Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Colour is black / very dark ruby. Aroma is roast malts on an initially unpleasant background of vomit, gets better as the beer warms up. Flavour is much better, again: roast malts and coffee. Bitterness seems just right. Easy drinking.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. The hops are what it’s all about with this light and refreshing golden ale. Would benefit from being served at a slightly cooler temperature than was the case at the IBF. Lovely hoppy aroma and flavour, notes of grapefruit and pineapple. Recommended!

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

The bad thing about living in Norway is the price of beer. The good thing, however, is that those of us who live near the coast and have a small boat (yes, like me) can catch our own seafood - for free. Freshly caught crab was my chosen accompaniment with Kirin lager - a good choice, I believed, as the Japanese love seafood more than anyone else in the world. I'm sorry to say that most European pilseners / light lagers would have been a better choice than this one. There is very little aroma, the beer is dry (which is a good thing when you have it with seafood) but some more flavour would have been good too! - aftertaste is metallic. Surely the Japanese can do better than this??

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Black (and I mean BLACK) colour, even when held to the light. Aroma has some dark chocolate, coffee and wood. Roast malt flavour. Hints of tar in the finish. Dry, woody aftertaste. This is not a stout of the "smooth and velvety" kind, but an interesting aquaintance indeed!

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

(275 ml bottle). A low carb bitter - what an idea! Commercial description: "Full flavoured English beer" - my ass! Weak malty aroma, very weak flavour. They sure haven’t used too much of the Golding and Fuggle hops which the label boasts! Quite dry. I used most of it to wash down a meal. Definitely not a beer I’ll buy again!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle conditioned, 500 ml, bought at Memorable Cheeses, Ipswich. Dark copper coloured, hazy (poured the yeast in). Low head, moderate natural carbonation. Moderate malty aroma, hints of caramel, spices and camphor. Flavour is well balanced, malty and a bit spicy, but has a substantial hoppy bitterness in the finish. Very good.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle conditioned, 500 ml. Bought at Memorable Cheeses, Ipswich. A delightful little shop! All beers they stock are local and bottle conditioned. This beer pours with a low head and hazy amber (nearly orange) colour. Moderate but pleasant aroma of caramel / toffee, hops and yeast (I poured it all in). Flavour is slightly yeasty, rounded and well balanced with a moderate but delicious hoppiness that lasts through the aftertaste. Who said the English can’t bottle condition beers?

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Rerate, 330 ml bottle, now available in Norway (ICA). ABV is 4.6%. Pale golden colour, large head. There’s an initial Heineken-isch whiff when you open the bottle (an American would probably say "skunky"). In the glass the moderate aroma has notes of maize (corn) and cooked vegetables, hints of flowers and honey. Spritzy mouthfeel. The flavour actually has some malts, and also moderate hops in the finish, so this one is far from being the worst pale lager I’ve tasted. Quite drinkable.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

One of the better German Pilseners, IMO. The Bitburger used to be a small local German brand, known only by connoisseurs and "the locals". It has steadily grown to be a nationwide brand in Germany, and now also an international brand. Some say it also has become more bland and mainstream in the process, but I think it's still a fairly crisp and drinkable pils.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

My 500 ml bottle (brewed and bottled in Slovakia, purchased in Finland) just says Topvar Marina Schwarzbier - with an ABV of 5%. I'm slowly getting the idea that the high % in the Slovakian name of all Topvar beers is NOT the ABV, but the malt content or something. This is a delicious Schwarzbier: Black to mahogany colour, good head, oily garage aroma with coffee notes ("coffee break at the garage"). Well balanced malty roast flavour with just the right sweetness - not very complex, but this proves that a well balanced beer does not necessarily have to be complex to be GOOD. In other words - a very drinkable and refreshing Schwarz. A nice roast finish makes you want another one. Yes, please!