Underlig Jul

Nøgne Ø Underlig Jul is a very successful spiced Christmas ale which was inspired by mulled wine also known as glögg. The name in English means “Peculiar Christmas” and this is a 5 spice ale that is such a great compliment to sweet and spicy Christmas food. Dark brown in colour with a large coffee cream coloured head. Cloves are in my opinion the dominant spice with cinnamon and ginger being quite pre dominant also, gingerbread doughy in parts but nice. 2 years ago when this beer was at the SB I though the spices were a way over the top and it is nice to see that the spices are not as powerful in this year’s batch. At the brewery for the 3 Christmas beer tasting session I rated this beer as the best for 2011

Little bit of sweetness there, some plums, prunes, raisins and chocolate malt in the flavour but quite a dry beer. Not extremely bitter but did have some pine needles dryness to it, at 6.5% the body is quite medium and the spices are also in the taste but not as overpowering as they were in the aroma. A spiced winter ale that you either love it or hate it and it would help if you are a fan of drinking glögg. Either way I think this beer is true to the time of year being a proper Christmas beer and in small doses is great to have this time of year and was great addition to my spiced chocolate cake.