Nøgne Ø Porter

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Porter
Grimstad, Norway

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

Bottle. Black beer with a light head. The aroma is strongly coffee and dry, and the flavour is very dry and coffeeish. Overall a nice roasted coffeeish beer.

10 ounce goblet - $9.00 at Taco Mac in Kennesaw, Georgia. Appearance: Passed along to me a body colored black and topped off with a foamy, khaki-hued head. Smell: Dark, particularly roasty maltiness yielding fragrant notes of conspicuously charred barley, espresso powder, smokey charcoal briquettes, prune juice, and black licorice, though only a hint of dark chocolate. Taste: A start of pungent roasted grains, modestly sweet, and with tastes featuring bittersweet chocolate and rudely burnt coffee. Minor dark fruitiness. From top to bottom, it’s fairly roasty with a light astringency to it. The black jelly bean licorice character is building and becomes a bit tiring. Very small hint fo woodiness. Some hop bitterness and acidity showing on the otherwise roasty finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Reasonably smooth mouthfeel. Drinkability: As with Korean cuisine, I’m likin’ it, but I’m just not lovin’ it. Still, I’d say give it a try, as most everyone else seems to be diggin’ it.

Bottle. Bark brown and opaque, medium beige head. Roasted malt and coffee in the aroma, with piney hops. Full bodied and smooth. Flavour is a litle too bitter for my taste.

Dark brown, nearly opaque, with a large, foamy tan head that shrinks to a small lace rather quickly - quite a bitter, dark roast coffee aroma, with notes of leather and tobacco, and background chocolate malt - creamy mouthfeel, with far less carbonation than the head suggests - leather and wood notes, dried cherries, quite an herbal hoppiness, and an undercurrent of sweet cream and espresso - some bright, berry-like fruitiness on the back end - a solid porter, but not one for the ages.

Black colour with a medium light brown head. Aroma and taste of roasted malts, chocolate and coffee. Nice palate.

In the bottle. Black with a dark brownish beige head that thins to a fine covering atop the beer. Milk chocolate and mild coffee, chicory and licorice aroma. Body is thin and a bit watery for the big aroma. Roasted malt and a mild splash of coffee flavor tossed in. This is a good porter, but not quite up to the high ratings it is getting here.

Bottle drunk on 4/27/07
Gushing bottle eventually settles out to a medium clarity and a very deep, bakers chocolate brown. Some burgundy highlights and a large, well-retained medium-tan head that laces well.
Brown sugar and maple start things off sweet, but it only lasts a moment before dry chocolate and a plethora of prunes, raisins and figs add a delightful vinousness. Some minimal coffee notes are found in a moderately strong roastiness, coupled with soft vanilla and other pale malt notes, sitting on the finish. Very clean, but also very fresh and easily discernible as unpasteurized/unfiltered. You gotta love the yeast these guys use. It has a delicious earthiness and seems wonderfully English. More berry-like vinousness/tartness emerges as it warms, but balancing this is a chewy, light fudge-like note. Love the relative lack of "hardness" or breadiness in this one. Aroma strength is medium-high to high, with no alcohol or flaws perceived.
Soft and velvety, with ample malt body, the beer nonetheless remains much lighter in feel than the abv would suggest. Sweet chocolate layered atop gooey toffee and caramel, with some dry roasted barley adding a bit of tannin. Chocolate malt adds some light coffee hardness, which keeps the sweetness level balanced. The main force is a deliciously fruity, vinous berry-and-prune flavor that brightens the beer considerably. Natural carbonation is in moderate quantity, and though there is some chewiness from the malt, the beer remains very drinkable with no sign of its abv. Hop bitterness is moderately apparent on the finish, with only a bit of floral-like flavors seen throughout. Black malt flavors sit on the end: anise, very dry cocoa and some scorched maltiness.

Bomber into a pint glass. Pours almost black but brown when held to the light with a huge dark brown head. Aroma is big coffee with some metal and lots of dark fruits. A couple more whiffs reveal nice hop character. The flavor is sweet and sour and ends with a nice combo 1-2 of dryness from hops and roasted malts. This reminds of a good stout in many ways. Quite tasty.