Nøgne Ø God Jul

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

On tap. Chocolate and caramel with some hop bitterness to balance the bready sweetness. Black malt dryness comes through with a hint of smoke and ginger. Excellent balance. Wonderful chocolate and roast aroma with a long rich finish. Wonderful.

The aroma is of very complex caramel, with elements of both old ale and barley wine showing through. The appearance is very dark amber. The flavor is much like the aroma in being caramel-based with the maltiness being substantial but not overly sweet. An excellent ale all around.

Best christmas beer ever. Pours dark and black. Small head. Notes of coffee, spices, chocolate and tar. This beer has it all.

Wow. This is one of those beers that makes you realize beer is an art. Good heavens, I haven’t had a beer this well crafted in a very long time. I lack the chops to put this taste into words. When I poured it, I thought that the marvelous head could be eaten with a spoon. So I ate a mouthful. The flavor I got was moderate hop bitterness, that’s all. But when I drank that thick, black, viscous stuff, I got something so smooth, with something almost fruity in there. How in the world did fruit manage to come to the front like that? Somewhere in here too is the taste of ash or char. That’s the bitterness - it doesn’t taste like a hop bitterness. That shouldn’t be good in my book, but taken along with the rest, it’s just really good. The aroma is something like leather - reminiscent of Ardmore scotch in that way. That’s not something I expected or wanted, but it makes for an additional interesting facet. It really shouldn’t taste this good but it does. So rich and thick and smooth and complex and balanced. Aftertaste on the exhale is ash with a hint of dark chocolate. The burp is mild hops. It’s gone now and I’m sad. But what a great experience. These Nogne O people know what they’re doing. Everything of theirs I’ve tried so far has been excellent. Top grade. Norway, what other treasures are you hiding?

1pt .9oz bottle poured in a trappist glass. This much anticipated beer pours black with nice cream-colored head. It has a great aroma of raisins and chocolate. The body is thick and chewy but it doesn’t cling to your mouth. It goes down quickly leaving a great after taste. The hops are there because this isn’t a malty beer but they don’t stand out. The chocolate malt is wonderfully balanced the rest of the beer. This is a great beer.

(on bottle 2004 edit. thx Sigmund thx alot) My favorite among the Nøgne Ø so far, still has about 6 or 8 bottles from Sigmund. Grand X-mas brew here. I could go on in praising it, but I´ll just say: this is a perfect balanced ale, in all aspects; brewing in the making.

Thanks Jason. The beer pours to a dark brown body with a tan/brown head. The aroma is similar to Anchor OSA. Raisins, woodsy, coffee, spices. The flavor is sweet stoutish with oatmeal, chocolate, dry roastyness, seasonal spices, seems to be barrel aged. The palate is alcoholic, smooth, very easy drinking. Awesome. I want more.

1pt .9oz bottle. The beer gushed upon removing the cap, I tried to pour as fast as possible. It pours a dark dark brown with no light permeating the brew. The head is a deep tan and leaves nice lacing. It smells amazing and decadent. Huge malt whiffs produce tons of carmally chocolate scent. There is also raw cocoa, coffee, and alcohol in the scent. The big surprise here is a nice bit of hops that can be found in the background. It is sweet but not overpowering, with dark chocolate covered caramels being the main focus. Tastes like candy literally. The mouthfeel is nice, though perhaps a bit over carbonated. The alcohol seems to be less noticeable in the taste than in the scent. This is one heck of a warming brew, by far the best English porter I have had, though it is close to Russian imperial stout/Baltic Porter territory. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 12-19-2009 05:25:25