Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

330 ml bottle, bought in Germany. ABV is 4.9%. Beautiful reddish brown colour, large and lingering greyish light tan head. Moderate malty aroma with some caramel and spices, some flowery aromatic hops too. Flavour is moderately malty and herbal with moderate hops, a little burnt caramel too. Easy drinking, but not one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Bier Spezi Hamburg. ABV is 4.9%. Typical dunkel clear reddish brown colour, very good and lingering light tan head. Very nice aroma of moderately roasted malts, flaked nuts, caramel and bakery. Flavour is malty and nutty with notes of dark bread and caramel, not too sweet. German dunkels are not "big" beers, but are, when well made, a truly enjoyable drinking experience. This is one of them.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Bier Spezi Hamburg. Clear brown to copper coloured, large light tan head. Pleasant aroma of lightly roasted malts, caramel, chocolate and bakery (including rye bread and Danish pastry). Lightly roasted malty flavour, fairly mellow, bready notes, some caramel but not really sweet, decent hops for a dunkel. Mouthfeel could have been fuller. Moderate but pleasant aftertaste. Okay.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

330 ml bottle, bought in Bier Spezi Hamburg. ABV is 2.7%. I had no raspberry syrup available, so I drank it straight. Extremely pale straw coloured, nearly clear, just a very slight haziness. Enormous to moderate head. Unusual funky aroma - sea water / seaweed, notes of barnyard, horseblanket and rotting citrus. Very sour / acidic flavour, but not as extreme as I expected. Lemony notes. Light bodied, watery mouthfeel despite the acidity. Refreshing, but I find very little complexity here. Moderate lemony aftertaste.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Bottle conditioned, 500 ml. Very dark colour, nearly black. Large brown head. Delightful aroma of roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, prunes, caramel and oak. Flavour is not quite as complex but still good, bitter roasty and coffee notes combined with bittering hops dominate, on a background of dark bitter sweet chocolate, hints of English liquorice. Roasty bitter aftertaste. I’d say Imperial Stout is the closest style here - but maybe it’s not extreme enough. Anyway, this is a very fine effort from Haandbryggeriet. Not a beer for the traditional Scandinavian Christmas dinner, but try it if you have chocolate pudding for dessert - or simply enjoy it on its own!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

330 ml bottle. This is the grocery store version of Hansa’s Julebrygg (Yule/Christmas Brew - not to be confused with their Juleøl - Yule/Christmas Beer). Very nice appearance - dark reddish brown colour, large and lasting creamy light tan head. Moderate malty aroma, notes of caramel and toast. Flavour has wort sweetness with next to nothing to balance it, notes of sweet bread, caramel, dark syrup and molasses. Tastes too much like "vørterøl" (unfermented wort "beer"). Definitely not my first choice for Christmas.

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

330 ml clear bottle. Berentsens surprise us again - they have made a slightly mellower version of a Baltic porter as their "klasse F" (Vinmonopolet) Yule/Christmas beer. Dark brown colour, nice and creamy tan head. Very nice roasty aroma with notes of oak, leather, dark bread and coffee. Flavour is moderately roasty and well rounded, elements of coffee, dark chocolate and oak. Tolerable hops. Could use a little more "bite", but this is definitely not a bad beer!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

500 ml twistcap bottle, bought in Bier Spezi Hamburg. Typical dunkel reddish brown colour, decent pale greyish brown head. Pleasant malty sweet aroma with notes of caramel, toast and bakery. Mellow nutty flavour with notes of dark bread and caramel, tolerable hops for a dunkel (Hallertau, Spalt and Tettnang). Nice.

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

330 ml swingtop bottle, bought in Germany. Golden colour, fizzy, large head. Fairly strong sweet and alcoholic aroma, notes of molasses and ammonium, hints of oak and fermenting fruits, not very pleasant. Flavour is malty, too alcoholic and sweet, low bitterness. Pale strong lagers rarely make me happy, and this one is no exception to the rule. Still drinkable - I’ve had worse.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

330 ml clear bottle. Ringnes intend to present a new recipe for their Bryggerimester Spesial each year, and the 2005 edition is definitely VERY different from the 2004 edition (each vintage is listed separately at BeerPal). Beautiful deep amber colour, decent head. Aroma is dominated by strong anise / cough medicine notes, not a perfect marriage with the weaker notes of caramel malts. Hints of thyme. Flavour is also dominated by anise, vanilla notes are much weaker. Fairly light bodied, malts do not come up front. Some faint hops and anise again in the aftertaste. The 2004 edition was quite good for its moderate strength, the 2005 is not. Definitely not my cup of tea, sorry: beer. Experiments are okay in the world of beer, but there’s no guarantee that they will be successful. This one isn’t. To be avoided. Better luck next year.