Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Draught at Den Tatoverede Enke, Copenhagen, as Celis Wit. Lovely aroma of burnt caramel / treacle and spices. Flavour is not nearly that exciting, this is a fairly watery and bland wit.

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

750 ml painted (mock stoneware) corked bottle, now available in Norway (despite some objections by the humour & morality police). Amber to brown colour, large off-white head with an orangey hue. Malty sweetish aroma with strong notes of caramel, treacle and Christmas spices, also notes of yeast and oak. Flavour is very spicy and sweet (candy sugar) with a pleasant warming mouthfeel. There’s a hoppy and spicy (and slightly alcoholic) bite in the finish. A demanding beer, but not bad.

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

330 ml clear bottle, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet). Pale golden colour, decent head. The "skunky" whiff when opening the bottle is actually the best thing with this beer - the longer lasting aroma is sweetish and grassy, notes of maize (corn) even though this is a Reinheitsgebot beer. Flavour is very bland, just a little maize-like sweetness and minimal hops. Kulmbacher have obviously been tempted to produce a beer for the younger crowd of swill drinkers, people who really don’t like the taste of beer at all. Shame on you, Kulmbacher - you can do so much better than this!

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

500 ml bottle conditioned. The Trippel is finally for sale in some pubs and restaurants, not yet in Vinmonopolet stores. The beer pours hazy golden with a moderate head which vanishes after a while and leaves very little lacing. Very pleasant yeasty and fruity aroma with notes of oak and spices, hints of barnyard in the background. Flavour is sweet (a bit too sweet?) with an oaky and moderately spicy character. A certain alcoholic punch, not unpleasant. Subtle hops in the finish. I started drinking the beer a little colder than the recommended temperature, but liked it that way. Clearly another craft brew from the good people at Nøgne Ø, but I’d suggest a slightly less generous amount of demerara sugar in the next batch.

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

300 ml white painted bottle, at Cardinal, Stavanger. Colour is typical wit: Hazy, very pale straw coloured. Moderate head. Strong aroma of coriander, yeast and some citrus, and if I’m unkind: even some notes of perfumed shampoo and hints of vomit. Flavour is VERY citrussy / LEMONY, notes of coriander too. A bit too lemony for me, but definitely a refreshing beer for hot summer days. Just a faint bitterness in the aftertaste. The chicks might like it!

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

(330 ml clear bottle.) A beer of ABV 3.7% is unusual in Norway, Grans Lyst Øl (="Pale Beer", they don’t hide the truth) is not much better than their Lettøl at 2.5%. On the other hand, their pale lager and pilsener varieties of ABV 4.5 or 4.7% are not exactly God’s gift to mankind either. Lyst Øl has at least a hint of malts. Aroma is weak but not unpleasant. Hop bitterness is low as expected, and the usual Grans metallic aftertaste is there. Avoid.

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

Norwegian discount grocery store Christmas beer. Fairly clean tasting low ABV Christmas beer, at least it's slightly better than you'd expect from this miserable brewery. Drinkable, but of course: watery and thin like most other "klasse D" Juleøl. I don't think Grans even make a "klasse F" beer any more.

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

Norwegian discount Christmas brew for the grocery store market. Just slightly darker (brownish) and less hoppy than Grans Juleøl. Watery mouthfeel. Too low ABV to be a "real" Christmas brew.

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

Actually, I have a bottle of this beer now and then with a nothing-special-dinner. There are three reasons for such an irrational behaviour: a) It's a low alcohol beer (in Norway, 'light' beers are always low alcohol, while colour may actually be slightly darker than most pilseners) - and I often have to drive after dinner (yes, our drink-and-drive laws are extreme too - as well as the prices of decent beer). b)Even the faintest beer flavour is better than no beer flavour. c) This beer is the cheapest there is, and I can't afford decent beers every day. A bit of malty flavour barely justifies this beer's existence. The usual metallic Gran's aftertaste makes it impossible to drink more than one bottle.

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

(330 ml bottle. A friend left me a few bottles after a party.) Another beer of the "low carb" craze. Golden colour, moderate head. Unlike some other brewers of low carb beers, Grans have retained more of the flavour of their ordinary pilsener. In Gran’s case, that unfortunately also means the house character of over-boiled vegetables flavour and the metallic aftertaste. Avoid.

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

(500 ml yellow can). This Easter Seasonal is barely discernible from Grans BARE ØL. These neutral discount pilseners are more or less all the same. Brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, despite Gran's alliance with Danish crap brewers Harboes Bryggeri.

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

BARE ØL means "only beer", and refers to this beer being brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, despite Gran’s partnership with Danish Harboe Bryggeri. This "no frills" discount beer comes in a simple unpainted 500 ml can. It is, so far, Norway’s cheapest canned beer. Pours with a moderate head, colour is very pale straw coloured, weak one-dimensional fruity aroma. Flavour is neutral and uninteresting, as you expect from a discount pils. At least it’s not really offensive, better than water. A little bitterness in the finish, becomes metallic in the aftertaste.

