Brown Ale

Nøgne Ø Brown Ale is a dark brown English ale with biscuit characterized malt flavour. The taste is loaded with roasted malt with hints of bread and dark roasted coffee beans. There is some bitterness and roasted character in the after-taste with its complex flavour composed of 5 different types of malt. Being a HUGE fan of brown ales, the grain recipe of Nøgne Ø Brown Ale really got me excited with a bit of everything thrown in. We have the usual suspect Maris Otter 2-row barley, some wheat, chocolate malt, brown malt, amber malt, and caramel malt.

Reddish brown on colour with a large off-white head with a very appealing aroma of caramel, malt, bread, nuts and chocolate. Some smoky flavours dominate the aroma with the nuttiness being a close second. Coming in at 4.5% I was hoping that the body of this beer was not too thin, it just barely managed to pass this test. Roasted malt, chocolate, coffee and nut in the flavour with some smoke and bitterness in the after-taste. Low in carbonation and a light body, the crystal hops just add the needed subtle hops bitterness that is needed to balance out all the sweetness of the malt. Truly a wordy contender to be little brother to Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale, I liked this beer a lot and wish I bought more.

 

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Gamle Rygene Brun

Nøgne Ø Gamle Rygene Brun is a mix of Oud Bruin and Quadrupel. Hazy brown to dark mahogany in colour with a very small off-white head. Aroma was of brett, funk, yeast, wood, red wine and light acidity. Same flavour as the aroma more or less but with some sourness, dry with medium carbonation. This tartness, bitterness, sweetness and woody touch was something I did not like at all. 

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Imperial Brown Ale - Barrel Aged Anniversary

Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale Barrel Aged Anniversary edition was brewed for Man In The Moon in Stockholm to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Man In The Moon is a big fan of beers from Nøgne Ø and as has a wide selection of their beers available in bottle, many of these are also vintage editions that they store in their cellar. It is fitting that Nøgne Ø were able to make them a special beer for their 20th anniversary to show their appreciation and support also. Imperial Brown Ale is their best-selling Nøgne Ø beer and one they like to push when paring with food to their customers. So it was fitting that they got this beer with a twist and am happy to say I helped the process along :)


I was going to taste this version of their Imperial Brown Ale alongside the regular one, but it struck me that the regular one is so far away from this barrel aged version now. This version would go well as a sipper with sweet deserts where as the original one is a classic to meat and food dishes.

The aroma was great, right from the beginning dates, plums, figs, raisins, coffee, chocolate and vanilla came bursting through. It was as if Nøgne Ø had actually added these dark fruits into the cask during fermentation, but this was not the case. Ageing in oak casks makes some amazing flavours come to the front line.

The flavour was very similar to the aroma which is a sign of a great beer, not only the above but it was a touch spicy and also had that distinguished malt back bone that is what makes the original Imperial Brown Ale such a classic. The drink-ability of this beer is amazing, coming in at 10% and being 2.5% more than the original version, it was impossible to tell that it was so high, the alcohol was well hidden behind all those amazing aromas and flavours.

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Imperial Brown Ale 2006

Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale 2006 has a long story to this malty ale. It was first brewed in the spring 2006 in Nørrebro Bryghus in Copenhagen, Denmark, as a joint brew between Nøgne Ø and Nørrebro. Nørrebro calls their version "Double Knot Brown". This is about my 5th time drinking the 2006 Imperial Brown Ale that is available at Man In the Moon gastropub in Stockholm and with just 10 bottles left I am sure to taste a few more before they are all gone. As you can see, this is my favourite beer from Nøgne Ø and probably would rate the 2010 version as high as 4 out of 5. The development in this beer after just 4+ years is amazing and the first time I tasted it, it reminded me of a bottle of Westvleteren 12 which still is the best beer I have ever tasted.

Hazelnut brown in colour and still has a decent creamy head, straight away the amazing aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, fudge, raisins, toffee and roasted nuts. Wonderful taste of sweet malt, fudge, caramel, milk chocolate with a full bodied creamy finish. Very smooth and coating of dark fruits with lots of nutty tones and dates. There is a definite sweetness from the caramel malts and a mild chocolate flavour as well with it starting sweet and ends sweet with some bitterness and fruit in between. A very complex ale that can only get even more maturity with ageing, they type of beer that I could just smell it's aroma all night and sip at a very slow pace trying to unwind the many layers of flavour it has developed, a classic from Nøgne Ø.

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Imperial Brown Ale

Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale, there is a long story to this malty ale. It was first brewed in the spring 2006 in Nørrebro Bryghus in Copenhagen, Denmark, as a joint brew between Nøgne Ø and Nørrebro. Nørrebro calls their version "Double Knot Brown".  Have previously reviewed the original 2006 version of this beer and rated it 5, let’s see what I rate its latest batch, 4 years younger.

Aroma was quite different to the 2006 version which has matured into a totally different style of beer, lots of coffee, bitter chocolate, roasted malts and some dried fruits. Lovely rich roasted malts in the taste, some caramel and toffee with hints of brown sugar and plums. There is a perfect balance again where the sweet maltiness is in sync with the bitterness of the hops. One of the best brown ales on the market, have tried many others but none live up to what Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale delivers. Easily a 5 here also and one of my all time favourite beers from Nøgne Ø.

 

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Nighthawk Breakfast Brown

Nøgne Ø Nighthawk Breakfast Brown is only on draft at The Nighthawk Dinner in Oslo, a blend of an IPA and a Brown Ale. The aroma is like and IPA and it tastes like a Brown Ale. Muddy brown in colour with a large coffee cream head, lots of malt, spices and some citrus on the nose with a hint of caramel. Medium to thin body with some roasted malt, nuttiness and bitterness that I guess comes from the IPA side of this blend. Was a nice twist to drinking a regular Brown Ale and I would drink this one again.

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Oud Bruin

Nøgne Ø Oud Bruin is the regular Brun that was cellared 22 months in steel tank that previously had Tindved fermenting in it. The colour is light brown to amber with a small off-white foam. Aroma has some oak, brett and red fruit, it has a touch of wine in the aroma too which I like. The body to this beer is light and low in carbonation. It has got a simple funky taste to it, more oak, touch of sweetness and malt. Strangely enough I quite enjoyed this beer, it was a weird one and not they type of beer I usually go for.

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Triple Wood Knot Brown

Nøgne Ø Triple Wood Knot Brown is a 10% dark brown ale that is all about the oak. An Imperial Brown Ale brewed with oak chips and fermented even more in oak casks, this beer is the same as the Man in the Moon Barrel Aged Anniversary Imperial Brown Ale. This beer was only brewed for GABS 2014 and I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the very few that were bottled.

Dark brown color with little to know head on the bottle i had, immediate aroma of oak, spices and vanilla. Tasted very nice with lots of dark fruits, figs, nuts, spice and plums but was quite boozy and this was always on the back of my mind. Medium bodied and definitely a sipper this one that seemed to get better the longer i took to drink it. Yes after a while the chocolate and dark rum comes through and the oak is more mellow with the vanilla tones, starting to really like this version of the classic Imperial Brown Ale.

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