Super Brew from Norway

A very belated note, this was actually the kick-off to the Musarathon last weekend. Nøgne Ø (Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri) Dark Horizon Second Edition. The kjellermaster, Kjetil Jikiun, is a fellow Daimon Shuzo sake intern, and although his session was the one before mine, I saw some of these bottles in Japan, tantalizingly empty. Nøgne Ø is an Ibsen reference - Naked Island - referring to barren, rocky outcroppings along the Norwegian coast, and the brewery ("The Uncompromising Brewery") is actually located in Grimstad, where Ibsen was born. As surely as I have never before seen a beer weigh in at 17.5% abv, I've also never seen a beer with a recommended pouring date (in this case, Fall of 2009 to 2020).

Anyhow... on to the brew.. the nose on this black beer is sweet, bitter chocolate, lots of bakery spices, especially cinnamon. On the palate, more bitter chocolate, coffee, brandy tones (vanilla and butter), licourice, bitter cherries, molasses and caramel. Not strongly bitter, super smooth, almost creamy. Alcohol was very well integrated I though, particularly with a little chill on it. As it got to room temperature though you could see it peeking out. You really noticed it when you stood up! A lot of the early Ratebeer reviews complain of the alcohol being overpowering, I don't agree, but perhaps that's coming from the wine/sake context - I thought it superbly integrated. I ordered a half-dozen right after I got back from Japan, so I will certainly check in on this every couple of years! And, I won't shy away from picking up subsequent releases.

Some interesting notes about this concoction from the brewery:

- This brew is described as ale/wine/coffee drink, as it is made with wine yeast and homemade coffee extract (sort of like "decoction" coffee)
- It is recommended that you share this with "those you deem worthy"
- A "global" brew with inspiration from the US Midwest (microbrew), malt from England, bottles from Germany, name from Japan, sugars from Mauritius, hops from the Pacific rim, Yeast from Canada, coffee from Colombia, brewed in Grimstad, Norway.