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

500 ml can. Deep golden colour, moderate head. A fairly decent standard pale lager with some caramel added, but without the typical Grans offensive side-flavours and metallicness. Not a typical Norwegian juleøl (it is not intended to be), but fairly drinkable, and a good choice for the lager louts who think that a standard juleøl / julebrygg is "too dark" (sic).

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

(500 ml bottle, bought in Sweden). Reddish brown colour, decent head. A drinkable dunkel, not outstanding but decent for a Swedish commercial brewer. Good with food.

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. ABV is 4.8%. Very pale golden colour, decent head. Weak aroma, some sweetish notes of maize (corn). Spritzy mouthfeel, moderately sweet, minimal hops. Thin. Typical run-of-the-mill contract brewed industrial lager.

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Hazy copper colour, good head that doesn’t last too long. Aroma is citrussy (Cascade) with hints of prunes and caramel. Flavour is malty and quite bitter (Carlsberg have been generous with the hops here), the rye doesn’t really stand out - this beer reminds me more of an American IPA than anything you’d associate with rye bread. Still, this is an interesting beer, and a likely favourite with people who can’t get enough Cascade hops.

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Good to moderate head, deep golden colour. Nice floral and fruity aroma, tones of butterscotch and mild spices. Tastes like a very strong English bitter, the hoppy bitterness in the finish is there, but "intense" is not the word I’d use. The Semper Ardens Winter Rye is more like an IPA than this one. Decent enough, but there are better beers around.

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

(700 ml bottle). Pours very dark with a moderate head. Aroma and flavour of liquorice, dark chocolate and roasted malts. A bit too much liquorice in my book. Still, this is a very good stout, but not a taste experience that much better than Carls Porter - not enough to live up to the price difference IMO. I guess some of the point with the Semper Ardens range is that Carlsberg want to show the world: "Hey, we can brew good beer too - but that is VERY expensive!" Price aside, you have to give them props for trying. After they killed Wiibroe Imperial Stout Porter, Carls Porter is the only surviving moderately priced quality Carlsberg beer - innovation is reserved for the Semper Ardens range, just pay and be happy!

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Copper colour, slightly hazy, moderate head that doesn’t last very long. Lovely aroma of dark fruits and spices. Malty and slightly spicy flavour, could have been more complex but is still very good. Pleasant aftertaste. They have used Saazer hops for this beer, nothing wrong with that, but additional hop varieties would probably have brought the beer closer to "perfect". Still, quality is of course lightyears ahead of what most people know as "Carlsberg".

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. Pale golden colour, decent head. Sweetish fruity and grassy aroma, notes of maize (corn) too. Flavour is watery and "neutral" with some tolerable hops in the finish. Acceptable as a thirstquencher, but not much more.

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Murky brown colour, large tan head. Surprisingly weak initial aroma - Hallertauer with faint notes of malts, spices and brown sugar. Improves a bit as the beer warms up. Flavour is much stronger, fuller and richer - but unfortunately also too sweet. Spices (coriander, aniseed, cardamom and more?), molasses and plenty of malts. The brewers have obviously used far too much brown sugar. They have also missed the target completely with their choice of hops - Hallertauer Mittelfrüh in a strong Belgian ale, WTF? I’m not a hops expert, but this beer obviously needs hops with more character, and in larger quantities. And PLEASE, less sugar to get rid of that syrupy mouthfeel!! Acceptable as a dessert beer, but not with the main Christmas meal. Incredibly, Carlsberg claim (on the rear label) that this beer has a "DRY(!!) and light ACIDIC structure". Who wrote that? Winnie the Pooh? Better luck next year, Carlsberg!

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

(500 ml can, bought in Sweden). The Falcon Bayerskt version with the lowest ABV. Dark golden / amber colour. Malty, refreshing, decent for a beer as low as 2.8%.

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

330 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Not bad - not outstanding. Amber colour, malty sweetness in aroma and flavour, not very complex, a drinkable Christmas beer but no masterpiece.

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. Named Wuld Pilsen, Quality Premium Beer. Crystal clear and very pale golden colour, lasting foamy head and nice lacing. Fruity and grassy aroma. Soft mouthfeel with a very subdued flavour, very moderate hops. No offensive side-flavours detected. A tolerable industrial pale lager for the Spanish sun.

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. Apparently Estrella del Sur originally was brewed (since 1959) in Sevilla, in one of the breweries bought and closed by the Damm group. Damm have kept the brand. Not to be confused with the 0.9% stronger Estrella Damm. Extremely pale crystal clear straw colour. Large and lasting foamy head. Pleasant fruity sweet aroma. Bland and uninteresting flavour, some faint unpleasant "boiled" sidenotes. Forgettable.