Nuevo Noir
Lagunitas Brewing Company

Nuevo NoirNuevo Noir
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From:
Lagunitas Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
Belgian Dark Ale
ABV:
6.3%
Score:
82
Avg:
3.58 | pDev: 11.73%
Reviews:
53
Ratings:
54
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 30, 2013
Added:
Jul 15, 2005
Wants:
  5
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by poluti:
Photo of poluti
Reviewed by poluti from Virginia

4.12/5  rDev +15.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This is not a typical brown ale. It somewhat typical until it clears up a bit to a more orange amber color. Very nice lightly tanned head. The smell is a bit floral with a little too much alcohol coming through. It tastes thicker than was led on by the smell. Very sweet beer. It is very prominant on the tip of the tongue but well-balanced on the tongue and not a sour sweet. I enjoyed this beer and will probably have it again.
Nov 08, 2005
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by harpus from Alabama

Sep 30, 2013
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Reviewed by magictrokini from California

3.56/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Leather-brown and red pour, but clear. Almost no head out of the bottle. Aroma is baked apple with some spice. Taste is very good; malty with background of spice, raisins, and brown sugar. Finish is clean, not sticky sweet. A nice understated Belgian.
Dec 10, 2008
Photo of emerge077
Reviewed by emerge077 from Illinois

3.31/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Vintage bottle shared by Jay23, courtesy of Tony. Thanks!

Transparent tawny brown in the glass. Initially a couple fingers of head that settles down to a ring around the glass. Sweet caramel, earthy belgian yeast aroma.

Malty caramel flavor, a little nutty, but also flat and subdued. A light sweetness from candi sugar. Mellow feel, easy enough to drink, but not especially impressive.
Sep 09, 2008
Photo of Gueuzedude
Reviewed by Gueuzedude from Arizona

2.96/5  rDev -17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Sampled April 2007
Notes of toasted chocolate, and browned bread crust greet my nose as I pour this beer. This is quite a bit more aromatic than I was expecting and, without yet inspecting the aroma, seems to even have a lightly funky edge to it. The beer pours with a two-finger thick, amber-tinged, tan colored head and the beer is a brilliantly clear, concentrated amber color that is quite pretty to look at in the light. Upon further inspection, the aroma is quite a bit more fruit focused; notes of caramelized raisins and figs are quite prominent. Underneath the fruitiness is that initial note of malt. Really the aroma is quite sticky, and a bit too fruity smelling for me.

Lightly sweet up front, it picks up more sweetness as it moves across the palate. The sweetness makes me think I am drinking something like raisin, or even prune juice. Underneath this fruit character are notes of caramel malts, lightly toasted grain and a browned crusty bread character; This malt character is not really noticeable enough to balance the over the top sweet and fruity notes though.

This beer certainly mimics many Belgian beers, it just happens these are the ones I don't like. They are too sweet and syrupy for me, and they are lacking in the yeast-derived complexity of the truly great Belgian Ales.
May 02, 2007
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Reviewed by Nipitato from Massachusetts

3.8/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Picked up at bottle at Julio's Liquors in Westborough, MA.

A: Deep dark ruby amber. Thin buff head with good retention though not the mousy head that is indicative of this style. Though dark, brilliant clarity when held to light.

S: Marriage between sweet malts and fruity esters. Malt is bready. Esters lean towards prunes/raisins. No prominent spicy aromas.

T: Balance of taste leans heavily towards malt. Malt is bready like the smell. Esters add nice compliment to the sweet malt flavor. Esters exhibit characteristics of raisins and fruit candy. Slight bitterness at end.

MF: High carbonation but not enough to be annoying. Medium light body. Moderately filling mouthfeel. Alcohol warming noticeable.

