Nøgne Ø # 100 (Batch 100)

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

500 ml bottle
Another special release from Nogne I saved this one for a warmer summer afternoon. It was a great highlight; in fact I hope that this might become a regular release rather than a one off beer. Somewhere between an imperial IPA and a hopped up old ale at this point it is good no matter what you call it.

Aroma / Appearance - The pillowy beige head dominated the deep brown body underneath. It looked like the color of a newspaper that had been left in the sun. Resiny and floral it hangs in the air. Caramel glazing and grassy notes remind me of a toned down Imperial IPA from the likes of Stone.

Flavor / Palate - Chewy molasses mixes with toffee, tree bark, and rye toast before settling on the tongue. The hop bite is not as strong as I expected but still is very evident. Heavy on the mouthfeel it sticks to the throat with a rich chocolately finish. A unique twist and in a class of its own this is not a pure Imperial IPA or a pure barleywine but somewhere in between.

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a nice white head. Aroma and flavour of fruit, hops, cohcolate, caramel and roasted malt.

Pretty impressive stuff. Beautiful dark brown with a persistent fizzy head. Nose shows a broad array of chocolate and zingy fruits. To taste the fruits a a dead ringer for ’tingle fruits’ and candy. Chocolate firms up and becomes progressively more bitter through the palate. Some bitterness to finish, probably equal parts from the ABV and the hops. More Barley Wine / RIS to my tastes given the impact of the chocolate flavours but this is one complex and tasty beer.

23 ounce bottle from South Bay Drugs. Joey from South Bay explained to me that he was the first locally to get Nogne O (even before it had California distribution) and that this bottle actually dates back to 2007. Pours a very dark brown, bordering on black. Two fingers of delicious-looking mocha head lasts for a little while. Sweet aroma of toffee, butterscotch, toasty malts, and some bourbon. Okay, now I’m really confused. Not to be a style policeman at all, but the color, the aroma, and the bottle label (which is apparently a mistake) tells me this is much closer to a barley wine or stout than a double IPA. Incidentally, I checked on Beeradvocate, and they do label this a barley wine. ANYWAY, on to the flavor...it follows the nose well with more toffee and bourbon flavors. Not as sweet as the nose would indicate, though. There’s a burnt/ash flavor present as well. I do catch pleasant hints of the American hops in here, but they have apparently really mellowed with the aging (assuming that this bottle really is from 2007). Whatever the style -- I would not call this a double IPA -- this is good stuff.

Bottle from Ughsmash – thanks Jason! Wow. Dark brown with a cocoa laden tan head that slowly dissipated leaving some splotchy lace. Aroma of chocolate, citrus, alcohol, spice, nutmeg and sweet malt. An imperial IPA? A barley wine? Perhaps neither, but this thing was begging for me to try and it I wasn’t disappointed! Taste of citrus, chocolate, caramel, pine, alcohol, roasted malt and fruit. Smooth, creamy with a nice lasting bitter finish. I’ve yet to be disappointed from Nogne O and this one takes the crown as it’s one really good beer. It might not conform to a style out there but I’m now no the lookout for more of this one!

quasi scura schiuma buona media persistenza il naso è luppolato agrumato e maltato un po di zucchero di canna caramellato amaro intenso ma non astringente elegante

Deep reddish-brown, almost with a purplish cast. Voluminous puffy head, earthy, butterscotchy aroma. Some salty, bacony aspects. Thinnish, slightly sour flavor, roasted malts, quite hoppy finish. This made sense as some sort of barley wine when rating it, but it turns out it’s supposed to be an IIPA. Hardly any hops in the flavor or aroma, so not sure how to interpret that. Regardless of what it is, it’s massively boring.

Huge thanks to Fin for this one! (Thought I had added this rating ages ago, so the thanks is a very belated one.) Pours a deep mahogany with dense butter-colored head, settling into a beautiful frozen-sea-froth lace. Started with this a little too cool, so a bit of warming and swirling and before this really starts to show off. Some fine textured cinnamon-leaning grapefruit skin, walnuts, toasty brown bread, eucalyptus. A deep sense of earth; not exactly that it smells of soil and leaves, but like the roots, the deep source of the ingredients, are honored and connected to where they came from. Such an interesting and subtle flavor! So odd to say the word subtle in a IIPA review, but this really is. The hops are there first thing, but they are remarkably soft and inviting, and the moment they have registered they are already bowing out with deference to elegant toasty sweetness and chocolate. And as the sip finishes, the faintest hint of orange zest lingers. This is one of those rare and glorious beers that is not really like anything, and that can’t be bothered to conform to a "style". Not that it rebels and tears up those conventions—it just supersedes style.