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

Sample on tap at the brewpub. Black colour, no head, moderate carbonation. Roasty aroma with notes of tar, liquorice / aniseed dominates. Distinct heavy roastiness from start to finish, bitter and dry, notes of strong coffee. Mouthfeel could have been fuller.

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

Sample on tap at the brewpub, on the day of its release for the Christmas season 2005. I think the waiter might again have screwed up the samples here ... Golden colour, much paler than the description. Hints of vomit in the aroma, not very pleasant. Tastes like a reasonably hoppy pale bock / premium lager, nothing Christmasy about it.

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

Sample on tap at the brewpub. Also known as "No. 1 IPA", waiter said it’s the same beer. Menu said it was "brewed by the craft brewers of Skagen". The waiter might have screwed up the samples, the one I got was deep copper coloured. Moderate hoppy aroma with notes of caramel. Flavour is reasonably hoppy but not really impressive. Relatively dry.

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

Rerate, 500 ml bottle,bought at Føtex or SuperBest, Aalborg. ABV is 5.5%. Dark reddish brown colour, big cream-coloured head. Aroma of spices, malts and caramel. The flavour is malty with plenty of caramel, moderate spicy notes, hints of honey. Low bitterness, the finish is a bit bland. Still a drinkable beer. Original rating:Sample + full size glass on tap at the brewpub. I think the waiter must have mixed up things here - the sample was deep golden and spicy, while the full size was copper coloured (like their IPA), hoppier and less spicy. Comments sample: Aroma of incense and Christmas spices (ginger, cardamom, cloves). Spicy sweet flavour, unusual, interesting.

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

Sample on tap at the brewpub. Amber colour. Very moderate aroma, hints of honey and caramel. Just a little fuller mouthfeel and flavour than their Jomfruhumle, seems reasonably well hopped.

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

Sample on tap at the brewpub. Typical pilsener colour. Moderate flowery aroma with hints of honey. This is a light bodied and pleasant pilsener, amount of hops seems just right.

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

330 ml bottle, at the Otto Duborg café near Flensburg. Served with a plastic glass! Amber colour, large and lasting head. Moderate caramel aroma. Malty flavour with some caramel. Low on hops. Drinkable.

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

330 ml bottle, at the Otto Duborg café near Flensburg. Served with a plastic glass! Golden colour, large and lasting head. Very moderate fruity aroma. Alcoholic and boring sweet flavour.

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

330 ml can, bought in Germany. Sweetish fruity aroma. Flavour is relatively malty and sweet for a pilsener. Hoppy bitter finish. Drinkable, but not really remarkable.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Bier Spezi Hamburg. Hazy orange colour, pours with the typical hefeweizen enormous head. Spicy aroma (cloves and more), hints of leather and ammonium too. Typical hefeweizen flavour but not quite as full as I desired. Rather dry, minimal hops. Fizzy and slightly dusty mouthfeel. Decent, but not the best h.w. I’ve had.

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

Rerate, on tap in Hamburg. This is a fairly average standard pilsener, but the hoppy bitterness in the finish was actually greater than I remembered it from the bottles I’ve sampled earlier. Drinkable.

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

330 ml bottle. This is a new strong "klasse F" Yule/Christmas brew, for the Vinmonopolet segment of the Norwegian beer market. The style may be described as a cross-breed between a strong Vienna or Dunkel and a dark Bock. Deep chestnut colour, moderate light tan head. Malty aroma with a mild roastiness, notes of dark bread, caramel and oak. Flavour is malty sweet with some caramel and bready notes, very moderate hops. Light bodied for its strength and colour. Easy drinking. I really miss some more hops here. Nothing offensive about it, but this will not be my favourite "klasse F" Christmas beer.

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

500 ml bottle, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet, special orders). Like most Weissbiers it pours with an enormous head, this one is also very thick and creamy and lasts "forever". Colour of beer is cloudy brownish golden, a bit darker than most Hefe-Weissbiers. Very moderate and subdued hefe aroma, hints of leather. Flavour has bit more hops and less "banana & cloves" elements than your standard h.w. Fairly dry. A drinkable h.w., but not really remarkable. However, I love this style, and the Schneeweisse makes no exception.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 4

330 ml bottle. Oh my god, a special version of Tuborg Juleøl for the Norwegian grocery store market, with a meagre ABV of 4.5%. Obviously designed as a discount brand on this market, Norwegian brewed Tuborg Pils has an equivalent role here too. Amber colour, low head, little lacing. Minimal aroma, hints of caramel. Flavour is unbelievably bland and uninteresting, a little caramel and a minimal amount of cheap hop extract. Avoid!

