Nøgne Ø God Jul

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

UPDATED: DEC 23, 2008 Tried this again as Winter Ale, Gave it about the same rating. From a bottle recieved in a trade with oh6gdx. The body was very dark brown with a light tan head. The aroma was definite grapefruit with the twist and chocolate covered cherries. Interesting. The taste was cherries with some chocolate. This also had some woody notes and a little pine as I drank more. The body was surprisingly light for the abv. An interesting twist on the American Strong Ale category.

From a 500 ml bottle, this was the third beer sampled at Cellar’s Nøgne Ø on Friday. Pours a heavy dark brown brew with a tan head. Dissolves fast and leaves a nice lacing. Aroma has tones of yeast, vegetables, caramel, roasted malt and some licorice. Taste is bitter with some white flour, roasted grain and a little extra carbonation. Pleasant and smooth finish.

Pours deep dark brown with red edges and weak light brown head. The aroma is light with seemingly roasted malts, sweeter malts and faint dark fruitiness. This beer tastes like a hybrid Porter – Imperial Stout but leaning much more on the Porter side of things. The biggest flavor note to start is burnt malts followed by chocolate malts and then a lighter amount of sweet malts and caramel. By midway a hint of dark fruitiness surfaces and is then run down as the malt flavors return. I notice a burnt malt and slightly caramel flavor left behind in the after taste.

Bottle. Dark brown body with a tan thick head. Malty aroma with spicy notes. Chocolate and nuts is there as well. Flavour is chocolate, spices, dark fruit and hops. Its smooth and very well balanced.

So I finally found an opportunity to give this brew a proper test. No xmas atmosphere, however, as the snow is almost gone, the trees are getting green and the midnight sun has just returned to the Arctic. Anyway, the Norwegian Constitution Day had to be celebrated. I turned off the TV, put on the great music of Dinosaur Jr’s Beyond and got ready for the test which took more than two hours. I had three bottles, same ale but quite different batches. My ratings are based on an average of the three bottles. All were served at the right room temperature. The test turned out to be a rather heavy night-cap...
a) [Batch 96-27.07.2004] Brownish head that fades quickly. Deep dark brown body. Delicious aroma of milk chocolate. Well-rounded taste of vanilla and chocolate offset by a careful sourish touch. Hints of cinnamon, cloves and anise. Yeast and bitterness in a prolonged ending.
b) [Batch 176-14.08.2005] Marked piny aroma. Light brown head, short-lived. Very dark brown-tinged body. The emphasis is on pine needles, juniper and liquorice acidity. Added flavour of peppery notes and dark fruits culminating in malty bitterness. This batch is quite different in aroma and taste compared with a) and c)
c) [Batch 251-02.08.2006] Long-lived tan head and good lacing. Black-brown body. Smell of dark malts and sweet chocolate. Roasted malty depths in flavour supported by herbs, figs and a nutty touch leading to a dry bitter tail, and finishing off with warmth from the alcohol. Should be even more joyful on a dark xmas eve (17.05.2007).

Bottle. Dark ruby brown beer with a nice tan head. Chocolate and slight roast aroma and flavor. Slight spice and hops backing in the flavor. Nice balance. Lingering citrus/pine hops with some rich malt. Medium bodied.

Bottle, as Nogne O Winter Ale. From Total Wine N. Miami. Pitch black with thick and very stable head but no lacing. Spicy chocolate aroma is like chili-chocolate with cherries. Very creamy mouthfeel and big body. Oh wow, this is pretty much an imperial stout. For me it’s not very sweet, it’s got killer dark chocolate flavors and is very rich. I feel guilty having opened this one by myself as it’s really delicious. Waves and waves of sumptious quality chocolate. Like the flourless mocha cake from that restaurant my mom likes downtown. Ever so slight burnt flavor in the finish. Absolutely delicious.

In short: A sweet toasted big dark beer of some kind. Ok
How: Bottle 500ml. Consumed almost exactly 1 year after bottling date, which is also 4 years before expiration date!!!
The look: Dark brown body topped by a small tan head
In long: Nose of soft toffee candy, walnuts, very light notes of smoke, a bit of roast. Taste has smooth and round caramel, toasted wood, bittersweet chocolate, hazelnuts, soft black liquorice candy, fruitcake, roasted malts, yeast. Mild hops presence with a tobacco leafs flavour. Alcohol has a surprisingly strong showing for a mere 8.5% beer. Since this is classified as an American Strong Ale I was at least expecting some kind of hops presence, not the case here. Not too sure what of beer this was, I’ve had Belgian style dubbles that tasted like this, but whatever it is, this beer is actually quite decent, just not very good. It was my first bottle of God Jul and I find it a bit overrated. But an intelligent man is a man who knows he can be wrong and his opinions can be changed, and nobody can convince me otherwise.