Sunday, April 23, 2017

Ölbeat 260: Nøgne Ø Sunturnbrew

Brewery: Nøgne Ø
Country: Norway
Style: Smoked Ale (Barley Wine)
Abv: 11 %
@RateBeer
What about the beer?
Colour is very dark brown with a small natural white head. Aroma has campfire smoke, burned malts and boozy sweetness. Taste begins with intense sweet and meaty smoke. Heavily smoked malts and sweet salty liquorice take over with charcoal bitterness and genuine Finnish rye bread. Towards the end boozy bitterness rises beside the smoke with liquorice and faint fruit flavour. Aftertaste has strong smoky bitterness and fruity alcohol warmth.

Powerful smoked Barley Wine - with rye malts. A beer with strong everything: smoke, liquorice, rye, booze and bitterness. Symphony of untamed flavours. Ultraslow sipper. Masterpiece. Nøgne Ø seems to have a problem with brewing imperfect beer.

Ölbeat

Since the beer was originally brewed to celebrate the 21st of December. The day when according to ancient Scandinavian beliefs the sun changed its direction. But instead of picking a pagan folk song, I picked a great sun-themed song from a classic heavy metal band. Because the brew is heavy. And great.

Black Sabbath: Under the Sun / Every Day Comes And Goes (YouTube)

From the 1972 album Vol. 4, the song was written by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward.