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

On tap at Cardinal, Stavanger. Black colour, creamy tan head. Aroma and flavour of roast malts, chocolate and mild coffee. Smooth mouthfeel. A very good beer.

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

375 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 6.0%. Gusher bottle. Hazy orange colour, moderate to small white head. Aroma of pale and biscuit malts, canned yellow plums and apricots, and spicy bière de garde yeast. Spicy and peppery flavour, medium dry, distinct herbal hops, hints of stewed plums.

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

440 ml can, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 5.5%. Moderately hazy pale yellow colour, huge white head. Aroma of pineapple and other tropical fruits, also citrus, a hint of spruce. Citric flavour, also notes of tropical fruits, sprucetips and pine needles.

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

Cask (hand pump) at the Darlington Spring Thing Beer Festival. ABV is 4.0%. Pale golden colour, low head. Nice citrussy aroma. Distinctly bitter hoppy flavour, but has too weak body to support the bitterness. Still props to Durham for daring to brew hoppy ales, while so many other English breweries are "playing safe" with boring beers.

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

Cask at the GBBF 2008. ABV of this English Strong Ale is 9.0%. Deep golden colour, low head. Lovely aroma of oak, rhum-drenched raisins and fortified wine. Warming mouthfeel. The flavour is again full of oak and raisins, also notes of bitter oranges and toffee, with a hoppy bitterness in the finish. Excellent beer.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. Bottle conditioned. ABV is 8.4%. Deep golden colour, huge head. Lovely aroma of hops, orange and oak. The flavour is hoppy and fairly sweet, notes of bitter oranges and spices, the alcohol is noticeable. Bitter finish and aftertaste. Must be a great accompaniment with mature cheeses. Nearly too powerful on its own.

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

(Cask conditioned). A brand new* (*when sampled) beer from the enterprising brewers of Durham, sampled at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival. (Room temperature). CAMRA stated the ABV to be 4.2%, brewery website says 3.9% (possibly not updated - they spoke of the beer as a project in the making). CAMRA write "Bonnie" (which is logical), brewery website says "Bonny" - I guess they have their reasons. Low (natural) carbonation. Reddish brown colour. Malty aroma and flavour, moderate hops. The North East English style is really a marriage between English bitter and Scottish "heavy". Not a bad brew (quite good, actually), but a beer as malty as this would profit on a higher ABV.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. ABV is 4.5%. Bottle conditioned. Deep golden colour, huge white head. Lovely hoppy aroma with notes of citrus / grapefruit and pineapple. The flavour is also distinctly hoppy throughout, with grapefruity notes, but there is also a tolerable malty base. Refreshing, even though I drank it a bit too warm. The excellent Durham Brewery proves they can brew good beers with a moderate ABV too.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. Bottle conditioned. ABV is 5.0%. Copper coloured beer with a large and lasting creamy tan head. Pleasant aroma of fruity hops and malt. Lovely malty flavour with some caramel and fruity hops. A very nice and drinkable beer indeed.

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

Cask conditioned at The Three Judges, Glasgow. Golden colour. Moderate hoppy / citrussy aroma. Distinctly grapefruity flavour, very nice. This golden ale is another successful try from the Durham Brewery.

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

Cask conditioned at The Three Judges, Glasgow. Extremely pale golden colour with a greenish hue, minimal head. Very moderate aroma, some hops, hints of grass and citrus. Thin mouthfeel. The flavour has a noticeable hoppiness with citrussy and grassy notes, fairly dry. I’d like some presence of malts too! OKish and drinkable, but the least impressive beer I’ve had from Durham so far.

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

500 ml bottle conditioned, at the Durham Cathedral & Cloister Restaurant. ABV is 3.8%. Pale golden colour, moderate white head. Lovely aroma of fruity hops (citrus and tropical fruits). Distinctly hoppy flavour, notes of citrus and tropical fruits, good bitterness.

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

(Bottle conditioned). A new favourite of mine - and I'm the first one to rate it, even! (It has been in the database for quite a while. Btw, cask conditioned this beer is called "Magnificat", otherwise it's the same brew.) I had this wonderful bottle conditioned beer under the vaulted ceiling of Durham Cathedral and Cloister Restaurant, where it rightly belongs. The commercial description seems pretty accurate, but this beer may have more in common (strength, yeastiness) with some belgian ales than most British IPAs. Durham Brewery is not much more than 10 years old, but this rich and full flavoured beer would be worthy of St. Cuthbert himself (he died 687 AD, btw). Colour is golden and hazy, carbonation (natural) is low to moderate. If one needs a textbook example of the fact that beer is made of the three elements malts, yeast and hops (+ water, of course), and that each of those three elements should be clearly discernible in aroma and flavour - well, here it is. To quote the brewery: "Despite being strong, this beer is not too sweet, but has a luscious malty base over which a complex bitterness makes balancing, thirst quenching properties." Amen!

