Nøgne Ø Red Horizon

[rabbie]

One of the good things about living in Scandinavia has to be the cheap drink on offer
Well ok maybe not, but there are some good microbreweries which are producing some good beers.

Nøgne Ø is probably one of the more experimental breweries and I've liked all of their beers I've tried, so I am celebrating becoming a dad again and pushing the boat out with a bottle of "Red Horizon"; a barley wine with a twist. It's a big beer so I need a gentle warm-up with a copy of aleman's summer ale:

Fecking lovely if I do say so myself:

OK, nerves settled it's time for something completely different:

This is a new one for me, a barley wine brewed with sake yeast. Beautifully presented in it's own tin (I'd hope so too for £10 per 250 ml :shock: ). A quick glance at the label confirms this is not a session drink:

At 17% ABV the 75 IBU are very well hidden. A poor picture, but poured clear and a relatively light gold with just a hint of red.

I've done a bit of reading on the home brew boards here and from what I can gather this was fermented for 4 weeks at 7C, with sugar additions throughout. I can't find a FG quoted but this is very sweet, not like any beer I've tasted before. Someone has also written there is some beetroot added :shock:

Very light carbonation, loads of candied fruit on the nose and warm with alcohol but actually not over the top for the strength. Really reminding me of a good Glenfarclas whisky...

First taste is...weird, very intense dried fruit and the alcohol is hard to escape. Body is quite light, like a Belgian triple with a bit too much alcohol, it doesn't go down easily so it's small sips.

Definitely an interesting brew, I'll not be buying another one but I can't say I'm disappointed, not something I'd try and brew myself either :hmm:

I also decided to buy a bottle of "batch #500" while I was at it; not too surprisingly it's the 500th batch they have brewed...An imperial IPA, 5 malts, 5 hops, 10% ABV and 100 IBU. That will have to wait for another night though

 

[rickthebrew]

That beer looks like a great experience :thumb:

 

[broadfordbrewer]

Nice review of a 'different' type of drink that I'm used to.... I like my Belgian beers, but 17% :shock:
I've never travelled in Scandanavia but the general comments from those who claim to have, say that it's expensive to go out drinking... Is home brewing a big deal over there? or do folk just tend not to drink so much/often?

 

[rabbie]

Yep, cheap drink is hard to find over here.
Anything unhealthy is hammered with high taxes :nono:
Drinking habits aren't too different to the UK though, there is just the same atmosphere at the weekends anyway but people don't tend to go out "for a couple" during the week. It's normal that people warm-up with a house party and don't go out before midnight, so you see a lot of plastic bags filled with carry-outs in the early evening and then loads of drunk folk suddenly appearing (worse for wear) and heading to the pub.
Anything over 4.6% abv has to be bought at the wine-monopoly, only weak beer can be bought in the supermarket.
I'm not a big fan of the system, but it does mean you get a really good selection, 173 different beers just now. I think they are the single biggest alcohol buyer in the world, so have a lot of clout in the market and can get some good products. Prices are daft though, speckled hen is a fiver, taddy porter 4 quid. Pub prices are roughly double

There seems to be quite a tradition for home brewing here, but I wouldn't say it's particularly popular. I think the law used to say home brewing was only legal if you had malted the grain yourself, but that was changed in 1999, and it's allowed now to brew as much as you want as long as it's for own use or given away free.