Nøgne Ø Porter

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Porter
Grimstad, Norway

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

Bottle from Beers of the World. Completely matte black pour with a really beautiful head of thick dense mocha cream. This is a nice looking porter. There is also some lacing on the glass that adds to its attractiveness. The aroma is surprisingly lacking. I can pick up some mild roast and some alcohol but not much else. The aroma is pretty weak. The flavor is a completely different story. The first sip told me I was going to like this beer, but as the first big mouthful roller over my tongue I am thinking more along the lines of love. The silky smooth body carries with it a delicate combination of creamy milk chocolate and some assertive but smooth and mild roast. It’s a big flavor but it weight lightly on the tongue. There are some traces of alcohol but all-in-all very good.

Black in colour, rich lingering tan coloured head, great lacing. The aroma is sweet and rich, dark chocolate, light liquorice, coffee and light alcohol. The flavour is of chocolate, quite sweet, lots of malt, roasty, nutty, some coffee. Sweet mouthfeel, medium body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes long, sweet with some alcohol heat. The sweetness starts to come through more than the roast as this start to warm up. Quite good and warming.

500ml bottle from the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/new-york target=blank>Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, New York graciously picked up for me by <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?U target=blank>IPFreely, many thanks Tim.
Opened on June 2, 2007.
No best before date.

Bottle... Pitch black ale with a small, creamy, light beige head. The aroma is of chocolate-covered cherries, toasted nuts, light smoke phenols and coffee. The flavor is slightly oxidized. Good balance. Subtle chocolate, light pungency and cardboard, light sweetness. Medium-bodied and chewy with lively carbonation. Chocolaty, charcoal-dry finish. Thanks to boboski for the bottle!

Dark brown color, light brown head, brown sugar, cherries, cherry filled milk chocolate in the nose. Med body, milk chocolate, nutty, caramel mouth with a bitter finish. Yum.

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.

Bottle. Very dark brown to near black pour. Short fading tan head. Aroma is dark chocolate, strong malt, light coffee notes, smoky notes and dark fruit. Taste is roasted malts, dark chocolate, bitter coffee, hop bitterness, lesser dark fruit notes, smoky wood and touches of melon. Body si medium-full and chewy. Strong carbonation notes as well. Ends with more chocolate, smoky/smoldering wood, cocoa, roasted malts, bitter, oily coffee, and hop notes. Melon comes through a bit towards the end as well. Very nice!

Pours a very dark brown with a full, light tan, creamy, somewhat rocky head; longevity is fair and some nice lace remains. Nose is pleasant with fudge, light cocoa, moderate coffee roast, and hints at anise and dark dried fruit. Flavor is good as well but more roasted, a bit stoutish; bitter chocolate, burnt fudge, light expresso, hints at molasses and anise, and a moderately high bitterness from both the roasting and the hops. A bit more roasting than most porters, but certainly nice as a stout. Palate is less than medium, watery, lively, and drying; my only complaint from the beer. Finishes drying and mostly bitter with some burnt toast notes, expresso, and some rustic notes lingering; most of the sweet notes disappear by the end. Not like most other porters with the use of more roasted malts but good nonetheless. Somewhere between stout and porter. With a better palate, this would be great.

500ml bottle pours a dark brown color with some reddish hues when held to a bright light source and has a finger and a half of beige head with good retention and some nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is roasted malts and a trace of hops. Taste is roasted malt bitterness with enough malty sweetness to balance things out and a pleasing hop bitterness to round things out. This is a really enjoyable porter.