Nøgne Ø God Jul

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

Pours a very dark brown with a massive, creamy, frothy, light tan head which is mostly lasting and leaves a small frothy layer and some sporatic lace. Nose is nice with rich caramel, milk chocolate, black currant, molasses, light toasted chestnuts, and hints of coffee. Flavor is awesome; coffee is most notable first with a moderate roast and minimal acidity, perfect. Other notes include dark chocolate, molasses, rustic and lightly resinous hop notes, light currant, nutty notes (chestnut, hazelnut), light mocha and lightly toasted bread crust. Palate is nice with a nearly full body, soft to lively carbonation, and a velvety, somewhat drying texture, round in character. Finishes long with some dryness from the bread crust notes, coffee, and nuts with a lingering molasses note. Completely unexpected from this great brewer. Imperial porter meets winter warmer. The black currant notes were tremendous, the coffee in the flavor was amazing and the beer somehow never became too dark or too sweet. The nutty notes and molasses create perfect undertones for the beer. One of a kind.

Tasted 2007-12-13. Fresh bottle. Pours dark brown with light brown head. I once picked some wild hop plants in my local area and soaked them in water. I let it sit for 24 hours and then I tasted it. This beer comes very close to that - only this is pleasant, and the ’hop juice’ wasn’t so much. The aroma of this beer is the freshest hop you could imagine, and the taste is a nice balanced hop bitterness combined with chocolate malts and coffee. Very good - very tasty!!

UPDATED: FEB 17, 2008 16.9oz bottle, labeled as Winter Ale. Thick black-brown color, with ever the slightest stained-glass red when you hold it to light. Nice thick head. This beer is rich, sweet, and deep bodied. Lots of caramel tastes and a faint spice characteristic reminiscent of classics like Anchor Christmas. Exceptionally smooth, this one is right on.

Fairly dark brown pour with tan head. Lacing from the tan head. Moderate smell of spiciness, more mocha, toffee, hazelnut coffee. Tastes of the same. REALLY smoothes out and the flavors REALLY come out as it warms.

Poured deep black with a two finger head that dissipated to a strong film and left great lacing. Complex aroma profile included coffee, chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, and molasses. Flavor was just as complex, starting out though a bit more subtle, but strengthening with time. Full body, some carbonation, rich sweetish coffe and chocolate aftertaste. A real treat.

Pours an opaque dark brown with a medium sized brown head. Aroma is very chocolatey, with heavy brown sugar, toffee, sweet malts, a little hop is detected too. Sweet aroma overall though. Very nice aroma. Flavor is again quite chocolatey, very sweet, but at the same time tarry and ashy, with mouth-coating maltiness. A little cloying is the sweetness, flavor would be near 10 if were just a tad less sweet. But still an awesome flavor. I like the espresso flavor throughout. Mouthfeel is rich, luxurious, awesome. A damn good beer overall, despite a couple of imperfections. Very soulful winter ale. Overall, world class minus.

50cl bottle from Vinmonopolet. Batch 315. It poured a black colour with a medium light-brown head that settles down slowly in the glass. It has a sweet aroma that smells of caramel, coffee and spices. The flavour is spicy and tastes of alcohol, pepper, burned malts and dark chocolate. It has a long, lingering aftertaste.

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.