No. 137
Bøgedal Bryghus

i have never had a beer from these guys before this one, but have been aware of them for ages, extremely hard to find and price prohibitive stuff. leave it to the bull and bush holiday party to produce a bottle of this from 2008, astounding collection of beers these dudes share at this special event each year! this is incredible stuff, especially with all this age on it. looks shiny and sludgy at the same time from the bottle, a deep brown shade with golden edges and almost no visible carbonation or head at all. long legs as i twirl my glass, rising aromas of alcohol far stronger than its listed abv here, toasted or roasted chestnuts, old brandy or cognac, raisin, and leather. this is enormously earthy in the flavor, warming and festive to me, nutty an starchy, sweet and caramelized, old and musty, but hardly any oxidation, surprising for a beer this old. i get split firewood, well worn leather boots, honey and maple, toffee and brown butter, and faint vanilla in the alcohol. incredibly mature and complex, layered and interesting as they get, and some tired but distinct yeast in here, decidedly european but new to my palate. essentially devoid of carbonation, but it lets me taste the beer more thoroughly and i like the feel this way, super uncommon for me personally to enjoy a beer without bubbles, but it works here. i thought this was absurdly good, would love to have tried it fresh too. one of my favorites from the entire event, and a brewery i will not hesitate to spend money on in the future, should i be lucky enough to encounter any of their beers out there in the world...

 

On tap at Blue Monk. Some lace. Licorice and anise, more spicy in the sediment. Decently drinkable. Lots of chocolate malt, this is the tastiest part. Dark brown with a small head. Medium mouthful Not too sweet.A lighter version of an imperial stout.

This was the last of four Bogedal beers in the series I tried. Called a Christmas beer, although it (thankfully) avoids any sort of cliché ‘holiday’ spicing.

This pours a ruddy hazy color, like a cloudy pureed raisin color.

The aroma has characteristics of raisin puree and orange peel, with some candied cherry and chocolate nibs on it.

Great flavor, with a filling mouthfeel. I get an upfront roast, more roast than bitter, with a lot of stone fruits. Finishes sweet with a light booziness on the end. Delicious.

Damn. I've waited so long to try something from this brewery, and finally I get to. And on-tap no less.

This beer is crazy smooth. Very elegant with floral and perfume tones. Nice spiced tones to it, in a manner in which they add accents but don't hijack the beer.v

This is good. This is very good. Hopefully all of the other beers from this brewery are this good. I'm glad I finally had a chance to try this brewery out.

A: The beer is very dark reddish amber in color and poured with a thin dense off white head that never completely faded away, leaving some patches of bubbles on the surface.
S: There are light to moderately strong aromas of dark fruits, oak and spices in the nose.
T: The taste has flavors of dark malts along with hints of licorice, oak and peppery spices.
M: It feels a bit more than medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is a nice beer to sip that has some interesting flavors.

 

Poured a darkish borwn body with minimal carbonation so very little head retention but a nice oaky smell, as well a presence of sweet caramel and bread malt as well something akin to black licorice or cherry and some peppery spice. Light bodied, easy to drink, had a a tad too much spice for me but still good. Overall the sweetness makes it finish a little sticky and the spices and rare touch of hops seem to be a little overpowered...not a warmer in the traditional sense w/ that alkie kick but a good beer nonetheless.