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

500 ml bottle, now available in Norway. ABV here is 4.7%. Golden colour, large to moderate white head. Moderate carbonation. Aroma is initially surprisingly moderate but nice and pleasant, improves as the beer warms up a little (started drinking it too cold), flowery and citrussy hops (Hersbrücker and Challenger), hints of honey too. Flavour is zesty and grapefruity, the hops dominate but there is also a sufficient malty base. Bitter aftertaste of grapefruit peel. A very unusual lager, clearly related to its golden ale cousin, the Bitter & Twisted. Also sampled cask conditioned at The Guildford Arms, Edinburgh. Deep golden colour, minimal head. Nice aroma of fruity hops. Hoppy flavour.

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

500 ml bottle, many thanks to Gr0ve who supplied it to me from SmartClub Norway. Pale golden colour, decent head. Moderate carbonation. Moderate aroma of aromatic hops, some fruity and grassy notes. Flavour is reasonably hoppy but the malty base is very moderate. Fairly dry mouthfeel, bitter finish. OKish helles.

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

500 ml bottle, many thanks to Gr0ve who supplied it to me from SmartClub Norway. Pours cloudy golden with the typical large hefeweizen head. Strong yeasty aroma with notes of melons, bananas, fermenting fruits and spices. Hints of ammonium. Typical hefe flavour with cloves, not as light-bodied as some other hefes, fairly dry, tolerable hops. Not bad at all. I hope this beer becomes more easily available in Norwegian grocery stores, the ABV allows it.

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

500 ml can, bought in Norway. The Swedish 5.2% version is too strong for us! Very pale golden colour, large fluffy head. Sweetish aroma, notes of apples, sidenotes of soap. Bland and uninteresting pale lager flavour, but not quite as offensive as I feared. Some metallic bitterness in the finish. God knows why they have introduced this beer on the Norwegian market. Maybe some Swedish expats feeling homesick?

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

330 ml bottle, bought at Vinens Verden, Odense, Denmark. Deep red-brown colour, large light tan head. Surprisingly moderate malty aroma, notes of caramel and oak. Improves as the beer warms up, some vinous qualities. Flavour is malty with some caramel and brown bread notes, moderate hops. Easy drinking, refreshing for its strength. Okay.

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

Sampled bottle, at Plan B, Copenhagen. Beautiful red colour, pink head. Delightful cherry aroma. Sour cherry flavour on a funky background. A very good kriek.

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

330 ml clear bottle, bought in Norway. As if the European brewed "Indian" Cobra was not boring enough, they HAD to brew this special low carb version for slimmers who really don’t like beer, but like the buzz. God, I hate the low carb craze! This "beer" is very pale golden, foamy white head. Fruity aroma, citrus, pineapple and maize, could have been worse. "Flavour" is very bland and tasteless, just a hint of fruity sweetness. No bitterness. Very thin and watery mouthfeel. Extremely flat and bland aftertaste, as far as there is any at all. This is definitely a beer to avoid.

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

500 ml bottle, unflitered and unpasteurised, bottle conditioned traditional Norse ale. Available at Ole Simon, Sandnes. Very dark brown colour, floaties from the sediment, creamy tan head with greyish tones. Distinct and unusual aroma of juniper, resin, fresh tar, woodwork and caramel, some less pleasant notes of ammonium too. Moderate natural carbonation. Very pleasant to drink, malty with lovely juniper notes, a subdued roastiness, hints of smoke, not too sweet. Pleasant aftertaste with roasty and resiny notes. Very interesting beer!

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

330 ml bottle, bought at LIDL Norway. Looks like a pale lager, gets a point for a tolerable head. Otherwise this is another offensive n/a beer, sweetish aroma and flavour with notes of grit, the usual n/a "boiled" notes are there. As with all(?) n/a beers: Avoid!

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

330 ml bottle, bought at LIDL Norway. Pale golden colour, low head. Sweetish aroma, grainy with some strange and very unpleasant sidenotes of undefinable industrial waste. Flavour is grainy with unpleasant "industrial" sidenotes, and the "boiled" house character (you know, vegetables etc. that have been boiled too long) that seems to be the trademark of Trio Bryggeri. In a blind taste I’d probably have guessed that this was a completely n/a beer. This is one to avoid!

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

500 ml can, at LIDL Norway. Extremely pale colour, one of the palest beers I’ve seen. Large fluffy head. Very moderate aroma, just some faint flowery notes. Extremely thin and watery mouthfeel, but some moderate hops at least give this "lettøl" SOME flavour. No offensive off-flavours detected.