Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

(500 ml bottle conditioned). Finally available bottled, this amber ale comes from the micro brewery that make all other Norwegian commercial brewers look ridiculous. ABV bottled is 6.0%. Colour is deep amber to reddish and cloudy. Very good thick head. Lovely complex fruity and flowery aroma - roses and flowers I can't even remember the name of. Flavour is first treacherously pleasant malty, fruity and slightly spicy, then the hops brutally take over with a very bitter (too bitter?) and salty finish. Definitely not a beer for the Corona generation.

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

(Bottle conditioned, 500 ml). Rerate: This time I had the beer from a fresh batch, and the dead yeast aroma and flavour was gone. Instead the aroma and flavour were now overpowering yeasty - but from fresh yeast this time(which is not unpleasant). Far better, but I still think the brewers use too much yeast in this brew. But the head of this beer is less enormous when poured than many other weissbiers. So far the least interesting of the Nøgne Ø beers I've had. Original rating: (500 ml bottle). Thick sediment in bottle. Like the brewers recommend, I turned the bottle upside down a couple of times to get the maximum out of the yeast, but having my experience with the Wit in fresh memory, I waited a little longer before opening the bottle this time! Pours with a large head, but not quite as large as some other Weissbiers. Colour is cloudy golden. Weird aroma, not typical hefe. The cloves are there, but the dominant smell is of dead yeast. Must have been over the top, despite "brewed date" being 21.06.03, and "best before date" being 21.06.04. I have a few bottles left, think I'll leave the sediment alone in those. Flavour is OK, but nothing special. Drier than most German Hefeweizens.

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

(Bottle conditioned, 500 ml). Thick sediment in bottle. I turned the bottle upside down a couple of times, like the brewers recommend, to get maximum pleasure out of the yeast. The result was that my pants now have the unmistakenly typical witbier aroma of coriander, cloves, over-ripe bananas and orange peel. The rest of the beer hit my glass, and there the aroma was even better! After the ENORMOUS foamy head had subsided a little, I found out there was actually beer underneath - colour: Cloudy golden, nearly brownish. Flavour: Again typical wit - coriander, cloves and orange peel. Very refreshing. Moderate aftertaste. How wonderful that the "lager desert" of Norway now has an uncompromising micro brewery that DARE make good beer!

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

For a "klasse D" (= too low ABV, for the Norwegian grocery store market) Christmas brew this is not too bad. Reddish brown colour, good head, mild spices in the aroma. Very well balanced light malty sweetness vs. hoppy dryness. But of course, the inevitable watery mouthfeel of a "klasse D" Christmas brew is there. Lacks "punch" - it's not a brew that will kick off knife-fights, like an "Olde Norse" Yule/Christmas brew should(!) Still better than Mack Juleøl (klasse D), but not as good as their Juleøl (klasse F).

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

This one has traditionally been the thinnest of Norwegian "klasse F" Yule/Christmas beers - the brewery made a slightly darker brew this year. Not as bad the ratings in Norwegian newspapers tell you. Reasonably malty, nutty, some caramel/toffee.

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

Mack Juleøl (klasse D) is made for the Norwegian grocery store market (= ABV less than 4.75%). Rated 0,5 liter can 2002 - new recipe. Copper coloured, good thick head. Peculiar aroma - initially acidic, later dusty with spices: salt of hartshorn, cloves and cardamom - like stale Christmas cookies in March. Less prominent spices in the flavour, thin and watery mouthfeel. Aftertaste does not last for long. If you can't have the "klasse F" Juleøl, Mack's Julespesial is at least a better alternative in the "klasse D" than this one.

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

Rerate, new 500 ml bottle design as Mack GullMack, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 6.5%. Pale yellow colour (paler than before?), big to moderate white head. Aroma of grassy hops and sweetish malts. The flavour is fairly sweet and sugary, with too little bitterness to balance it. Still drinkable. Original Rating: This is a strong pale lager (colour is deeper golden than a pilsener) in the Norwegian "eksport" (Danish: "guldøl") tradition. Aroma and flavour are a bit sweet, tolerably malty, a bit alcoholic but not overwhelmingly. Fairly decent for a Mack product.

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

Not as good as Aass Bock in any way, considerably thinner, fairly light brown colour, weaker aroma, more of a refreshment beer than a sipping beer, still it's drinkable - probably Mack's best product after all.

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

33 cl bottle, served too cold at Lorry Restaurant, Oslo. Reddish brown colour, moderate to low head. Moderate malty aroma with notes of slightly burnt caramel, hints of tobacco. Disappointingly bland flavour, some malts and caramel, thin and watery mouthfeel. Low on hops. Little aftertaste.

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

A middle-of-the-road pilsener / lager from the world's northernmost commercial brewery (there's a brewpub further north, in Honningsvåg). Rerate: Typical pils golden colour, slightly darker than Mack Arctic Beer. Good head, fairly malty aroma for a pils, malty sweetness in the flavour, moderate bitterness. Just another pils, really.