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Aurora Australis
Nøgne Ø
- From:
- Nøgne Ø
- Norway
- Style:
- Quadrupel (Quad)
- ABV:
- 11%
- Score:
- 87
- Avg:
- 3.85 | pDev: 14.29%
- Reviews:
- 12
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Oct 12, 2020
- Added:
- Jul 12, 2013
- Wants:
- 2
- Gots:
- 2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Kmat10:
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho
4.6/5 rDev +19.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.6/5 rDev +19.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Excellent quad from the unlikeliest of partners, spanning the northern and southern hemispheres. Immediate aroma of pit fruit, pours out with nice fluffy head, murky brown body. Taste is plums and prunes, head lasts throughout session. If I didn’t know the pedigree, I would have guessed Belgian.
Jun 08, 2015Reviewed by evianIPA from Australia
2.5/5 rDev -35.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.25
2.5/5 rDev -35.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.25
250ml bottle brewed 20.12.12
Gusher. Positively leapt from the bottle causing messy foam in the glass.
A - Opaque chocolate brown with barely observable edges topped by a sticky camel head that would put most stouts to shame. Despite the gushing, the head settles to a thick creamy cap.
S - Intended or unintended, this is SOUR. Yum. Nice and tart cherry aromas, hints of alcohol, oak and red wine.
T - Unfortunately, a sneaky bug has robbed most of the flavour. Initially the flavours are there, but then they just disappear leaving a dry acidity mixed with strong alcohol.
M - Medium with a dry sour finish.
O - Damnit. Aurora Borealis was one of my favourite EVER beers, but an infection has spoilt this one beyond repair. Save your pennies, and beware of bottle bombs.
Jan 24, 2015Gusher. Positively leapt from the bottle causing messy foam in the glass.
A - Opaque chocolate brown with barely observable edges topped by a sticky camel head that would put most stouts to shame. Despite the gushing, the head settles to a thick creamy cap.
S - Intended or unintended, this is SOUR. Yum. Nice and tart cherry aromas, hints of alcohol, oak and red wine.
T - Unfortunately, a sneaky bug has robbed most of the flavour. Initially the flavours are there, but then they just disappear leaving a dry acidity mixed with strong alcohol.
M - Medium with a dry sour finish.
O - Damnit. Aurora Borealis was one of my favourite EVER beers, but an infection has spoilt this one beyond repair. Save your pennies, and beware of bottle bombs.
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)
3.94/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.94/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
250ml bottle, a rather dear, and shy little curiosity on the shelf today. Further investigation into the 'intercontinental and transequatorial quadrupel' label description reveals that this beer has indeed made a few trips across the world, first to get filled into Aussie red wine casks, then to make the long seaborne trek to Scandinavia, and then to get to we here in Western Canada.
This beer pours a murky, dark red-brick brown colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, densely foamy, and yet frothy beige head, which leaves a decent array of layered invading space ship lace around the glass as it slowly ebbs away.
It smells of strong red wine barrel notes up front - a tart cherry and raisin fruitiness, alcohol, and astringent wood staves - followed by a sedate bready caramel malt, musty yeast, softly sugary vanilla, a separate brown sugar sweetness, and a prominent earthy dryness. The taste is much more malty, the doughy caramel leading off, with a heady oaken character derived from the wine barrels - vanilla, toffee, a hint of ashy residue, and wood planks - a black cherry-led vinous fruitiness, edgy yeast, sugary plums, the suggestion of dry cocoa, and an earthy, leafy, and somewhat perfumed hoppiness, the alcohol doing well to hide out in those various guises.
The bubbles are definitely a going concern, sort of tightly frothy throughout, the body a sturdy medium weight, pretty smooth once you get past the wood, and a touch creamy. It finishes on a strong drying kick, prodded heavily by the lingering red wine, yeast, and hops.
While the inherently complex and sweet character of the base quad gets a bit of a work-over by the wine barrel treatment, things seem to more or less sort themselves out by the end. A balance, or perhaps detente, is achieved, keeping the booze, along with the sweetness, well in check. I'm a tad curious as to the particular casks they used here - my vote would be Pinot Noir - less sweet, subtle, and cherry up the wazoo.
Mar 23, 2014This beer pours a murky, dark red-brick brown colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, densely foamy, and yet frothy beige head, which leaves a decent array of layered invading space ship lace around the glass as it slowly ebbs away.