D: A good crack at a Belgian strong ale but not quite complex and rich enough to be top tier. That being said very drinkable.
Feb 28, 2007
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Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

4.29/5  rDev +19.8%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
thanks to Watermelonman for the hookup! I am sampling a room temp bottle poured into a snifter. The beer pours a clear mahogany color with soft fluffy offwhite head of 1 cm that fades to a surface layer quickly.
Aroma is brown sugar, bready yeast, some dark fruit (plums), and cloves. QUite a complex nose that makes me want to take a sip.
Giving in I detect a medium body, very fine fizzy carbonation and silky texture. The flavor is sweet with brown sugar, cloves, and caramel, this rolls to a yeasty bready, dark fruit finish. The beer is ultra fizzy and makes me burp quite a bit. I think general spice and malt sweetness dominate the brew, which I find very enjoyable. Very easy drinker with no hint of ABV. I would buy if I saw in a store or bar.
Jun 22, 2006
Photo of mzwolinski
Reviewed by mzwolinski from California

3.53/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Mostly clear amber, with a thinnish light tan head. The aroma is a bit thin, with some wheaty notes and a hint of caramel malt sweetness. There's some spiciness there, but it comes off a bit off -- rather sock-like, as the Bum put it. Sweet malty start to the flavor, which pretty much goes nowhere. A bit toasty with a hint of spice toward the back-end, and not as off-puting as the aroma would have led me to believe. But not at all like a Belgian brown, as the label would have led me to believe. Still, it's not bad considered apart from its miscategorization. Full-bodied but drinkable.
May 05, 2006
Photo of Crosling
Reviewed by Crosling from Colorado

3.7/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Clear auburn color with a soft, filmy head. Subtle aroma overall, yeasty (sweat, must), with cornmeal hints, light chocolate, toffee and dark fruit. Fizzy, bubbly and creamy texture, but still light in body. Earthy flavor all around, with sweaty yeast, toffee, honey sweetness and dark fruit. An easygoing, mild take on a light Belgian dubbel.
Apr 24, 2006
Photo of bjohnson
Reviewed by bjohnson from Massachusetts

3.2/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
A: Pours a burgandy maroonish color with a slight one finger white fizzy head that dissipates to about a half pretty quickly. Fizzy bubbles continue to come up from the bottom.

S: Aromas of caramel and dark fruit with a good malt background that balances the smell out nicely.

T: Tastes of caramel and dark fruit combined with wheaty malts Slight banana flavor also--consistent with belgiums. Body is medium to light and not too complex. Aftertaste is minimal to bland, kind of watery.

M & D: Mouthfeel and drinkability are both ok on this offering from Lagunitas. The brown ale style of belgium is a new one for me, and although I thought it was interesting, there could have been more body and flavor. This is drinkable because its smooth and light bodied, but would get something else from Lagunitas first.
Apr 10, 2006
Photo of CRJMellor
Reviewed by CRJMellor from Arkansas

3.18/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pours a deep chestnut brown with flecks of maroon and gold. Fomay almost cream like head is very impressive and has some staying power.
Aroma of caramel, brown sugar, dark wheat bread and some dark fruits with a hint of musty yeastiness.
Flavor is actually rather bland with mainly dark malts on the palate. No sourness, maybe a tick and a slightly yeasty dry bread crumg finish. Short and lacluster flavors. come to expect more from Lagunitas.
Mouthfeel is thin and watery and never gets anywhere style purported to be. False advertising aside it's not a badly constructed beer, just somewhat bland and innocuous. Darker fruit and malts are OK, again just average though
Drinkability is allright. Serious lack of effort to style but not a bad tasting beer. Underimpressed and Belgians don't se to fit with Lagunitas' usual kick ass West coast thing anyway. Skip this one, I wish I had.
Mar 24, 2006
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Reviewed by ommegangpbr from New York

4.1/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
You know, I think this is a slightly misunderstood style because of the bigger brother style. Next to a strong dark ale this seems weak and watery. But this is just supposed to be a dark ale. I think this brew does that job quite well.
Sweet, lightly spicy, a hint of sourness... the one flavor that comes to mind most easily is cherries, or dried cherries. Not a big beer by any means but it's not supposed to be! Still, 6.3% is a respectable amount and you can't taste the alcohol in there. It's bound to sneak up on you. Dries up quite well in the finish.
This falls within the realm of being a "nice" beer. Not great, not life changing, but a pretty tasty, easy to drink beer.
Mar 18, 2006
Photo of Hhawk06
Reviewed by Hhawk06 from Massachusetts

3.37/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
From a 22 oz. bomber...

