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

330 ml green bottle. Copper coloured beer, large off-white head with an orange hue. Moderate aroma of malts, caramel and some "dusty" hops. Hints of artificial candy and cooked vegetables. Moderate carbonation, soft mouthfeel. The flavour has some fruitiness and a considerable sweetness, notes of caramel, grit and cooked vegetables. Very moderate hops in the finish. Nice try, but not impressive.

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

330 ml green bottle. Very dark reddish brown colour (not entirely black), fine tan head. Moderate but pleasant aroma of roasted malts, chocolate and wood. Soft and smooth mouthfeel. The roastiness in the flavour is very moderate for a stout, some coffee notes, there is also a noticeable fruitiness with a light acidity. Easy drinking. Not the greatest stout in the world, but a nice try from Aass.

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

Surprisingly weak aroma, pleasant flavour that won't offend anyone, moderate hops in the aftertaste. Slightly sweet. Rather low ABV for a "gulløl", or "eksport" as the style of strong pale lagers traditionally has been called in Norway.

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

The Norwegian valley Hallingdal has from ancient times been famous for its strong homebrew and subsequent knife-fights. Aass Bryggeri's Halling beer is an insult to the proud people of Hallingdal. It's a lousy pils with little or no character besides being far too sweet. (Sampled 0,5 liter can.)

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

A continental style pilsener, clean taste, fairly well balanced but a bit on the light side. Brewed by Aass to get market shares in Nordland county (North Norway), sold in southern Norway as well. You could easily drink quite a few of these under the midnight sun.

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

Aass ice beer is not the worst example of this miserable style, which as its "raison d'être" serves the needs of people who really don't like beer, but insist on trying. No foul taste. Actually, hardly any taste at all.

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

500 ml can, from SPAR Jørpeland. Brewed with mango juice concentrate. ABV is 4.7%. Very pale yellow colour, only slightly hazy, large white head. Fairly fresh aroma of mango and "peach" candy. Citric mouthfeel, The flavour has notes of citrus, mango and peaches, with a fairly distinct bitterness in the finish. Better than I feared, but won't be my daily indulgence.

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

500 ml can, from Kiwi Tau. ABV is 4.7%. Golden colour, large white head. Strong perfumed aroma of papaya and guava (no surprise), some notes of artificial candy and blackcurrant leaves. The flavour is slightly citric, but otherwise dominated by papaya and guava. Medium bitter finish. Not too bad.

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

Sample from 500 ml can, Aass Brewery stand at Smak 09. ABV is 4.7%. Deep golden colour, moderate head. Moderate notes of caramel in the aroma. The flavour has moderate caramel malts and a moderate bitterness in the finish. Drinkable, but not very exciting. You’d think they would come up with something better for a jubilee.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

330 ml brown bottle, bought at ICA Middelthon. The first top-fermented beer from Aass in years (they had a brief and unsuccessful try with Aass Hveteøl in 1986). Reddish amber colour. Large and lingering off-white head. Aroma is fruity and moderately spicy, quite nice. Flavour is fruity sweet & sour, with notes of caramel malts. Thin and watery mouthfeel. Not much hops around, weak notes of "dusty" hops and some spice in the finish. Props to Aass for taking a few steps down the Ale Road, but they have a long way to go!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 2 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

330 ml brown bottle. The beer looks impressive - amber colour, with a huge and creamy long lasting head. Sickly sweet aroma of over-boiled vegetables and unfermented wort, typical n/a beer. The flavour is actually better than many other n/a beers (like the Munkholm range) - there is a certain maltiness with some caramel, and tolerable hops in the finish. If you MUST have a n/a beer, this one is at least (nearly) drinkable, if you can stand the smell.

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

This "klasse D" Christmas brew has the colour of a brown ale, but is of course bottom fermented. Decent aroma of oak and some spices. Drinkable with a meal, on its own it's just too watery to bring about any Christmas joy. Weak aftertaste. This style just calls for a higher ABV!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

A new "klasse D" Christmas brew from Aass, much better than the "Julebrygg" they introduced last year. Beautiful deep copper colour, very good and thick head. Aroma of malts, oak and spices. Malty flavour, a bit thin as expected from a "klasse D" beer - still one of the best Norwegian beers of this ABV class. Sweet, but not too much. Decent.

