Nøgne Ø God Jul

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: American Strong Ale
Grimstad, Norway

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

50cl bottle from Beer World Largo. Appears dark brown to black with a tan head that dissipates quickly to next-to-nothing. Smells sweet with notes of caramel, dark, ripe fruit, dark chocolate. Taste is of coffee, chocolate, caramel with a troubling bitterness throughout. Medium-bodied with a bitter finish.

Bottle from Sam’s Quik Shop in Durham, NC. Gusher alert! Very dark pour with a medium head and decent retention. Deep aroma with notes of chocolate, toffee and rum soaked fruit. Very complex taste. Roasted malt aroma with caramel, chocolate, rye, hop bitterness, port and a little bit of smoke. Definitely on the shopping list next time I get down to NC!

Wow. Very complex beer. It pours a dark brown color with a small amount of tan head. The aroma is of dark chocolate with notes of dark fruit and I swear there’s port in it. Kind of thick and creamy in the mouth it finishes with some hop bite and warms as it goes down. Good Christmas beer!

Listed as Nøgne Winter Ale. A gusher. Pours with a large, thick brown head covering a black body with a couple large yeast particles. Strong lacing and retention. Aroma of cinnamon, brown sugar, milk chocolate, and toffee. Taste is pretty metallicy, with some coffee grounds and spices. Creamy mouthfeel, light carbonation.

This dark brown ale poured with a fluffy brown head that lasted a while. There is a pleasant chocolate malt aroma. There is a hearty caramel malt flavor with nice balancing hops. Very tasty.

500mL bottle, no date. I also have a review last year from General_Gao, but some day I’ll add my backlog. Ah, gotta love the gushers spilling on my computer, carpet, couch, and whatnot. Fuck! Very deep ruby brown--damn near opaque--with a two finger brown head, fading down to a 1/4 finger head by the time it took me to wipe up everything and Resolve® my carpet. Roasted malts, chocolate malted milk balls, nutmeg and misc. spices are dominant. Quite chocolatey with some sweet caramel and chocolate chip cookie dough. Flavor was roastier, though there are still some sweet chocolate and caramel notes again, cookie dough and raisins following with some warming alcohol. Though what I stated sounds somewhat like a RIS, it didn’t taste like one at all. The roast never got very strong. Semi-dry finish with bitterness reaching a 2-3. Moderate carbonation with a medium full body. I originally had this a 7-4-8-4-16, but think it deserved an extra point as it warmed.

Found this in a bomber bottle at Binny’s in St. Charles, Illinois. Very thick, opaque dark brown pour with a thick, tan head. Awesome nose of roasted almonds, cherry, raisins and black licorice. Flavor is just as good, with some spiciness, huge amounts of chocolate and coffee malts, and some smokiness. No alcohol in the finish; I had no idea how strong this beer was until it had already knocked me on my butt. This was outstanding.

UPDATED: DEC 25, 2008 Roasted malty aroma with salty licorice, dark fruits, chocolate, coffee and citrusy-hoppy notes. Flavor of roasted malts, dark fruits, chocolate, coffee, hops and citrus. Quite smooth mouthfeel. Delicious.