Nogne Winter Ale makes me yearn for the Northern Lights

I started doing Krav Maga again yesterday after a 7 month relapse and in a cruel bit of voodoo magic, my body feels like it was hit for an hour instead of the heavy bag I was punching. I decided to start drinking new beers again on my days off as an incentive (like I really needed one) and today is the first in the timetable. I'm trying to drink as many winter beers as possible before the season runs out and will be doing a 21st Amendment winter warmer on Thursday as well.

Nogne has been good to me in the past and I feel it's one of those breweries everyone should know about, like The Bruery. It's from Norway and if you see a label carrying it's signature O, I cannot advocate enough you purchasing one. Their Imperial Stout received a Bad Boys rating back in September (http://www.beereveryday.com/2011/09/nogne-o-imperial-stout). I had a feeling that this brewery was the real deal, but will their Winter Ale prove me wrong?

This is ravenously good and it tastes like something Santa's elves would make. Crisp and spicy, a fireplace beer originating from a part of the world where it's mostly night during several months of the year. It warms the soul at 8.5% alcohol and incorporates flavors such as clove, licorice, raisin and cocoa nibs in a fantastically smooth way, like a bobsled track. COOL RUNNINGS!

Winter Warmers are generally a mixed bag, a complex bank heist that either happens according to plan or goes horribly wrong. This is definitely the former. With the later, the spice usually wears on you worse than watching the latest Dr. Pepper commercial:

Really not a fan of that commercial. An interesting insight that becomes muddled in the execution. Anywho, this Nogne Winter Ale is not as perfect as The Bruery's Two Turtle Doves but it's sublimely delicious and becomes addictive at first sip. What are the elves putting in the Norwegian water? BAD BOYS rating.