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

Draught at the brewery beer hall. Served too cold, in the appropriate stylish glass. The beer has a beautiful amber colour, served with a moderate head. Fruity aroma with hints of caramel. Some caramel in the flavour too, but not really sweet. Nutty. Tolerably well hopped.

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

Draught at the brewpub. I also brought back a bottle of this beer and the Cerny/Tmavé which was unavailable on tap while we were there. (The bottled beers were sold in pairs, at an outrageous price by Czech standards - in Norway ALL beer prices are outrageous, so I didn’t mind.) The svetlé is an unfiltered pilsener, golden colour, slightly hazy, moderate head. Moderate hops aroma. Flavour has a herbal character and a dry bitter finish, which makes this beer a lot better than (most) industrial pilseners / pale lagers.

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

(33 cl bottle, bought in Denmark.) Deep amber colour, low head. Aroma is malty sweet with some caramel and hops. Flavour is again malty sweet, rounded and mellow, low bitterness. The best of the Tinkoff beers I’ve had so far.

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

This is a fairly good good strong lager, carries its high ABV well. Good head, pleasant aroma, powerful flavour. Beats Carlsberg's Elephant beer. But a ROYAL selection?? Oh well, I've never been a monarchist anyway...

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

(Domestic Danish version). Brownish colour, moderate head. A quite acceptable strong Danish beer. Spicy, perfumed aroma and aftertaste. Flavour is malty, but also somewhat sweetish and alcoholic and may not be to everyone's taste. This is the standard strong beer in the Copenhagen Zoo restaurant, and after one or two of these + a shot of "Gammel Dansk Bitter" you are ready to face the REAL giraffes any time!

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

Pleasant but not very strong aroma, malty flavour characterized by caramel and spices. More hoppy bitterness than other Norwegian bayers. An excellent accompaniment with beef and game dishes, also as an ingredient in the very same dishes!

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

Rich and sweetish Norwegian dark bock, spicy, hints of coffee and caramel. Not a bad bock this one, but not as good as Aass Bock. Brewed by Borg Bryggeri in Sarpsborg, which survived by merging with Hansa (Bergen) and CB (Kristiansand) into the Hansa-Borg group.

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

Bottle conditioned, batch no. 040812arw. Bought at Memorable Cheeses in Ipswich. This fruit beer is an unfiltered and bottle conditioned wheat lager, not an ale. Cloudy golden colour (I poured the yeast in). Aroma and flavour are prickly and tart raspberries on a wheat background, not too sweet. Rather bitter finish. Not bad.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. A very soft and easy drinking session bitter. Nothing to blow your socks off, but nice enough for an evening in the pub.

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

Rerate, cask at The Shipwrights, North Hylton, Sunderland. A nice little beer, this one. Aroma a bit like Marston’s Pedigree, but less pronounced. Smooth and mellow, fruit and nuts in the flavour. No true "masterpiece", but certainly a drinkable pint.

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

Wylam’s former summer seasonal "Summer Magic" is now a permanent all year beer in Wylam’s portfolio, and the name has accordingly been changed to "Wylam Magic". ABV is 4.2%. Sampled cask conditioned at the Lambton Worm (JDW), Sunderland, on a cold winter’s day. Pale golden colour, next to none head but a decent lacing. Moderate fruity aroma. Light bodied, flavour is citrussy light and refreshing, with just enough hops to make it interesting.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. I had a sip or two of distinguished beer rater chris_o’s sample of this beer at the festival, and found his rating to be quite accurate. This organic dark ale is not a typical English best bitter (organic Hallertau hops from New Zealand are used), it's more of a cross between a bitter and a dark mild, like chris_o says: Deep tawny/chestnut colour, sulphurous aroma, grainy and some roasted malts flavour with low bitterness, a slight sweetness, dry finish.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Deep golden colour. IBF programme said "hoppy & fruity throughout", and I can’t object to that. Not impressive, though.

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

Cask conditioned at the White Horse, Parsons Green, London. Deep golden colour, moderate head. Minimal carbonation, aroma was hard to detect due to a smoky pub, some aromatic hops around. Flavour is instantly Cascade hops (I think), elderberry-like qualities, not really bitter. An OKish beer, not great, lacks some "bite".

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. I think fellow rater chris_o is spot on in his comment (no surprise, as we sampled this beer from the same glass): "The colour was pale amber, but somewhat cloudy. There was certainly a noticeable resinous hop blast in the aroma but, not for the first time at this festival, there was a distinct whiff of sulphur too. I can only assume that was unintentional as the combination was not too appealing. The mouthfeel was zippy, but the initial hop aroma just didn’t carry through onto the palate and the flavours were not well defined. Finished soft and not very hoppy. I get the feeling that this could be a much more impressive beer, but wasn’t in tip top condition here." This is an OKish strong pale ale, alcohol is well hidden but the flavour is not very exciting.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Amber colour, the slight haziness did not bother me. Sulphurous dried apricot aroma. Flavour is moderately malty, soft and easy drinking, but not remarkable.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Deep golden colour, aroma is dusty malts with some tobacco. Flavour is moderately malty. Had most of the beer with a meal (bangers & mash) - okay.

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

Sampled draught at The Jacksons, Sunderland. Not sure if it was cask or keg, both are available - most likely keg. Golden colour, good head. Smooth. An easy quaffing bitter, not much character - but let's admit it: I'm a sucker for beers like this when quantity is the matter of the day.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. (The brewery website says ABV is 4.5%, but the picture of the pumpclip in the website says ABV is 5.3%(!). Probably varies.) Reddish brown colour. Sweet and fruity aroma and flavour, sour finish. A typical English moderate ABV porter.

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

This was originally a special pilsener for the year 1995, I think, but they continued brewing it. I had a home-swapping with a Luxembourgoise doctor in Nice, France, and we had agreed to keep something in our respective fridges for the thirsty "new" residents upon arrival. A sixpack of this beer was waiting for me, and in the heat of the French Riviera I'd swear this was the best thirst quencher I've ever had. Can you expect much more from a pilsener? Maybe I'd be less enthusiastic on a cold winter's day, but it surely was a clean-tasting and decent pilsener.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Moderately spicy aroma and flavour, citrus (= lemongrass) is there of course. Light bodied, refreshing.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Orange aroma. I suppose orange peel has been added to the brew. Decent wheat flavour, but not outstanding.

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

A decent pale ale, not outstanding in any way. Rerate 500 ml bottle: Moderate malty aroma, golden brown colour, good head. Pleasant, malty, well rounded flavour. Decent. A bit alcoholic, in a blind test I would guess it was stronger than it actually is.

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

(500 ml bottle). Light golden colour, heavy initial carbonation that diminishes rapidly. Aroma of apples (not surprising!), oak and leather + hints of cowshed. Sweet apple flavour with hints of oak. I'm not really a cider man, but this decent oak conditioned stuff is infinitely better tasting than the industrialized crap that normally is marketed as "cider" these days.

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

500 ml bottle, now available in Norway. Clear golden colour. Pours fizzy & sparkling, but carbonation in the glass is moderate. No lasting head. Oaky aroma with hints of leather, dominant late harvest fermenting apples, notes of apple cider vinegar. Flavour is oaky, medium dry. Quite pleasant and refreshing. A decent cider