8 Wired / Renaissance / Nøgne Ø - Ø For Awesome Imperial Amber Ale
Imperial Amber Ale. A 3 way collaboration between Norway and New Zealand. Loosely based on a mix of our 3 flagship beers: Stonecutter Scotch Ale, Hopwired IPA and Batch #100.
3.8
154 reviews
Warkworth, New Zealand
Community reviews
For the first time in history I’ve managed to pour a beer that has the Nøgne Ø logo on the label that doesn’t end up with a hazy body. The clear, very dark brown to red body has a large, creamy, eggnog coloured head that is long-lived and laces the glass well. The aroma is intense and delicious, with lots of malty notes but with even more hops. Slightly overripe fruits with a tropical touch, roasted notes, dark caramel, dark chocolate and faint coffee in the back. What a lovely mix of fruits, caramel and chocolate! The taste is moderate sweet and quite heavy bitter. The flavours are strong, and a bit more malt driven than the aroma, with roasted notes and dark caramel in the front and fainter chocolate notes in the back. The fruits are still very present though, and the tropical fruits lingers on in the long-lasting finish, even if they’re rather subdued mid-palate. Finally I get citrus and alcohol. Very close to perfect mouthfeel, with a full body, smooth and oily texture and soft carbonation. So, why isn’t this classified as a BIPA? It has everything I love about that style! Anyway, it’s pretty… wait for it… wait for it… waaaaait for it… awesome.
[50 cl bottle, from Vinmonopolet Vika, Oslo]
Bottled 500ml. -from Za Popen’t Pivoteka, Ljubljana. Dark amber coloured, medium sized cappuccino head, perfumed hops in the nose. Sweet malty, nutty caramel and light fruity with decent hops presence. Dryish bitter hoppy finish. Very nice brew.
Bottle. This is very caramel malty and the after taste of a scotch ale. It's awesome. I want to get more of it.
Bottle. Pours an attractive Brown Amber with an off White head. Dense malty nose with an unusual hoppy backdrop. Th flavour has some of those ’imperial notes to it (prunes, raisins, candied fruits) and also some pretty fragrant hops. Mango, Passionfruit. Th hops get a bit lost in the malt but it’s such a novel flavour that itshard not to enjoy it. Maybe a touch of Rye? A memorable artisanal beer.
Oooh, I have a story about this. I’d rated this first in Delirium Hoppy Loft, courtesy of a cool guy called Ben that I met/drank with there (and a huge thanks to him). I’d noted it as Nøgne Ø Imperial Amber Ale and couldn’t find it in the database for some reason, so I left it unrated. And when ogivlado brought a bottle to the tasting, I remembered it immediately. So thanks to him as well... Combining both notes now. Very dark red, almost brown body (brown/amber) with a small thick white head. Unripe fruit, hop & maltiness in the aroma, some dust. Fruity taste, orange, rosehip, peppermint, dust, caramel, slightly malty, dryish and sweet. A herbal bitterness balancing out the maltiness. I guess. And imagine that, the scores were identical in both sets of notes....
Sorry Radarsock. I bought this beer in Belgium, last they had and actually stored it away and was thinking to share it with you when you said you would maybe visit Europe. Your visit will most likely be (enormously) delayed and I didn’t have much beer laying around to celebrate something... I know this was one of the beers you really would like to taste, but we will get some nice beers together whenever you come over to Europe...
Hope you can taste something mentally of this beer after reading my review.
Bottle: Served in a Duvel glass:
Nice looking label with a funny folklore story on the back.
A clear copper amber pour.
Medium to smaller sized, bit lively but quite thick and slowly changing creamy vanilla beige colored foamy head.
When holding the glass with it’s beer in front of me it looks quite dark (black) to me. But when I hold this glass with nice smelling beer close to a light source the color becomes more like a very dark but clear red ruby color.
Aromas of hops, barley malts, liquorice wood, other liquorice spices, toast, herbs, light vinous, hints of yeast and flowers.
Flavours of liquorice, liquorice wood, spices like pepper and light nutmeg ish, barley malts, bitters, some hops, sprinkles of caramel and chalk.
Aftertaste is a mix of barley malts, bitters, liquorice wood and some alcohol/spices (both on each others edge).
Low carbo, soft creamy almost silky mouthfeel, medium to full body and a creamy smooth and bit thicker texture.
Tasty mix of malts, hops and alcohol (spicy), enough to taste, pretty balanced and some unexpected aromas and flavours which seem to suit this beer fine.
One of the few negative things might be that the alcohol comes through more and more towards finishing the beer...
Pours dark copper with a beige head. Aroma is roasted caramel, citrus, grapefruit and peach. Flavour is roasted caramel, citrus, grapefruit, peach and alcohol. Good lasting bitterness.
Svart med lite skum. Smak av kaffe og sjokolade. Svart som natten. Snop. Melkebaren.
Godt syrlig øl. Friskt på smak med en søtlig duft. Et godt øl i sommervarmen og til grillmat.
Would I like another one? Sure!
Medium head that is lasting forever. Fruity, malty aroma that brings your imagination of having the first beer outside at the springtime. You can understand that it’s kind of heavy beer from the first taste impressions - they are a little bit sweer as usual with strong beers, but within a second it’s gone and replaced with the really nice bitterness that lasts and lasts.
Bottle from local Vinmonopol.
Pours a deep cherry red / dark amber beer, with a nice off-white head.
Smells very awesome! Hops, fruits, strawberry jam, a tiny note of citrusy hops.
The flavor is more on the malty side, with definite notes of bread, caramel and hints of coffee in the finish/aftertaste. Also, the fruity notes from the aroma and a solid hop character. I’m also getting a black currant type of flavor in there.