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Scarborough. Bottle conditioned. ABV is 10%. Pitch black colour, moderate tan head. Unusual perfumed aroma, dark fruits, liqueur, some oak, chocolate and liquorice. Very intense perfumed and sweet flavour, surprisingly moderate roastiness, notes of liquorice, hints of tar. Moderate hops in the finish. Not an easy drinking beer, but definitely something out of the ordinary.

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

500 ml bottle conditioned, as Durham Magic IPA, only the side information reveals that this is White Magic. ABV is 7.0%. Bought at The Cheese & Wine Shop in Darlington. Pale golden colour, huge and lasting white head. Moderate aroma, notes of herbal hops and mild spices. High level of carbonation. Distinct spicy and hoppy flavour, some sweetish fruity notes too, and solid and rather sharp hoppy bitterness in the finish. The alcohol is not particularly well hidden. Would benefit from less carbonation and a more pronounced malty backbone to balance the bitterness, but is well worth sampling as it is.

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

500 ml bottle conditioned, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 7.2%. Golden colour, slightly hazy, large white head. Pleasant aroma of fruity hops on a sweetish malty background. Medium sweet flavour, distinctly malty, but also with strong hoppy notes and a resinous and bitter finish. The alcohol is evident, and I’d easily believe that the beer was even stronger than it actually is. American Columbus hops are hardly part of a trustworthy "re-creation of the White Stout style", but never mind the name - this is a decent and quite enjoyable strong ale, more American than English in its character.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Like most belgian ales more heavily carbonated than I appreciate, otherwise this is an excellent beer! Dangerously drinkable - hence the name.

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

330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. Moderately hazy golden colour, large white head. Lovely aroma of spicy Belgian ale yeast, and spicy and herbal hops. Also hints of stewed yellow plums. The flavour has again spicy yeast and spicy and herbal hops, hints of white kandij sugar, nice.

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

Dec. 2017: 750 ml bottle, as Duvel Barrel Aged Batch No. 2 Bourbon, at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 11.5%. Deep golden colour, small white head. Aroma of bourbon and American oak, but still fairly light and fruity. The flavour has distinct notes of bourbon and oak, hints of caramel and vanilla, some hops.

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

2021: 330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet Madla. ABV is 9.5%. Clear pale golden colour, large white head. Aroma of spicy Belgian ale yeast and citrus, with a strange hint of broth. Citric mouthfeel, some warming alcohol. Flavour of spices, white kandij sugar and citrus. Bittering hops in the finish.

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

330 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 9.5%. Slightly hazy and very pale yellow colour, with a nearly greenish hue. Large to moderate white head. Spicy aroma with grassy and herbal hops, hints of dill and lemongrass. Effervescent mouthfeel. Spicy flavour, dill and lemongrass again, bitter hops in the finish. Warming throatfeel.

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

330 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 9.5%. Hops are Saaz and Styrian Goldings, dryhopping with Mosaic. Nearly clear pale yellow colour, pours fizzy with large bubbles and a moderate coarse white head. Interesting complex aroma of fruity (tropical fruits, blueberries), grassy, herbal and spicy hops. The flavour is refreshing for a beer of this strength, is quite dry, and has moderate tropical fruits first, then distinct herbal and spicy hops throughout the finish and aftertaste.

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

330 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 9.5%. Clear pale yellow colour, briskly sparkling, moderate white head. Lovely aroma of herbal hops (Saaz, Styrian Goldings and Equinox), hints of citrus and spices. Refreshing despite its strength. Medium dry and crisp flavour, dominated by herbal and spicy hops, some alcohol. Medium bitter finish.

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

Aug. 2019: 330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 9.5%. Pale golden colour, large white head. Aroma of spicy Belgian ale yeast, sweetish pilsener malts, and herbal and spicy hops. The flavour is slightly citric and moderately spicy, also with sweet notes of pilsener malts.

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

Bottle, at Haket, Göteborg. Cloudy pale golden colour, low head. Strange fruity aroma with notes of anthill, leather and flowers. Sweetish flavour with strong notes of leather and oak.