An Amber Ale
Nils Oscar Bryggeri, Nyköping 5.5% ABV. Systembolaget Article Number 11424. Price 26.90SEK (500ml bottle)
I was taken off-guard by the colour of this beer, incorrectly (as it turned out) thinking this would be a rich yellow colour like a field of Autumn barley. As it turns out it is amber-red and has all the hallmarks of a Scottish ale in appearance. A slightly smutty white head completes the show.
In-your-face sweet, with caramel, toast and a berry fruit I couldn't really place but settled for blackcurrant. Problem is the fruit doesn't smell fresh. It's like the difference between smelling fresh fruit and fruit preserved in syrup that comes out of a tin. It's OK but it's not 'authentic' and it didn't convince me.
The Amarillo hops are barely there buried under a heap of caramel malt flavours. It's all a little thin and sweetly one-dimensional for me. I was expecting a harvest ale to be chewy, nutty and nutritious - the cream of the crop squeezed into a bottle. What I got left me feeling somewhat undernourished.
I'm going to treat this beer like a Scottish ale. Its sweet and chewy toffee character is the perfect match to meats that have been glazed with a sweet BBQ sauce and have a crisp, crunchy skin. Imagine taking a sip after a mouthful of real vanilla ice-cream!
Nerd note
This is a 'lagom' effort by Nils Oscar. Like watching Anders Lundin hosting Allsång på Skansen it's pleasant - quite OK. Question is: is OK good enough from a brewery that I rate so highly?
Rating
2.5 of 5
Sorry Nils Oscar, but no, this was not good enough.
Honestly Darren, I have had three bottles of N/O Harvest Ale up to this date(finished the third for about 5 minutes ago), and I must say It’s a great beer. The Nils Oscar spirit is there, the body is there, the colour is great and compared to Oppigård’s Slåtteröl,( I think the compete in the same league) this one is the winner! I think I must order a full box! Simply love it! I have one more down there…
Peter – of course I’m really glad you like it
That’s the beauty of tasting beers – ”one man’s meat is another man’s poison. (not that Harvest Ale is poison mind you. As I said it’s OK. That’s the nicest and perhaps most scathing thing I can say about it.
Aren’t most of Nils Oscar’s efforts lagom? Obviously they seem to have their followers and I’ll be the first to celebrate craft ale variety but Nils Oscar is probably the Swedish craft brewery which most often disappoints me.
Mind you, I’m always pleased when I find their God lager in surprising places (mostly Gothenburg’s art museum) and that Kalasöl is nice.