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

Draught at the brewpub. Served far too cold. EBC 169.7, IBU 27. Black colour, moderate creamy tan head. Roast malts, coffee, smooth and velvety, well hopped, well balanced. Easy drinking despite its strength.

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

500 ml screwcap bottle, bought at Otto Duborg, Flensburg, Germany. Unpasteurised. Clear (filtered???) golden colour, large and lasting white head. Fruity and flowery aroma, hints of honey. Moderate carbonation, soft moutheel. Moderate malty flavour, very moderate hops. Easy drinking, but not remarkable.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at KaDeWe, Berlin. dark brown colour, nearly black. Large and lasting greyish brown head. Moderate malty aroma with notes of caramel and bakery, hints of prunes. Moderate carbonation, mellow and pleasant mouthfeel. Nice moderately malty flavour with a pleasant roastiness, hints of schwarzbrot. Easy drinking. I like it.

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

500 ml swingtop bottle ("Bügelflasche"), bought at KaDeWe, Berlin. Organic. Pale golden colour, slightly hazy, large white head. Unfiltered, "hefetrüb". Strong flowery aroma with notes of honey, very nice. Moderate carbonation, soft mouthfeel. Flavour has very good hops on a background of slightly sweet and mellow malts. Hoppy bitter aftertaste. This is a good Zwickel/Keller/Landbier!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

500 ml screwcap bottle. Bought at Otto Duborg, Flensburg, Germany. ABV is 5.3% (label), brewery website says 5.2%. Unpasteurised but filtered. This is their ordinary Dunkel, not to be confused with their unfiltered Engel Kellerbier Dunkel. Beautiful clear chestnut colour, large and lasting off-white head. Pleasant malty aroma with strong notes of bakery, chocolate and caramel. Moderate carbonation. Malty sweet flavour with a moderate roastiness, notes of Danish pastry, hints of over-ripe berries. Some hops in the finish.

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

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Cloudy honey coloured, minimal head. Intense flowery / honey aroma, very nice. Moderate carbonation. Mellow and well rounded flavour, honey notes, moderate yeastiness. Pleasant beer, easy drinking, but a little more hops wouldn’t hurt.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Hazy deep reddish brown colour, minimal head. LOVELY aroma of red berries, honey and flowers. Pleasant malty flavour with caramel notes, but not really sweet. Mouthfeel maybe a bit thin, very moderate hops.

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

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Cloudy honey coloured beer, moderate head. Distinct and pleasant Saazer hops aroma. Flavour is moderately malty with yeasty notes, moderate but pleasant hops.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

500 ml bottle, bought at KaDeWe, Berlin. With the Ae S Märzen’s overpowering aroma of smoked sausages in mind, I opened the Weizen with trembling anticipation and fear. The beer is murky brown, and pours with an enormous greyish off-white head. Intense aroma of smoked pork / uncooked bacon, which nearly overpowers the normal hefe elements (cloves and banana) that are faintly present in the background. Flavour has some uncooked bacon notes too, but they are not as overpowering as in the aroma. Fairly smooth to drink, but let’s face it: smoked pork is not what I want to smell nor taste in a beer. Sorry!

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

Rerate bottle, bought at Vinmonopolet: With a brisk pour you get a very large and lasting head, and the carbonation is not too much after all. Fairly decent hops place this pils in the "slightly above average" category. I’m upping it 1 point. Original rating: 330 ml bottle, as Vedett Extra Blond, ABV is 5.2%. Courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Also available in Norway in Vinmonopolet stores (bestillingsutvalget). The beer’s website is www.vedett.com . Served in Duvel glass (same brewery). Very pale colour, decent head. Moderately hoppy aroma, notes of cardboard and "dusty attic". Flavour is moderately hoppy - this is an average pils. A bit too carbonated for my taste.

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

Sample from 500 ml bottle, Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay Organic Ale, ABV 4.5%. Courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Beautiful deep amber colour, low head (the bottle had been open a while, though). Malty aroma with toffee and caramel notes. Mouthfeel has a bit too much carbonation for my taste. Flavour has fairly bitter hops throughout, which dominate whatever maltiness there might be. Fairly dry and "dusty" finish.

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

500 ml can, bought in Germany. ABV is 4.9%. Pale golden colour, decent head. Sweetish aroma: candy, grass, herbs. Flavour is tolerably hoppy on a slightly sweetish background. Average German macro pils.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

500 ml can, bought in Poland. Golden colour, large white head. Flowery sweet aroma, candy notes too. Flavour is unusually sweet for a pale lager, sugary and artificial candy notes. Hardly any bitterness. Barely escaped being poured down the drain.

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

330 ml clear bottle, bought in Germany. Every big German brewery seems to be squandering their reputation these days by making a "Gold" beer - pale tasteless lagers with normal ABV, for people who really don’t like beer, but want the buzz. You think "normal" Becks has too much taste(!)? This one’s for you! Pale golden colour, low head, fizzy. Weak aroma with faint notes of grass. Flavour is boring as hell, but there are at least some hints of dry and dusty hops, so the beer is not COMPLETELY tasteless ...