This offering poured with a light, airy, off-white head and a deep mahogany in color. Actually, when held up to the light, a ruby red tinge is present. There's a sticky sweetness to the nose, maybe some caramel with a touch of clove. Its medium-heavy in body, standard for the style. There are intermingling flavors here, most notably are the tobacco stickiness and the subtle black licorice notes. It has a real candied feel overall. Some peppery notes perk your interest midway through the beer. However, it seems like it lacks some depth. It finishes somewhat creamy and mostly sugary sweet. But even the finish is watered down a bit. Not the best interpretation, I feel it could have been more carefully crafted.
Mar 04, 2006
Photo of IronDjinn
Reviewed by IronDjinn from Canada (AB)

3.63/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
From a 22 oz. bomber with a small speech therapy lesson on the label, plus the usual small stream-of-conscious blurb on the side (looks like this one will end in tears....).

Pours out a clear chestnut hue, tall off-white spongy head, which settles to a thin cap. Toasted malt, wood chips, Belgian yeast and candi sugar can be detected in the aroma, along with spices like black pepper and nutmeg. Very earthy, and nutty. The flavour is predominently sweet, honey and candi sugar, treacle, preserved fruits, some plum, and tends to get more woody, more earthy towards the finish. Indiscernable flavour of nuts on the finish. Sweet raisins and dates on the aftertaste. Excellent mouthfeel, smooth and velvety, has a backbone but is not too thick. A curious ale that is difficult to pinpoint, falls through some cracks and seems to switch and match with a few different styles, but all the more fun and interesting as a result. I could only handle one for an evening, far too sweet for me to go back for seconds in a row, but enjoyable while it lasts. I'd quaff it just for the sensation of that mouthfeel alone.
Feb 23, 2006
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Reviewed by PatYoda from Colorado

3.69/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Can't fault the appearance at all. Clear copper with a never ending film of cream colored small bubbled foam that coats the beer and leaves some lacing.

The smell definitely lets you know that a Belgian yeast strain was used due to the peppery yeastiness and medicinal aspects. Other than that, the darker flavors I would normally associate with a Belgian Dark Ale or Brown Ale are missing. I find no dark fruits, no roastiness, no brown sugar. It's not offensive though.

Some sweet caramel malt does show up in the taste to complement the pepper and medicinal flavors, but no other flavors make themselves known, leaving this beer pretty simple tastewise. The flavor is also a bit thin until the beer is almost at room temperature and it almost completely vanishes from the palate after swallowing, despite some pleasant toffee in the finish. However, after this one warms significantly, the flavor opens up quite a bit. I find nothing new in there, but the bright peppery flavors really come out a lot more and satisfy.

I found the mouthfeel to be nice, despite the average flavor. It had some body to it and was very creamy and smooth. This helped the drinkability quite a bit, and I would be able to enjoy several pints of the beer if nothing else more interesting were available.
Feb 05, 2006
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Reviewed by Mitchster from Michigan

4.53/5  rDev +26.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Paid $3.99 for a 22oz bomber. 6.3% ABV, 29.5 IBU, OG=1.076, 2005 edition.

Pours out to a brilliantly clear light mahogany, requiring a hefty pour to achieve a rocky and soapy light khaki head with excellent retention and good sticky lacing. Carbonation is mild to moderate. The aroma is delicate with light cloves, soft dark bananas, toasty and nutty amber malts, and green apple esters. The yeast is definitely Unibroue...it has that exact same ester profile with a very clean ferment. The mouthfeel is very soft and has a surprisingly medium-dense body which coats the mouth. The carbonation is very soft and makes this VERY easy to drink. The taste is wonderful...the aforementioned cloves, bananas and esters are all there, held in nice balance with a sticky and semi-dense amber malt body. There is a nice amount of toast in the middle with sweet nuts and dark fruits lingering in the finish. The aftertaste is of moist pipe tobacco with a mild to moderate bitterness. Alcohol is imperceptable. As I drink it, I'm starting to notice that it doesn't taste like a Unibroue strain, rather like an Ommegang strain fermented at a much cooler temp that what the boys back home do...(i.e-66-68 and not 78-82)

