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

(500 ml bottle). Reddish brown colour, decent head. Aroma of caramel and leather. Not as sweet as I expected. Malty caramel flavour with just a slight roastiness, in a blind test I would surely classify this beer as a strong dunkel, not a Baltic porter. Relatively thin bodied, not nearly as good as their Jõuluporter (Christmas Porter). Disappointing for its style, if disregarding style you may find this as a decent and drinkable beer.

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

(Cask conditioned). Sampled at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival. (Room temperature, low natural carbonation). Copper coloured. A Scottish "heavy" like it should be. Good, but not so very special. Aviemore brewery changed its name in 2001 to Cairngorm brewery. Cairngorm also brew Tomintoul beers.

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

Cask conditioned at the Exeter Arms, Derby. Hazy brown colour, low creamy head. Moderate aroma, some English malt vinegar. Malty sweet flavour, full, rich and creamy mouthfeel. Not bad.

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

Ex Vaux beer, now brewed by Robinsons for "The Double Maxim Beer Company Sunderland", website www.dmbc.co.uk . 550 ml bottle, straight from the fridge (= served too cold) at The Shipwrights, North Hylton, Sunderland. Deep brown colour, darker than Newcastle Brown. Decent head. Malty and nutty aroma and flavour, hints of toffee, low bitterness. Fuller flavour than NBA, but not remarkable.

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

(Draught in Newcastle). Darker than Newcastle Brown, more flavour too - but still a bit thin. Moderate head, good lacing. Drinkable, but not the best one around.

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

500 ml can, bought in Norway. ABV here is 4.7%, to permit the beer being sold in our grocery stores. Canned (and watered down?) in Norway by Hansa-Borg Bryggerier. Reddish brown colour, good head. Aroma is malty with caramel, hints of oak and spices. Full malty flavour, nicely rounded, hints of caramel and herbs. Aftertaste is not unpleasant, but short and a bit watery. This beer is better than I expected, and much better than Kilkenny.

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

(Cask conditioned). Sampled at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival, where it was served at room temperature. Low natural carbonation. Looks like a pale/blonde/golden ale. Good aroma, quite fruity flavour. Would probably taste a lot better if served cooler.

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

(Cask condtioned). Sampled at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival, where it was served at room temperature with no carbonation. Dark ruby colour, OKish porter with just too little of everything.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at Pivni Galerie, Prague. Label info: Herold Bohemian Golden Lager, Svetlý Lezák, 12 degrees plato, Pilsenerbier, ABV 5.1%. Golden colour, large head that doesn’t last long, little lacing. Lovely hoppy aroma, flowers (incl. heather flowers), honey and a hint of oak. Flavour is hoppy bitterness from start to finish, long bitter aftertaste. Moderate carbonation. A good pilsener, but not quite as good as Svijansky Rytír Bitter.

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

There are, at the present, only 4 Norwegian standard strength bocks (alphabethical order is identical with my quality ranking): Aass, Borg, Frydenlund and Mack. However, they are all well worth sampling. Frydenlund has a good head, pleasant oak and nut aroma (but not as good as Aass), malty flavour, acceptable aftertaste. The Frydenlund brewery was bought and closed many years ago by Oslo rival Ringnes, who continue to brew their beers.

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

A very pleasant dunkel, despite the relatively low ABV. Much better than Carlsberg Lagerøl. Beautiful colour, malty flavour. It's a shame that Carlsberg (who owns Tuborg) retired this beer.

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

(33 cl bottle). Golden beer with a slight yeast haziness, large head. Very weak initial aroma, improves as the beer warms up - I get caramel, oak, honey and apricot. Very sweet fruity and honeylike flavour, next to cloying, low bitterness - a dessert beer, I'd say. Overall I'm a bit disappointed with this one, you expect more from the Belgians.

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

Bottle conditioned, 500 ml. Bought at Memorable Cheeses, Ipswich. Very dark brown colour, cloudy (I poured the yeast in). Very low head. Lovely "old" aroma of leather, oak, coffee and dark fruits. Flavour is fruity and vinegary, roast notes. Acidic finish. Not bad.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Dark brown colour. Aroma of dark fruits / prunes, flavour is fruity and rather sweet. Nice. A decent mild!

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Black colour, roasted malty and ...err... MILD flavour. Smooth. Low on hops like expected from this style.

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

Cask conditioned at The Cricketers, Ipswich. This beer is brewed with organic hops and malts. Colour is golden, slightly hazy. Moderate hoppy/fruity aroma. Relatively light bodied, grapefruity hoppy bitterness from start to finish. Nice.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. IBF list says "straw coloured, bitter flavour and soft malt finish". That pretty much sums it up. Nice hops, good bitterness, refreshing - should be served cooler than it was at the IBF.

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

February 2003: (Cask conditioned). I had just a taste of this at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival, will need to have it again. Some natural carbonation, low head. Very malty aroma and flavour, low bitterness. Typical Northeastern English style.

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

(Cask conditioned in Bishop Auckland). A beer in the Northeastern English style, I believe. Dark brown, low head, good lacing. Malty aroma. Rather sweet, smooth, low bitterness.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Interesting aroma of barnyard and sheepshed - very befitting, as the Bedlington terrier (the dog, that is!) looks like a newborn lamb. Flavour is dusty malty. Oh, and it’s vegan - no terriers are used as actual ingredients in this beer.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Deep golden colour. Nice hoppy / fruity aroma. Quite malty for a session bitter. A dusty hoppiness takes over, lasts through the finish. Easy drinking. Pleasant enough.

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

Cask conditioned at Ye Olde Dolphin Inne, Derby (Heavyweight Beer Festival, February 2005). Gravity dispense. Brown to ruby colour, some natural carbonation, no head. Malty aroma and flavour like expected from a "Scottish" style ale, but this one also has a tolerable hoppy bitterness. Hints of dark bitter chocolate. Not a bad try from the Otter Brewery.

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

330 ml brown bottle, bought at Vaaland Ølutsalg, Bryne. ABV is 4.5%. Crystal clear pale golden colour, sparkling when poured but very little carbonation in the glass. No head. Lovely aroma and flavour of fermenting pears and apples, notes of oak. Quite sweet. I like it, but one bottle is enough. Might buy again though, probably palatable for guests who don’t like beer.

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

Cask conditioned at The Mitre, Cambridge. Deep golden colour, low to none head. A decent session bitter, nothing wrong, nothing spectacular. Tolerably malty aroma and flavour with a decent hoppy finish.