Batten Down The Hatches
Nøgne Ø

 

11.2 ounce bottle, bottle #5248/7500, best by 01.03.31 stamped on the label. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that stuck around a little bit. There's a small amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like dark fruit, dark chocolate, vanilla, burnt/charred malt and some cognac. Nice balance between the sweet and roasty bitter flavors. Taste is pretty similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some coffee, earthy and dark bready flavors. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's slick and a bit syrupy with a low/moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was a good overall brew, definitely worth trying if you get the chance!

From the 11.2 oz bottle in a snifter. This excellent brew pours a dark coal black with
a moderate head of brown foam that settles to a tin ring, a thin dusty layer, and shows
some nice legs. Nose of cognac, brandy, dark chocolate, faint coffee, and dark dried
fruits. Flavors hit the mark with a fine presentation of dark coffee, dried fruits of
black, blue, and raspberry, cognac, oak, vanilla, bakers chocolate, and hints of
tobacco. Mouth feel is full, smooth, coating, moderately slick, faint carbonation,
and a warming bitter malt finish.

Overall---another winner from a great brewery!

Cheers

 

Review from 8/2022; not sure why this didn't get on BA. Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin dark khaki head that dissipates to a persistent thin film with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, dark molasses, dry caramel, cocoa and dark stone fruit; mild vinous notes. Flavor is dark toasted malt, fortified wine, mixed dried fruit, light cocoa and molasses. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A pleasant barreled stout that emphasizes the cognac barrels (although it tastes closer to Port to me), dark fruit from the cognac, not much aquavit character that I can detect. The malt body has great fruit, cocoa and molasses notes notes, but does not have quite the malt depth I'd expect from a Russian imperial stout, although that is probably due to the barreling. Still full bodied and flavorful. I've enjoyed all the stouts I've have from this brewery over the years and hope to see more in the future.

 

When this beer arrives, then all should take heed. Hide the women and children, take shelter and batten down the hatches, Nogne-O's barrel aged stout isn't for the faint of heart.

Jet black and pouring with a rich inky impression, Batten Down The Hatches releases a short, shy and dark brown crown. As the dark ale falls still, the nose is stricken with notions of molasses, cocoa, dark fruit, campfire, coffee and brandy spice. Malty in its early focus, the flavors of blackstrap molasses, brown sugar, baker's chocolate and deeply caramelized sugars coat the tongue with sweet roast.

The roastier attitude of the beer eventually outshines the sweetness with a robust espresso roast that invites an intense taste of brushfire, fine ash and smoldering embers in a smoky cocoa way. Elements of dark fruit all seem charred as they take on blackcurrant, black cherry, blueberry proportions. Trending bitter, spicy and drying, the late taste is sharp with cognac, coffee and strongly peppery hops.

Full bodied, rich on the tongue, and chocked full of complexity, the stout is never cloying as its spicy barrel influence has the beer on a drying track for spectacular drinkability for such power, complexity and richness. Dark fruit, brandy warmth and bitter woods echo in a long and steady aftertaste.