Nordlys
HammerHeart Brewing Company

This beer pours a muddy brown with a large head. The features pine and lemon, vague smoke, dill, caraway, nutmeg, and brown sugar. It is an excellent and remarkable aroma. The flavor features brown sugar, dill, nutmeg, mild smoke, mushroom, soy sauce, strong umami flavor, mint - overall is is tough to tell exactly what is going on - it is very savory, strongly piney, and musty and dark. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with low carbonation. Overall this is a very different beer - maybe a bit much, but still tasty.

25.36 oz. waxed bottle. Poured into a Hammerheart tulip glass.

Appearance: Color is a deep amber. Moderate amount of bubbles and a solid finger of off white head that slowly settles into a thin creamy layer.

Smell: A nicely boozy and fruity aroma with a scent of Aquavit and fruit. Big upfront boozy scent of Aquavit. Hints of dried fruits. Malt scent of caramel and biscuit. A pretty nice aroma.

Taste: Like it smells, a barrel forward taste with big notes of Aquavit and fruit. Big upfront taste of Aquavit. Good notes of fruit. Malt notes of caramel, grains, and biscuit. A very good taste.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Pretty smooth.

Overall: A really good and interesting brew. Big Aquavit presence without being hot. Nice fruit notes.

 

I'm going to tackle the second growler I brought home that day, and it is a 7% ABV Juniper Pale Ale aged in Aquavit barrels called Nordlys. What's a Nordlys? A Norwegian newspaper? The Aurora Borealis? An album by the German Gothic/folk metal band Midnattsol? (Thanks, Wikipedia!) All those, and this beer. Let's drink it.

Lightly clouded, rich and dark amber coloring, slim, soon-gone head.

Aromatics: brimming with distinct juniper flavor, lightly spicy and fruity.

In the mouth: starts off a little bitter, bracingly spicy, refreshing and surprisingly drinkable. Medium bodied. Long, bitter-fruity finish. Hangs on long on the palate. Rather hard to describe, and a perfect example of what makes them so different. I can't think of another beer like this, anywhere, ever. Tastes a little like gin, little like vodka, but it remains at heart a nice, malty pale ale, with hops just keeping up with the barrel-aging and the juniper. "Different" is something we say in Minnesota when we don't know how to describe something new and interesting. Oh, yeah, you betcha this one is different. I'm digging it.