Innis & Gunn American Oak Pale Ale 4,4%

It’s not often a new beer pops up in Norway that has no hits on the interwebz. This is such a beer.

Innis & Gunn are famous for their wood matured and cask matured beers and this newest one is no different. It’s matured over Bourbon-infused American oak heartwood for a full and rich bourbon flavour. So let’s see if it’s true.

InnisGunnAmericanOakPaleAleAMLColour: Deep golden, edging towards light brown.

Nose: Vanilla and oak, in other words bourbon. A hint of fresh green apples is also present.

Palate: Light almost a bit watery start. But the bourbon flavours come out in force as we go along. The green apples still linger in the back. The bourbon lingers on and stay on the palate for a long time.

Summary: If you don’t like bourbon, stay away. It’s refreshing and a bit different, but the bourbon flavours are a little bit overpowering for me.

Nøgne Ø Asian Pale Ale

Nøgne Ø is getting better and better distribution in Norway after being taken over by the Hansa-Borg group. Even my local grocery store (quite small) has a decent selection of their max 4.7% abv. beers. Amongst them is the lastest offering Asian Pale Ale – a light refreshing ale with generous amounts of lemongrass (end quote).

It should be said that I’m no great fan of lemongrass and might be slightly biased when it comes to reviewing this ale.

Nøgne Ø Asian Pale AleColour: Hazy deep golden

Nose: Fresh sitrus with a dash og malted barley and some wheat. The lemongrass is present without making a nuisance of itself.

Palate: Light, watery taste of lemongrass soup with some malted cereals. A slight bitterness hiding in the background acting all shy.

In summary: I won’t be purchasing this ale again, but I can see it  going well with sushi and lighter asian foods. Or as a thirst quencher for those who aren’t biased against lemongrass.