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

330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet. ABV is 6%. Pale golden colour, slightly hazy, huge and long lasting white head. Pleasant aroma of Belgian ale yeast with distinct spicy and some fruity notes. The flavour is fairly crisp and moderately spicy, yeasty notes, not very sweet. Moderate hops.

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

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 8.5%. This was originally the winner beer of the Norwegian Home Brewing Championship 2010, and it has been reported that Russian River Pliny the Elder was the inspiration for the recipe. Cloudy brownish colour, big and lasting off-white head. Very nice aroma of piny and fruity American hops (Columbus, Centennial and Simcoe). The flavour is first fruity and refreshing, then a massive hoppy and nearly medicinal bitterness sets in (bordering on "overkill"), and lasts through the long aftertaste. One for the hardcore hopheads.

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

330 ml stubby bottle, bought at Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 10%. Dark brown colour, but far from black. Big beige head. Very malty aroma with notes of brown bread and caramel, only mild roasty notes. The flavour is also malty and medium sweet with caramel and just some mild roasty notes, bitter hops in the finish and aftertaste. Alcohol is noticeable but not disturbing. Probably the weirdest "imperial stout" I’ve had, but if you disregard the anticipations created by the style name, the beer is decent enough to drink. A new style perhaps? - "Imperial Belgian Brown Ale"?

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

500 ml swingtop bottle, bought at Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 5.3%. Dark brown colour, big to moderate off-white to beige head. Nice aroma of malts, fresh bread and fruity and floral hops. The flavour is quite fruity and refreshing for a dunkel, the malts are there, but the beer is not too sweet. Low bitterness, but scores high on drinkability.

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

330 ml stubby bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 9%. Golden colour, huge and lasting white head. Very nice initial fruity and spicy aroma, loses some its impact after a couple minutes in the glass. The flavour is sweet and spicy with noticeable hops, but the alcohol is not too well hidden. Could have been better, could have been worse.

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

500 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 4.2%. Amber colour, moderate white head. Moderate aroma of toffee and biscuits, hints of fruity hops. Soft mouthfeel, smooth to drink. Nice moderately malty flavour with hints of toffee, biscuits and fruity hops, ending in a very moderate bitterness. OKish.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. ABV is 5.2%. Very dark brown to ruby colour, nearly black. Big to moderate beige head. Fairly nice aroma with a mild roastiness, notes of caramel, mild coffee and some fruit. The flavour has basically the same elements as the aroma, but with less caramel and a very slight acidity. Hints of chocolate too. Dry aftertaste. As a "strong dark mild", this is not too bad!

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

600 ml bottle, bought at Voldby Købmandsgård. ABV is 9.0%. Pale yellow colour, big white head. Pleasant aroma of Belgian ale yeast with fruity (citrus) and spicy notes. The flavour is spicy and fairly sweet, alcohol is noticeable, peppery and moderately bitter finish.

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

500 ml bottle, as Schlossbrauerei Grünbach Greabecker Urweisse Hell, bought at Rewe Getränkemarkt, Erding. ABV is 5.3%. Cloudy brownish-yellow colour, huge and lasting white head. Strong typical hefeweizen aroma of banana and cloves, also other undefined spices. The flavour has moderate notes of banana and stronger notes of cloves / other spices, but is drier than many other hefeweizens, and the moderate hops in the finish are actually noticeable. A bit too much carbonation in the mouth for my taste, but otherwise a nice h.w.

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

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Batch 62, ABV is 9.2%. Orange colour, big to moderate off-white head. Very nice aroma of fruity (mainly citrussy) and piney American hops. Also notes of crystal or caramel malts. The flavour has loads of piney hops throughout, with a substantial bitterness, on a fairly sweet malty background. Hints of tomcat. Not "well balanced", but what do you expect from an imperial IPA?

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

500 ml bottle, from Rewe Getränkemarkt, Erding. ABV is 5.1%. Deep copper brown colour, big to moderate off-white head. Aroma of bakery (brown bread and pastry) and caramel malts, also some moderate fruity notes. The flavour is malty with caramel, but not too sweet, some lightly burnt notes and moderate hops in the finish. Well balanced and pleasant to drink. According to Roger Protz, this is one of the 300 beers you need to sample before you die. I would not limit myself to 300 beers, but König Ludwig Dunkel is definitely worth sampling (and having again the day after), as a fine example of Bavarian dunkels - a style that most of the time does not get the love it deserves on beer rating websites.

