Nøgne Ø Sunturnbrew

Brewed by Nøgne Ø
Style: Smoked
Grimstad, Norway

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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Been awhile since I gave a perfect score. This has a great smoky peaty aroma that persists for a long time. The flavor is intense. Lots of smoke, plenty of molasses and battle between the hops and malts. Spent over an hour enjoving this one night, so certainly a sipper, but what a beer. I’ve been singing the praises of this beer to all my beer head friends. Excellent!!

Put the kettle on, i have stories,...Pours a dark brown black, with a fantastic cream head, pretty good foam for such a high gravity brew.. . lacing is quite the looker too .. . Smell of 2 day old honey ham, molasses, needle with blood, and light lifetime outdoor bbq/smoke .. . what are you people stupid? ah ha, you like a little abuse.. . . woah! woah! wow, love it!!! smoke and american hops dominate the flavour, woo wee!! fantastic complexities to this! a twisted super smooth rauchbier on super smokey steroids!! ...I really don’t think i need to say more, this is pure enjoyment in a glass, Nøgne has not just hit a homerun, not even a grand slam.. they won the world series, sold all the players for cash, closed down the league, and started a completely new sport called the SDL (Sunturnbrew Drinker League).. This was one of my most wanted after beers ever, and did it ever deliver!!!!!!!& of the nicest beers in the entire universe, yaaaa!!

smoke and wine, gods gift!

Bottle at Olympen, Oslo (while stocks last!) Coca cola color, fine lacing. Strong hoppy aromas, like the middle of a pine forest. Low carbonation. Tar, old ropes, salt liquorice, tobacco. Lots of sweetness, but perfectly balanced. Alcohol warming, bitter finish. The beer of the year can be declared already!

500 ml bottle, batch #400 @ Olympen, Oslo. A dense yellowish one-finger lasting head upon a dark reddish-brown, almost translucent body. Delicate sweet and ashy malt aroma. Loads of inviting fruit scents (plums, raisins, ripe berries and tropical), before a fresh, piny hoppiness take the lead. Also some nice whiffs of marzipan, wood and peat. Taste is both powerful and rounded, and perfectly balanced. Deliciously sweet, roasted dark malts with a subdued smoky accent. A bold piny and fruity bitterness together with notes of wild berries, ash, wet wood and tar. Big body. Feels smooth as silk in the mouth. Everlasting warm, bittersweet finish. A unique, and extremely well-crafted beer from Norway’s finest.