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

500 ml bottle, as "Duckstein Rotblondes Oberbräu", bought at KaDeWe, Berlin. Seems to be brewed at Holsten Brauerei, Hamburg (my bottle), as well as Feldschlösschen Braunschweig (both Carlsberg owned). Amber colour, large and lasting off-white head, some lacing. Caramel aroma with some flowery aromatic hops, notes of brown bread too. Moderate carbonation, soft malty flavour wth some brown bread notes, decent hops in the finish. Pleasant and easy drinking "altbier" (well, it’s top fermented, and it’s German).

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

500 ml can, a "summer beer" brewed for the Norwegian market. ABV is 4.5%. Somehow macro brewers have managed to convince Norwegian swill drinkers that they need "summer beers" that are even paler, thinner and more boring than their standard pilseners. And the Tuborg brand is Carlsberg’s "discount" brand in Norway, so you know what to expect ... Very pale yellow colour, low head. Grassy and artificial candy notes in the aroma. Flavour ... well, what flavour? This beer is nearly void of any flavour, there’s just a faint acidity to let you know that you’re not drinking water. Not worthy of the name "beer".

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

500 ml bottle, bought at KaDeWe, Berlin. Murky brown colour, large off-white head (but relatively moderate for a hefeweizen), does not last "forever". Moderate carbonation. Lovely cloves and banana aroma, hints of dried fruits, oak and fresh brown bread. Flavour is bready and fairly dry, moderate notes of cloves, mouthfeel is relatively watery and bland. Does not quite deliver what the aroma promises. Probably better with food than on its own.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at KaDeWe, Berlin, as Herrnbräu Hefe Weißbier Hell. Hazy pale golden colour, enormous lasting white head. LOVELY cloves aroma, notes of citrus and banana too. Flavour has distinct cloves notes, moderate lemony notes too. Moderate body but decent for a hefe, refreshing. An excellent beer for a hot day.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 4

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Ingredients include maize (corn) and rice. 10.8 degrees Plato. ABV is 4.3%. Very dark colour, nearly black, ruby in the highlights. Low head. Very moderate malty aroma, hints of coffee. Flavour is surprisingly watery and bland, drinking it after the excellent Nøgne Ø and Nørrebro beers obviously didn’t help. "Boiled" notes, wet cardboard and dust abound. Disappointing.

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

Draught (pasteurised but unfiltered keg), courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Sampled side-by-side with its "sister brew", Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale (bottle conditioned), see separate rating. Deep brown colour, hazy, not as dark as NØ IBA. Minimal head. Malty aroma, but the aromatic hops are not as distinct as in NØ IBA. Full and rich malty flavour with oaky elements, but a less pronounced maltiness than NØ IBA. Slightly "rawer" in the edges. Still an excellent beer.

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

500 ml bottle conditioned, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger (Norway’s best beer bar, untill someone proves me wrong). Sampled side-by-side with its "sister brew", Nørrebro Bryghus Double Knot Brown Ale (pasteurised and unfiltered keg, see separate rating). ABV is 7.5%, 19 degrees Plato, 40 IBU. Very dark brown colour, moderate head. Darker than Nørrebro DKBA. Lovely malty aroma with plenty of aromatic hops, notes of chocolate and leather too. Rich and roasty flavour, plenty of malts and oak. Roasty long aftertaste. Excellent beer!

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

Draught at Pivni Galerie, Prague. The PG beer list says ABV is 4.9%, but the brewery website says 4.5%. Plato is 11%. "Havran" seems to mean "raven" in English, acccording to the website. Black colour, moderate tan head. Nice lacing. Malty aroma with notes of leather, liquorice and tobacco. Easily drinkable, moderate but nice roastiness, hints of liquorice. A slight sweetness in the aftertaste. Very good.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

500 ml bottle, bought in Germany. ABV is 4.9%. Not to be confused with Unertl Mühldorfer Weissbier (different brewery, different town). Hazy orange-brownish colour, huge off-white head. Lovely aroma of ripe fruits with vinous notes, oak, bananas and cloves. Flavour is moderately acidic and lemony, with faint notes of wood, sour dough bread and cloves. Light bodied. Like most weissbiers a relatively short aftertaste. I drank it slightly too warm, must be very refreshing when colder, esp. on a fine summer’s day.

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

500 ml swingtop bottle, under its alias "Das Echte Altbayreuther Braunbier", bought at KaDeWe, Berlin. Reddish brown colour, large and lasting off-white head. Rye bread / bakery aroma, notes of lightly roasted malts and caramel too. Mouthfeel is surprisingly watery, flavour is rather bland and bready, lightly roasted malts with minimal hops. Slightly sourish finish. By all means a drinkable beer, but I expected more flavour than this.

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

500 ml can, bought in Poland. Golden colour, large white head. Sweetish fruity aroma, bordering on sugary, some aromatic hops too. Sweetish flavour with alcoholic notes, decent hops in the finish. No masterpiece, but drinkable.