It seems alot of people have their panties in fits over the style of this brew. Don't expect a Dubble, a Belgian Strong Ale, or even a Belgian Dark Ale. This is kinda like an Belgian Uber-Brown. At any rate, I think this is a wonderful brew. I was taken by surprise that LaGunitas could churn out something completely different than what they normally brew and pull it off. Recommended!
Jan 27, 2006
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Reviewed by rowew from Colorado

3.37/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Presentation: 22 oz bomber. ABV, pronounciation guide, phone number, and a novella are all included on the label, but date information is excluded.

Appearance: Pours reddish brown with no haze, and a white head of small bubbles that fades quickly.

Smell: Sweet belgian yeast, maybe a hint of candy sugar. Slight banana aroma - very belgian smelling.

Taste: The most noticable taste aspect is the yeasty finish. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, carbonation level is low. Other than that the flavor seems a bit lacking.

Overall impression: This one has all the pieces in place, but the sum is a bit less than stellar. Nothing particularly wrong with it, it just doesn't add up to a great beer.
Jan 04, 2006
Photo of taez555
Reviewed by taez555 from Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
This beer poured a dark yet clear reddish brown body with a small white tan head.

Nose had a very sweet, classic Belgian, yeast, dark fruit, sugary smell.

Taste was medium to full bodied. Very malty with an almost biscuit note. Hints of spice. Surprisingly water. Yeast, caramel and mild fruit. There’s a nice even bitterness, not overly done, just there.

Stylistically I thought this beer reminded me more of an America Pale Ale mixed with a Belgian Brown. A decent session beer, but not really a Belgian brown.
Dec 16, 2005
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Reviewed by masikon from Washington

3.48/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Pours a vintage copper with bergundy hints, a nice foamy, heavy head comes in which disappears with moderate lacing. Nose is heavy with dark malts seeming to be predominant, slightly spicy with not a whole lot of hops here. Taste is also weighty on the palate and somewhat rich with malts, slightly spicy reminding me of an american style winter warmer. Has an unusual yeasty finish as opposed to hops. I think this is a unique tasting brew which is definitely worth a try although I'm not sure that it is true to the style that it is marketed as.
Dec 16, 2005
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Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.6/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Festive, scarlet-infused bronze with generous orange peel edges. The beer is capped by a snappy looking dome of firm, pale almond foam that is persistent, but is virtually featureless as it deflates. It falls short in the lace department as well. Close, but no cigar.

The nose is mildly interesting. I get the sense that there's a Belgian yeasty, clove spicy, dark ale in there somewhere, but it's too weak for me to appreciate whatever complexity might be present. Since there's very little head left, there's nothing to come between me and what might have been a pretty good nose if it was stronger.

Nuevo Noir tastes like a softer, sweeter, less clove-intensive Belgian dark ale. Actually, that description sounds pretty good to me (if done right), but the flavor profile doesn't quite come together where this beer is concerned. I've never liked BDAs as much as BSDAs because they seem like weaker, less complex, less interesting versions of the bigger style. That's exactly how this one comes across.

The malt backbone is semi-sturdy, even if it doesn't result in much more than a little sweet cocoa and chocolate. Hops are effectively hidden, so yeast is left to provide a counterpoint to the malt. The Belgian yeast strain that was used isn't wimpy, but neither is it a humdinger. Although this Lagunitas offering is easily identified as a domestic knockoff, it is drinkable if one doesn't expect the moon and the stars.

The body/mouthfeel is strictly medium with a light slickness and an understated amount of carbonation. Nothing too impressive, but then the beer is so easygoing that it almost drinks itself. Sip, gulp, chug, take your pick. I'll stick with the first of those options, thanks.

I'm pleased that Lagunitas decided to break out of the mold and brew something a little off the beaten path. If this is how they intended Nuevo Noir (New Black?) to taste, then I guess my idea of a good BDA doesn't quite jibe with their idea of a good BDA. I'm still glad that I had the chance to try it.
Dec 14, 2005
Nuevo Noir from Lagunitas Brewing Company
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 54 ratings