Porter

Nøgne Ø Porter, coming from Ireland I should know this style of beer inside out but I don’t and this is due to the fact that there are 3 flavours of porter these days (Brown, Robust & Baltic) and I grew up with the Brown porter style. Nøgne Ø Porter is of the robust style and the inspiration for this style of porter came from another beer, Perseus Porter from from Washington State's Elysian Brewing. The use of American hops is probably based on the fact that the recipe for this beer came from Kjetil during his home brewing years and interests in American craft brewing. It was first homebrewed by Kjetil in 2000 and was released commercially in 2003.

The aroma is quite roasty with a lightly burnt, black malt character with some toffee-like, caramelly, chocolate, coffee, rich flavours. Hops are noticeably absent, but this does little to distract from the wonderful smells. The flavour is moderately strong malt flavour usually features a lightly burnt, black malt character (and sometimes chocolate and/or coffee flavours) with a bit of roasty dryness in the finish. Medium to medium-full body with moderately high carbonation. Big, roasty aroma with notes of coffee, bitter cocoa, burnt sugar and oak. Fantastic flavour of dark chocolate and slightly over-roasted coffee, with a  moderately dry finish.

This interpretation of a robust porter from . Nøgne Ø is definitely stronger and a roastier version of porter, an American interpretation of the style because a traditional version would have a more subtle hop character (often English), while modern versions may be considerably more aggressive. Nøgne Ø Porter is very smooth and possibly the most full bodied porter I’ve had to date. I love the rich cocoa presence and the roasted malt together. There’s a light coffee character as well, but without any of the bitterness commonly associated with it. The finish is sweet and dry and this beer deserves all the hype behind it and the Silver medal it won in 2008 at the World Beer Cup.