So this past winter, the LCBO brought in a grouping of beers from a brewery in Copenhagen, Denmark, called Nørrebro Bryghus. (Earlier I reported there was three available, there was actually five). The beers were immediately attractive, being in well designed 600ml bottles. If, like me, you just rushed in, you might also have found out the hard way, that they were less attractively priced. Ranging from about $7 up to $23 for the Little Korkny Barleywine. I bought all of them (I think). After hearing from a few people that the Barleywine was nice, but very young, I’ve decided to age it at least a year, maybe two, before opening it up. So this is my last bottle (this year), and I’m a bit surprised I left it this long. An imperial stout that lists Canadian maple syrup as an ingredient on the label; I’m shocked I didn’t drink it right away. Untappd has this listed as an espresso stout, but I’m thinking they’re wrong. There’s no mention of espresso in the ingredients, though they do mention “coffee aromas” in the description. But come on, maple syrup, how can this miss? As a side note/confession, I buy 1 litre jugs of maple syrup at the market, and as soon as I’ve purchased it, I open it up and take a swig. Because I like it that much. Think about that the next time you have pancakes at my house…..
La Granja Stout - Nørrebro Bryghus
From a lovely 600ml brown bottle with both brewed on and best before dates on the neck, the beer pours a solid opaque black with hints of dark brown at the edges. The pour produced a bit of carbonation, but no head, ring or film. Given the style, the aroma is surprising, in that there is a big dose of maple syrup to it. I would have expected this to be more of an undertone to the roasty malts, but the roles are actually reversed; hints of smokey malts fill in under a classic clean maple syrup aroma. Taste is much more in line with an imperial stout, lots of nice dark roasty malts, hints of chocolate and coffee. But the maple syrup is still very present too, adding a depth to the sweetness you would usually expect from the malts and higher alcohol. There are many examples of this, but this beer really drinks like a liquid dessert in a glass. Unlike some of the more cloying sweet offerings (some Southern Tier brews pop to mind), this really is more in my range of desserts. Sweet, and rich, but with a big bitter chocolate. Despite the lack of head, there is a mild carbonation that creates some activity on the palate. The beer is actually a bit thin for an imperial stout. I normally expect a fair ammount of weight to an imperial, but this drinks like an ale. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just noteworthy. It could lead to a rough morning if you could afford a few bottles of this; the 7.5% abv is well hidden, and the weight makes it easy to sip quickly. Thankfully the complexity of the beer should slow you down to reflect, and keep things sane. A lovely beer, and possibly my favourite of the Nørrebro brews that came into the LCBO.
Nice one, Nørrebro, now to wait a year or so and review that Little Korkny.
One Comment