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

500 ml swingtop bottle, from Rewe Getränkemarkt, Erding. ABV is 5.8%. Deep golden to amber colour, moderate head, slightly off-white. Moderate aroma of grassy and herbal hops, a hint of caramel. The flavour is fairly malty with hints of caramel, notes of grassy and herbal hops again. Spritzy mouthfeel. A decent Märzen this one.

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

On tap at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Cloudy orange-golden colour, moderate white head. Pleasant sweetish wheaty aroma with distinct notes of oranges. The flavour has also notes of oranges, coriander is less prominent. Noticeable hops in a moderately bitter finish. Not too sweet. A quite enjoyable brew.

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

750 ml corked and wired bottle, from Vinmonopolet. ABV is 9.0%. Very pale yellow colour, huge white head. Strong fruity, yeasty and spicy (cloves a.o.) aroma. The flavour is spicy with some fruit and white kandij sugar, but the sweetness is nearly too much. Still a good beer, but if it is worth the high price in Norway is debatable.

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

Shared bottle, Dark brown colour, moderate beige head. Intense malty sweetish aroma, notes of oak and old sherry. The flavour has loads of malty sweetness, notes of oak. Moderate hops in the finish.

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

Shared bottle at RBNAG 2011. Cloudy golden colour, large white head. Lovely aroma of lemons, lime and pomerans. The flavour has a citrussy sourness but is not extreme. Fairly dry and light bodied.

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

On tap at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Hazy brown colour, moderate white head. Pleasant aroma of ripe bananas, cloves and brown bread. The flavour has also notes of brown bread, hints of banana and cloves, but is far drier than the aroma makes you expect. Minimal bitterness. Refreshing and easy drinking - could easily be recommended even for pale lager drinkers who think that everything darker than piss yellow must be dangerous.

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

Shared bottle, RBNAG 2011 in Oslo. Hazy golden colour. Intense aroma of farmhouse, new and old woodwork, sour fruit / lemons. Flavour of a classical gueuze, funky and farmhouse notes, also lemon.

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

Shared bottle, RBNAG 2011 in Oslo. Golden colour. Difficult to distinguish this from the Lente, but Zomer is slightly less woody and even more lemony in both aroma and flavour.

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

Shared bottle, RBNAG 2011 in Oslo. Again: hard to distinguish from the Lente and Zomer (which we had just minutes before), but Herfst is even more sour and lemony than Zomer, in both aroma and flavour.

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

Shared bottle at RBNAG 2011 in Oslo. "Anno 2010 Anniversary". 25% of this ale had been aged in bourbon barrels, the remaining 75% were not barrel aged. Sampled at a time of the tasting when I was slowly getting slightly inebriated, and the 14.5% ABV of this beer did not help much ... Cloudy brown colour. Malty sweetish aroma, loads of molasses and alcohol. Rich malty flavour, a certain fruitiness balances the sweetness. Moderate but noticeable hops.

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

330 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Brewed at Fanø Bryghus. ABV is 7.0%. Amber colour, large off-white head. Aroma of American hops, notes of grapefruit, spruce and pine. The flavour is distinctly hoppy throughout, grapefruit, pine and spruce again, very bitter and nearly medicinal aftertaste.

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

330 ml shared bottle, provided by our beerpal Jan Magnus. ABV is 4.5%. Beautiful ruby colour, moderate off-white head. Pleasant vinous aroma, hints of caramel. Nice medium sweet flavour, notes of red berries and toffee, moderate hops.

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

750 ml corked bottle, as Bøgedal No. 219, from Vinmonopolet Vika, shared with beerpals. ABV was 7.0%. Hops are Perle, Cascade and Celeia (not Centennial and Northern Brewer), so I really think the 219 ought to be listed as a separate beer. Hazy orange-brown colour, large and fluffy head. Fruity, hoppy and herbal aroma. Medium sweet flavour, balanced by distinct hops.

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

330 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. 8,2% ABV, 28 EBU. Very dark brown colour, nearly black. Enormous tan head. Strong aroma of smoked malts, peat, old rope and tar. The flavour has notes of smoked and roasted malts, a touch of peat, with a moderate sweetness to balance. Hints of tar and ashes. There’s just a slight chili burn in the aftertaste. A quite interesting beer!