma, grass and citrus as well.Thick and chewy mouthfeel, taste is dominated by dark sweet fruits, roasted raisins, peppers,alcohol comes towards the end, together with bitterness.