It smells of strong red wine barrel notes up front - a tart cherry and raisin fruitiness, alcohol, and astringent wood staves - followed by a sedate bready caramel malt, musty yeast, softly sugary vanilla, a separate brown sugar sweetness, and a prominent earthy dryness. The taste is much more malty, the doughy caramel leading off, with a heady oaken character derived from the wine barrels - vanilla, toffee, a hint of ashy residue, and wood planks - a black cherry-led vinous fruitiness, edgy yeast, sugary plums, the suggestion of dry cocoa, and an earthy, leafy, and somewhat perfumed hoppiness, the alcohol doing well to hide out in those various guises.
The bubbles are definitely a going concern, sort of tightly frothy throughout, the body a sturdy medium weight, pretty smooth once you get past the wood, and a touch creamy. It finishes on a strong drying kick, prodded heavily by the lingering red wine, yeast, and hops.
While the inherently complex and sweet character of the base quad gets a bit of a work-over by the wine barrel treatment, things seem to more or less sort themselves out by the end. A balance, or perhaps detente, is achieved, keeping the booze, along with the sweetness, well in check. I'm a tad curious as to the particular casks they used here - my vote would be Pinot Noir - less sweet, subtle, and cherry up the wazoo.
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia
3.88/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.88/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Brewed at Bridge Road in Australia, shipped in red wine barrels across the sea to Norway and bottled by Nøgne Ø. I'm very pleased some of this made its way back to its birthplace. This was a 250ml brown bottle purchased from Oak Barrel in Sydney.
Pours a hazed, deep brown, with tints of red to the edges of the glass. Head forms a rather frothy mass of carbonated foam, but settles out to a decent crest of pale brown that leaves excellent lace. Carbonation is pretty fine, but the body is lighter than expected, and the bubbles flow through the glass rather swiftly. Looks good though overall.
Nose is great. Certainly you can smell the red wine oak character: plenty of vinous tones coming through, giving a fragrant but restrained fruitiness with tannic overtones. Deep malt, but not a lot of esters or yeast character. It lacks some of the dark sweetness of the Borealis, and certainly the smoky whisky tones, but the red wine is a fine addition in any case. It's still a tasty brew.
Similarly on the palate, the red-wine is quite dominant, although here there's a slight booziness on the very back of the palate which gives a lilt of depth to the beer. Still, a most definitely vinous almost-tartness on the front, slight fruitiness and a lingering tannic astringency. The frothiness of the carbonation makes you think otherwise, but it really does take on a lot of the red wine characteristics.
Overall. I certainly like it. I feel as though this has been overwhelmed by the red wine characters more than the Borealis was affected by the whisky—the Borealis was a more complete beer in and of itself. But I'm not one to pass up a sea-voyage aged wine-barrel quad, and there's certainly a huge amount to appreciate in this beer.
Mar 13, 2014Pours a hazed, deep brown, with tints of red to the edges of the glass. Head forms a rather frothy mass of carbonated foam, but settles out to a decent crest of pale brown that leaves excellent lace. Carbonation is pretty fine, but the body is lighter than expected, and the bubbles flow through the glass rather swiftly. Looks good though overall.
Nose is great. Certainly you can smell the red wine oak character: plenty of vinous tones coming through, giving a fragrant but restrained fruitiness with tannic overtones. Deep malt, but not a lot of esters or yeast character. It lacks some of the dark sweetness of the Borealis, and certainly the smoky whisky tones, but the red wine is a fine addition in any case. It's still a tasty brew.
Similarly on the palate, the red-wine is quite dominant, although here there's a slight booziness on the very back of the palate which gives a lilt of depth to the beer. Still, a most definitely vinous almost-tartness on the front, slight fruitiness and a lingering tannic astringency. The frothiness of the carbonation makes you think otherwise, but it really does take on a lot of the red wine characteristics.
Overall. I certainly like it. I feel as though this has been overwhelmed by the red wine characters more than the Borealis was affected by the whisky—the Borealis was a more complete beer in and of itself. But I'm not one to pass up a sea-voyage aged wine-barrel quad, and there's certainly a huge amount to appreciate in this beer.
Aurora Australis from Nøgne Ø
Beer rating:
87 out of
100 with
28 ratings
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