Tastewise there’s a nice amount of bitterness on the "edges" and in the aftertaste, with a nice malty sweetness in the "center". A tiny bit too bitter for my personal taste.
The mouthfeel is nice and full, and the carbonation is low, pleasant and soft.
Ruby red brownish with medium off white head. Lasting and lacing.
Aroma.. Quite intense fruity, malty, decent hops, pine, bit caramel, light alcohol
Bit sweet with rather intense bitterness. Dry finish
Nice beer. Really worth trying. with pleasure would repeat.
Botella. Presencia granate de bajá carbonatacion con corona marrón compacta y persistente. Aroma maltoso y resinoso, notas de uvas pasas y frutas. Sabor comienzo dulce y maltas caramelos, sigue astringencia del lúpulo y notas de licor y fruta madura con final seco y resinoso
I tried this beer quite a while ago and all that I can recall is the unpleasant experience. Too spicy, too herbal, much more bitter than I would have expected. A metallic bite on all those herbs, as if a tin of Twinnings infusions had been dropped into the vat. Ø for søppel.
Perhaps I should re-visit this product, but I doubt it will happen, with so much good stuff being produced around, including fabulous brews by the three accused for brewing this chimaera.
On bottle from Vinmonopolet, Vika- sept 2012. Dark amber color, good foam. Aromas of hops ( pine), caramel, toffee , malt and dried fruits.
Full/ medium body & complexity. Immediate sweetness, solid bitterness- overall a litte too sweet. High quality brewing, but a bit too much malt and sweetness for my taste. Maybe I should have taken it in sept 2012...
Bottle, 50 cl. Almost murky dark brown with a huge orange-brownish head, ok retention. Nose is roasted malty with notes of preserved plums and licorice. Full body, creamy sweet roasted flavor, nutty, fruity hoppy, dry bitter finish. Interesting stuff
Bottle. Creamy off White excellent fully lasting head. Dark red amber colour. Healy malty and hoppy Nice aroma. Powerfull Healy bitter flavor. Long Healy bitter finish. Creamy palate. Excellent .
50cl bottle from Vinmonopolet, Vika. Pours very deep amber with a tan head. Malty and hoppy aroma with fruits, caramel, spices, dried fruits and hints of alcohol. Medium to full body. Sweet, hoppy and fruity with a quite hoppy and bitter finish with notes of citrus. Well integrated alcohol and well balanced. Delicious beer! (2013-02-23)
Bottle at home from the bottleshop
Dark garnet-mahogany with fluffy ochre head. Very dull musty pine needles and caramel on the nose. Some initial resin up front, then cardboard, toffee and warming alcohol. Touch solventy in finish. Can see the nogneø and renaissance influences, sadly hops have long since faded.
Bottle from The Lighthouse in NC. I was exciteded to try this one even though it was priced at $10.99 for a 16.9oz.. I love Imperial Reds, sadly this one I found to be far too malty. I look for Imperial Reds to be hoppy and spicy and malty.
Pours a dark brown colour with a 1 inch tan head. Aroma of caramel, nuts and spruce. Taste is leaves, raisins, spruce, some roasted malts and some caramel in the finish. Medium body and a lovley mouthfeel. Great balance is the keyword here, and the reason why this one is really enjoyable.
This delightful treat has a dark brown color and a light brown head. It smells much like an American Barleywine, sticky sweet and divinely hoppy. The aroma is sweet and crazy alcoholic for only 9% ABV. It seems to be fermented with a very clean and efficient American yeast, but is soft in the mouth and slightly muted and tame compared to the aroma. It finishes clean, almost woody, and malty, with a touch of alcohol. Thin on the palate and in the finish, this "blend" came out very well. Love.
DC tasting November 2012. Big rich smoky cherry amber malt. Really big and sweet. Burgundy brown oily off-white head. Amber cherry notes. Nice beer, maybe not World Class though. US style ingredient overload, lacks finesse.
Bottle at Hop & Vine, Portland. Pours a dark reddish brown. Aroma is truly amazing, rich malty and hoppy, small hints of grain and citrus, just very, very complex. Body is heavy, malty and syrupy, exactly what an Imperial Red should be. Finish is a bit citrus-y, maybe grapefruit to be specific, but really well-balanced. I haven’t been a huge fan of a lot 8-Wired beers, but this was a head-turner for sure, especially in light of this not being a favorite style. Yum!
Bottle. Pours clear dark mahogany with a medium, frothy light tan head, medium retention with good lacing. Aroma is light fruity esters (pear, apple, dates) with caramel and cookie malt, light toast notes with earthy and spicy hops. Flavor is heavy hops and bitterness, fruity esters, supporting sweet malt with a dry finish. Medium body and carbonation.
0,5 bottle. Pours deep ruby-amber with a really nice off white head. Aromas of dark fruits, caramel and alcohol. Same goes for flavors. Great mouthfeel.
Nice bitterness.
Januar bonus @Sørens. Clear chestnut colour with a lasting off-white head. Aroma of malt, dried fruit and vineous alcohol, a touch of licorice and some citrus hops. Sweet toffee and caramel flavour with licorice and a roasted note. Nice citrus hops and a nice bitter finish
Pours dark brown, with tan head. For a American Strong Ale this is a full bodied beer. Rich malt taste, and good balance with the hops.
Color: dark brown amber beer with small carbonation and small brown head as espresso. Smell: malt, caramel, barley, spices, hops! Amazing nose! Taste: hops, malt, caramel, barley wine. Aftertaste: caramel, malt and nice strong dry bitterness!
Clear deep ruby dense off-white head. Prunes, candy, spruce, pollen and booze onthe nose and in the mouth. Full body. Pungent with a nice bitterness.