Nøgne Ø # 100 (Batch 100)

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.

Bottle shared by grant (purchased at Perry’s earlier in the day). Initial aroma has gasoline notes, which becomes lightly sweet with some herbal hop flavors. Not overly attractive. Kinda boring. Mostly opaque amber body with a frothy off-yellow head and nice lacing. Well, this beer really doesn’t stand out. Not too much going on. Some caramel notes to start, but not much else. Has some spicy hop notes in the finish as well as some mustiness. Might have been a bad bottle, but I was thoroughly underwhelmed by this beer.

This poured a dark brown color with a tan head. The aroma contains alcohol, coffee, nutmeg, citrus, and dark fruit. The flavor is big and malty and contains some molasses, cherries, raisins, and some citrus. Overall this seems more like a barleywine but whatever it is, it’s a nice beer.

Looks great, with a deep nut brown coloring and a long lasting tan head with lacing. Brown sugar, nutmeg, sweet malt aroma. Pleasingly bitter with a big hop profile, with a lot of malt to balance.

Aroma: mellow, slight malt, citrus. Appearance: substantial foamy head, dark true brown, sediment, translucent. Minimal carbonation visible. Flavor: roasted malts, caramel, nice balanced flavor. Palate: this to me was the key of the beer. sharp bit at first, and maintained edge throughout, leaving you feeling that this is a fantastic-tasting barley wine yet maintaining a feel slightly less viscous than your normal barley wine, giving it a clean, crisp finish rather than the typical heavy malt and sweetness. My feeling is drinking any other barley wine after drinking this would make the other taste almost like syrup. Truly delightful palate for given the style. Overall Impression: Wonderful brew. One of the best barley wine styles I’ve ever had with a very unique finish. I nice, crisper almost summer version of the style. Well done.