Nils Oscar, India ale
This brew is produced by a brewery located in Nyköping; Nils Oscar. When it all started, some years ago, they had their brewery just a block away from my house. Well, they have expanded and now they also make vodka. The old brewery got to small for their rapidly expanding business, they had to move to a new location. They merged with another brewery located by Nyköping. So, Stockholm, lost a fine brewery – but, what they produce is very drinkable. It is not the entire story, but I’ll save that for another time.
The beer I have reviewed got a good reception at the Stockholm Beer & Whisky festival 2006, it was praised as the best Swedish beer on bottle that year.
Three different malts has gone into to this ale; pilsner-, Munchner- and caramel. They used the American Amarillo hops for pungecy. All together this should give “broad” taste, we’ll see.
Opening the bottle and pouring into the glass renders some good froth. It start dissolving after a while, a rather short lifespan though. Sniffing it indicates a typical ale, some hops and maybe a weak tone of sweets, almost candy. The color is amber and clear.
Taste: there is some bitterness from the hops, some maltiness, some undefined fruit – nice and agreable, but a little too weak for my palate (*). Aftertaste is a bit short, but overall the taste has a refreshing quality. It is a very nice ale, but I find it goes best together with a meal. Not really on its own, in my opnion, but definitely with something edible to accompany it. Why not something spicy and pungent, some nice Indian stews with chutney, or ..?.
Skål! (Sw: cheers!)
* Upcoming review on something I really really like!