In the middle of winter the four of us were cruising through rural Flanders on a ridiculous & highly expensive beer run, the trunk of the car as well as a part of the backseat were stashed to the brim with goodies as we were driving towards Alvinne brewery. After a couple of stops we were carrying two crates of Hanssens, an assortment of lambics, De Molen, Mikkeller, The Bruery, Jester King, Nøgne Ø,… beers, totalling probably close to 150 bottles, so you get the picture, you have probably been involved in a very similar situation. Around us were nothing but fields, some trees & a half-frozen river when suddenly our front wheel sunk into a huge, gigantic hole in the middle of the freaking road which we didn’t see, the car bounced up and down with huge brisk absurdity as we saw our wheel cap flying across the road & heard the loudest clunk of glass crashing against glass & simultaneously all of us though “OH MY GOD, WE JUST BROKE ALL OF OUR BEER”, completely unconcerned for the car, so you know where our priorities lie. Immediately Dave pulled up to the side of the street, as Man-ki got out to retrieve our wheel cap, a process during which he inexplicably managed to loose only his left glove and oddly not his right one. Michiel and I proceeded to check our bottles one by one (because once again priorities) with an unpleasant feeling because once we open our trunk we were greeted by the smell of beer soaking into the carpeting & our bags. Luckily (although I am still missing 1 bottle, Dave did you take one of my beers by accident?) we discovered only 1 bottle did get damaged, one of our bottles of Sunturnbrew of which the cap had partially open spraying beer all over the trunk during the crash, oddly this is the second time I have had this happen with a Nøgne Ø. The bottle being still 60 – 70 % full we decided (or at least I did) on the spot in one of our Hanssens geuze glasses because well yeah… Which led to the following scenery of four guys standing besides a car parked besides a small rural roads amidst fields next to some barren trees growing on the sides of a half-frozen river with huge chunks of ice flowing in it in the freezing winter with an open truck filled to the brim with beer drinking a Norwegian smoked barley wine from a geuze glass, a sight not extremely common in rural Belgium no matter what you might think although definitely not one I am involved in for the first time. The beer was served into inappropriate glassware at the incorrect temperature on the account of it being minus 10 °C outside. The beer poured a dark brown with a creamy head on the account of it being heavily shaken not only moments before but during the whole trip, the bottom of the bottle contained a layer of foam as thick & creamy as whipped cream which I poured upon the grounds as an offering to the gods for saving our beer, our car & us, in that order & preference. With completely frozen hands, I proceeded to drinking the beer, after appropriately appreciating its bouquet first. Passing it around, we hummed all in agreement, this is a pretty damn good beer. Delicious aroma of smoke, with a touch of campfire to it, very meaty, crisp bacon dark malts,… Taste follows in suit, creamy smoke, campfire, very meaty, crisp bacon, lots of heavy dark malts, wood, hint of liquorish, tad coffee, cocoa, caramel, dark fruits, bbq, delicious, thick, creamy body, slightly chunky feel to it, maybe because we shook up the sediment, who knows? Little carbonation 50 cl. bottle – batch 474 – 2009 vintage – Afterwards in an act of uncontrolled madness (only on my behalf) I gave the bottle a Viking funeral. Redunclous, probably the official moment where I took the “beergeek” thing way too far.

Holy hell. Complex. So much going on. Smokey, richly malty, with intense sweet dark fruit (acai, blackberry, blueberry,) chocolate, toffee, caramel. This beer is a damn meal. It has the dark fruitiness of a Belgian, the roast and chocolaty richness of a stout and the malt complexity of a good English Old Ale, with a touch of smoke, hops and a long, lingering finish. Its a prime candidate for 2-3 years of cellaring.

UPDATED: JUL 5, 2011 50 cl bottle at the brewery. Thanks to Kjetil and the rest of the guys at Norways best brewery! The color is dark brown, moderate tan head. Aroma is dark dried fruit, hints of smoke, hops, malt, wood, coffee - it´s so complex! The flavor is just fantastic. Lots of tastes in perfect harmony. Malty and fruity sweetness, roasted malt, coffee, liqorice, hoppy bitterness, wood. The smoke is there, but in the bacground. Alcohol, off course, but not too much. Beer of the year in Norway, absolutely world class. Wow!

500 ml bottle.Enjoyed at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger.Hoppy and smoke malt aroma.Licorice, something smoked,and a nice sweetness on the flavour.Nice body.A really nice beer!Salute to Nøgne ø for this one!

Bottle at home. Brewed 21.12.2010. Pours deep red brown colour, slightly hazy. A light beige thick, almost creamy, coffee-like head on top. Looks fantastic! Aromas of smoke naturaly, but also more towards bacon, a real campfire going on here. Combined with sweet malt it reminds me of pancakes with bacon. Also hints of leather, oak and perfume towards alcohol. The barbeque continues in the mouth, actually I taste barbeque sauce here. But not to forget the burned and smoky flavours. Leather and also a hint of alcohol, but surprisingly little compared to the ABV on 11%. Fullbodied with a creamy and slightly sliky mouthfeel. Medium bitterness. This is an amazing beer! So much taste in every sip.

Pours brown-black with a thick white head. Aroma is chocolate, vanilla, prunes and other dark fruit. Taste is solvent, vanilla, smoke, dark fruit and a long coffee finish. This beer was excellent; I would drink this all the time.