“We at Nøgne Ø are not so fond of lager beer. But we are very fond of hops. Shall we try and combine the best and the worst? We asked ourselves. The result was an IPA, brewed as usual, but fermented with lager yeast. India Pale Lager. Sample the word! IPL. That does not sound good. Almost a bit clinical. Good? Awful? Interesting? Or just so-so? There is only one way to find out!”
One of the things we love most about craft beer is the propensity for brewers to experiment, warp, combine and generally amplify standard beer…just coz we can!! We love that. This is what these Norweigan brewers do on a daily basis and this India Pale Lager is a by-product of that very thought process. Taking the new world IPA and fermenting it with old school lager yeast to create an even newer world style. Fantastic! Served in an IPA glass. The light but cloudy amber appearance knocks up a one finger head which recoils and settles to a well retained 3-4mm cap. Laced reasonably well. As expected, the IPA characters are the first to tantalise the olfactory’s with big and extremely sweet fruity overtones. What’s interesting is this Belgian-style juicy stone fruit element thats providing wafts of prunes, mulberry and caramelised apples. Quite medicinal too. There’s something that resembles tiger balm in here. Nice malt component, plenty of sugary toffee and caramel notes to boot. Very unique aroma. Really nice and fullish in the mouth, coating the whole palate well with it’s dense creamy texture. Medium carbonation with a slight sting from the 7.5% ABV. The 60 IBU is masked nicely, opening up properly through the mid. A healthy tussle between sweet toffee/caramel malts and grassy hop bitterness plays out upfront. The slight sting from the alcohol carries it all forward and delivers a punchy finish with a lingering dry feel to the back end. Great length. Really drawing out a lot of moisture from the tongue in between sips. Highly enjoyable beer. Plenty of foreign elements in there that hand this brew it’s unique character and intense flavour. A solid crafty offering here.