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

Try the stronger 'klasse F' version of their Juleøl instead. Rerate 2002: Has the good caramel sweetness, maltiness and spiciness a Norwegian Christmas beer should have - there's just too little of everything! And 4,5% ABV is simply not enough for this style. The 'klasse F' (6,2%) is still A LOT better!! I believe the version sold in the US is 5,9%.

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

Norwegian Christmas beers are brewed in the original strong (appr. 6,2% ABV) and a watered down (appr. 4,5%) version. Make sure you get the strong versions (applies to all breweries) - they are just so much better! Aass is the best of them all. Spicy, caramelly, rich and rounded flavour that goes well with traditional Scandinavian Christmas fare.

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

330 ml bottle, ABV is 9%. A strong top fermented Yule/Christmas beer from Aass, nice. Very dark brown colour, creamy and lasting tan head. Pleasant aroma of dark malts, caramel, brown sugar and oak, hints of Christmas spices. Full and rich mouthfeel. The flavour is malty sweet with loads of caramel, also notes of chocolate, to some degree balanced by acceptable hops. A decent barleywine, will go better with fruitcake and nuts than the traditional Norwegian Yule/Christmas dinner.

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

(500 ml can). This beer is named after the founder of Aass, Norway's oldest working brewery. Typical pilsener colour and aroma, good head, quite refreshing, nice bitterness. A decent pils, no more, no less.

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

(Bottle). Pale golden colour, low head. Weak aroma, weak flavour dominated by over-boiled malts. Low bitterness. Very little to make you happy here - like all Norwegian "lettøl" low alcohol, but Aass Fatøl Light (same ABV) tastes better.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

500 ml can, ABV is 4.5%. Pale golden colour, pours very fizzy with a decent head. "Industrial" and rather "dead" aroma, with some grainy notes. The beer is "cold and wet", thin, watery and utterly boring. No offensive sidenotes, but has not much going flavourwise at all.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

500 ml can, from Joker Vatlandsvåg. ABV is 4.5%. Very pale golden colour, moderate to small white head. Strong aroma of mango, both real mango and artificial "mango" esters. Thin mouthfeel. Flavour of citrus and mango with some "artificial" notes, not too sweet, a slight bitterness in the aftertaste. Far from great, but not undrinkable when cold.

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

500 ml can, probably from Bunnpris Sauda. ABV is 4.5%. Reddish brown colour, moderate off-white head. Moderate aroma of caramel. Light bodied, slightly citric mouthfeel. Flavour of caramel, brown bread, moderately roasted malts, burnt breadcrumbs, moderate bittering hops. Sorry, I don't want lite / light beers for Christmas / Yuletide. Nor for Easter. Not at any time of the year, really.

Aroma: 2 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

500 ml can, from Kiwi Tau. ABV is 4.5%. Crystal clear and very pale straw colour, small white head. Aroma of sweetish malts, grass, rotting vegetables, hints of sewage and vomit. Thin and citric mouthfeel. Flavour of malts, a little citrus, grain and very moderate bittering hops. Won't buy again.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

330 ml can, from Helgø MENY Hundvåg. ABV is 3.7%. Crystal clear very pale golden colour, moderate to small white head. Sweetish aroma of pilsener malts and grassy hops. Thin mouthfeel. Slightly sweet flavour with moderate herbal hops.

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

Sample from 500 ml can, Aass Brewery stand at Smak 09. ABV is 4.7%. Golden colour, low head. Minimal aroma, just a slight fruitiness. Bland flavour, a little pilsener malts and butterscotch, minimal bitterness. Are "the youth segment" of the Norwegian pale lager market happy now?

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

500 ml can, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 6%. Crystal clear pale golden colour, large to moderate white head. Sweetish aroma of pilsener malts, alcohol and grassy hops. The flavour is not as sweet and alcoholic as I feared, more "neutral" with a herbal bitterness in the finish.