Port barrel aged variant of Nøgne Ø’s oud bruin, 75 cl bottle shared by Craftmember. Dense, pale yellowish beige, small-bubbled, opening head on a misty deep caramel brown beer with burgundy glow. Convincingly ‘oud bruin’-like aroma, a bit intensified: passionfruit, Syrah wine and blue grapes (though not very outspokenly port-like), lots of pronounced vanilla-scenting oak wood, sugared tea, grape seed oil, sherry, blackcurrant, blue plum, some balsamico. Fruity onset, sour and sweet as befits an ‘oud bruin’, plum peel, passionfruit and blackberry notes, some redcurrant-like acidity too but nowhere too sharply so and always mitigated by a sweet core, finely tingling fizz, supple mouthfeel (feeling a tad lighter than expected at this strength). Hard-caramelly, brown-bready maltiness, dried by ongoing lactic sourness with a continuing fruity character, increasingly coloured by the barrel treatment, manifesting itself as a strong tannic presence (including retronasal vanilla effect) that connects with the sour part of this beer to form an almost astringent character. Huge woodiness, warming port-like alcohol and lingering sourness dominate the finish, but an actual port flavour remains difficult to discern, distorted as it is by the tartness – I would have made an association with dry sherry hadn’t I known about the port. It does not matter, though: this is a truly beautiful ‘oud bruin’, complex and ‘deep’, much stronger than is averagely the case in this family but the strength only accentuates the warm, rustic and contemplative character of the whole. And in spite of this rather atypical feature, the general flavour profile manages to convey the character of an oud bruin (the Flemish way) very convincingly. Very well done, in all respects – I even dare say this is a masterpiece in this style.

KØLF 271120. Red amber color with a beige head. Aroma is sourness, dried fruit, red wine. Flavor is sourness, caramel, yeast, dried fruits, funk, funk, spices, barnyard, lemon, alcohol. Complex very nice beer.

Endelig, etter en surrealistisk koronatørke er vi igjen samlet på Mi2, og ikke et promillefritt blodomløp i nærheten ettersom seremonimester Melberg på sitt sedvanlige vis sørget for at stemingen er direkte lun idet vi nå blir beskjenket kveldens sjette fatøl. Klar rødbrun med fint skum som varer tl bunns. Belgisk duft med brett og sure kirsebær. Smaken er raffinert og elegant. I tillegg til kirsebær og brett finner jeg hint av vanilje/eik og rødvin. Tonnevis av mersmak, og med en superb ettersmak som kunne vart helt til bybrua. Men heldigvis er vi bare halvveis i kveldens meny.

From tap 25.05.20 at the first Mi2 at Cardinal after the corona closure. Mahogany. Excellent and complex aroma, taste and aftertaste of brett, oxydized red wine, medium dark malt. Quite dry. Well-balanced and wonderfully quaffable.