Nøgne Ø Havrestout is a low alcohol stout made with oats. It has a dark brown to black appearance with a nice brown head. My second time trying this beer, bought a bottle from Cracked Kettle 2009 and I was left not impressed at all. Now I get to try it again, a really fresh bottle that is a lot colder than how I tasted it before and this seems to have made a huge difference. Nøgne do state that this is a simple beer, a stout for beginners or those entering into the world of darker ales. For a low alcohol oatmeal stout, I still like this beer and it gives brown ale a good run for its money being a great beer to have when eating.
Aroma is dark roasted malt, some would say the best part about this beer but I would have to disagree. Even though it has a great aroma of chocolate, cereal like and freshly ground oats, for the level of alcohol it must be based on this deciding factor also. Stouts under 5% usually don’t kick it for me so to speak as alcohol usually leads to a fuller taste and a bigger body to the beer. Nice coffee and dark chocolate aromas with some bitterness in the taste.
The taste is quite smooth with lots of roasted malt character, some coffee and nuts in the background with a slightly bitter after-taste. Getting some tobacco and smoke also both in the aroma and taste which is nice, some burnt notes. Unfortunately the body of this beer is quite weak, but as I said before for 4.5% and drinking it to food, it works a treat. Mild and surprisingly easy to drink with a clear roasted taste which was well suited to meat.
