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

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Brewed with Swedish hops. Pale golden colour, low head. A moderate but quite clean hoppiness in both aroma and flavour. Not too bad for a pale lager with an ABV this low (3.5%).

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

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Colour like sherry oloroso, minimal head. Sherry aroma too. Sweetish flavour with pastry notes, quite nice. The Nils Oscar Julöl (Yule/Christmas beers) seem to have a different recipe for each vintage.

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

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Lovely aroma of sherry and Christmas spices. Flavour is also spicy and vinous, fairly sweet. A beer to go with Christmas cookies rather than the main meal. Another fine effort from Nils Oscar.

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

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Pale golden colour. Dry hopped. Pleasant hoppy aroma and flavour, light bodied. Nice refreshment beer with a very moderate ABV.

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

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. This beer is intended as an accompaniment with "surströmming", the fermenting fish that only Swedes can love. Pale golden colour. Moderately hoppy and grassy aroma. Grassy flavour with some sweetish notes, thin and boring.

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

Sampled RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Amber colour, moderate head. Reasonably hoppy aroma (Goldings). Moderate hops in the flavour too, but the body is too thin.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005 Grand Tasting. Brandy colour. Hoppy and medicinal aroma. Fairly dry and bitter flavour, but not much else going on. A bit disappointing.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Lovely hefe aroma (cloves, bananas) with a substantial contribution made by elderflowers. Flavour is again hefe with elderflowers. A quite nice beer this one!

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005 Grand Tasting. Very nice hoppy aroma, citrus, pineapple. Flavour is dry and hoppy, light bodied, bitter aftertaste. Must be a great beer to drink when you have been working up a sweat doing farm work (or garden work) in the summertime.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005 Grand Tasting. Amber colour. Aroma is smoke and oak with some brown sugar and white pepper notes. Flavour is moderately smokey with faint notes of tar, fairly dry. Okay.

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

Bottled from draught, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Brown colour, strong aroma of caramel and Chinook hops. Decent malty flavour with some caramel, well balanced with the hops. A nice strong bitter!

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Strong aroma of Christmas spices, sweet malts and vegemite. Very SWEET flavour, molasses galore. Far too sweet in my book.

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

Bottle, vintage 2001, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Hazy brown colour, malty sweet (far too sweet) flavour. Haven't had the ordinary Kloster yet, but this stronger Christmas special is too sweet to go with any traditional Scandinavian Christmas fare, except cakes, cookies and dessert.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Very dark (black) colour, decent head. LOVELY aroma: roast malts, sherry, plums. Flavour is VERY roasty, notes of espresso coffee, but not much beyond that. A bit too fizzy.

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

Bottle, at Plan B, Copenhagen. Orange colour. Fruity / orangey aroma. A bit fizzy, quite dry. Fairly bitter hops, hints of metallicness. Not the best from Slottskällans this one.

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

(500 ml bottle, in Sweden). Pale golden colour, decent head. This is a fairly "neutral" lager, a bit sweet, low bitterness. Drinkable, but certainly not remarkable.

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

(500 ml bottle, in Sweden). Allegedly a combination of lager and altbier (50/50?). The lager is the winner. Light golden brown colour. Malty aroma with hints of new-mown hay. Malty flavour with a not-too-pleasant bitterness. Drinkable, not outstanding. I'd prefer a pure altbier!

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

330 ml bottle, ABV is 9.0%. Very dark reddish brown colour, nearly black. Excellent large and thick brown head. Lovely roasty aroma with strong notes of dark chocolate. Flavour is very roasty with strong notes of coffee, also some chocolate but not very sweet. Bitter finish, it’s hard to tell how much of the bitterness comes from the roastiness and how much from the hops - obviously both elements are plentiful. A first class imperial stout!

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

500 ml bottle. Golden colour, slightly hazy. Decent white head. Lager-like aroma with notes of flowers, hay and honey. Flavour is sourish and thin with some citussy notes. Short sourish aftertaste with metallic notes. Disappointing.

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

330 ml slimline can, from Birk Bryggeriutsalg, Klepp. ABV is 4.7%. Moderately hazy golden colour, large to moderate white head. Moderate aroma of pineapple and lychee, grain and dust. The flavour has some citrus and tropical fruits, not very sweet, grainy notes, a whiff of smoke in the finish, low bitterness.

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

500 ml can, from Coop Obs!, Mariero. Clear golden colour, large white head. Sweetish aroma of malts with some caramel. Malty flavour, a little caramel but not too sweet, moderate hops. Average, but clearly drinkable.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

330 ml can, as Dugges Superior Porter, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 5.6%. Very dark reddish brown colour, nearly black. Moderate beige head. Aroma of grain and dust, hints of mild coffee and chocolate. The medium dry flavour has notes of chocolate and mild coffee, moderate bittering hops.

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

440 ml can, as Stigbergets Easter Everywhere Extraordinary IPA, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 7%. Hazy yellow / golden colour, large white head. Pleasant aroma of citrus, melon, mango, papaya and guava. Nice flavour with notes of said fruits, also a pleasant hop burn, and a moderate bitterness in the finish.

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

330 ml can, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 6.5%. Opaque yellow colour, moderate to small white head. Lovely aroma of various citrus fruits and tropical fruits, hints of sprucetips. The flavour is citric but not too sweet, hints of yellow stonefruits and tropical fruits, weak piney notes, dull finish.