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

Cask at The Hogshead, Ipswich. My first Ringwood beer. Deep golden colour, light bodied, fruity flavour with a faint hint of barnyard. OKish, but not a favourite of mine.

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Totally flat, no natural carbonation. Black (=dark reddish brown) colour. Not very strong but pleasant aroma: liquorice, coffee and tobacco. Flavour has some malts, liquorice, thin coffee - but leaves a rather thin mouthfeel.

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

330 ml bottles, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet, bestillingsutvalget). I drank the first bottle at cellar temperature, the second one at fridge temp. Extremely powerful mouthfeel in both cases, you’d think the beer was much stronger than its 6.5% ABV (in a blind test I’d probably say 10-11%). This means that the alcohol dominates, but the malts and hops are evident too. Colour is deep golden / amber, large white head. Moderate aroma of spices, caramel, molasses and hops, some oak and leather too. Moderately sweet with a dry and bitter hoppy finish. I preferred the Einbecker Ur-Bock Dunkel to this one.

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

Cask conditioned at The Pickerel, Cambridge (guest beer). Golden brown colour, no head. Comes forward as a standard premium bitter, quite flat. Moderate malty aroma with notes of caramel, hints of malt vinegar. Flavour is .... err, like an ordinary bitter, nothing particular stands out at all. I may have suffered from "palate fatigue" after many hours at the Cambridge Beer Festival earlier that day, but I don’t think this beer rates above the "OKish" category anyhow.

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

Barrel at the 32nd Cambridge Beer Festival, gravity dispense. The perry variety on tap here was simply called "Orchards", as the variety that would be available was not known when the festival programme went into print. ABV was listed as 6.4%, same as the bottled version of Orchards Blakeney Red Medium Dry Perry. But the colour of the perry I drank was considerably paler than the one the raters of "Blakeney Red" seem to have had. I presume the cask perries will vary in colour with the pear varieties that are available at any given time. The one I had was supposed to be "dry", and "made from fruits from renovated derelict orchards". It was actually pale straw coloured and cloudy. Aroma of pears (of course), yeast, and (if you want to be unpleasant:) toilet cleaning agent. Flavour was fruity (of course) - pears, sweeter than expected from an allegedly "dry" perry, hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. Not too bad.

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

Original short rating: Above average - well worth sampling. Rerate, in Denmark: Rich strong lager, golden colour, large bottle 70 cl is standard, correct ABV is 6.5%. I normally haven't the greatest affinity for Danish golden lagers, don't know why I like this one, but I do. Must mean that it's fairly well balanced? Goes nicely with a few Danish "håndmadder".

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

Sampled in Denmark. Deep golden colour. Good initial aroma, head disappears quickly. Fairly alcoholic, some hoppy bitterness. A drinkable strong pale bock, but the Dark is better!

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

Bottle, at Den Tatoverede Enke, Copenhagen. Honey coloured. Honey and spices in the aroma, quite nice. Flavour is rather sweet, some mild spices, but lacks "bite". Alcohol is evident.

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

330 ml fliptop bottle, in Flensburg. Reddish brown colour, good and lasting creamy off-white head. Quite nice flowery and malty aroma. Caramel malts flavour. Minimal bitterness.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV is 4.2%. Deep golden to orange colour, moderate white head. Moderate aroma of malts and toffee, hints of berries. The flavour has moderate malts, toffee, biscuits and nuts. Decent Challenger hops in the finish.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. Brown colour, big off-white head. Aroma of Belgian ale yeast, brown sugar and spices, hints of camphorwood. The flavour has more fruity acidity than I expect from a dubbel, some spicy and woody notes too.

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

Cask at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Very dark brown colour, nearly black. Moderate beige head. The aroma has notes of moderately roasted malts and mild coffee, hints of wood and smoke. The flavour is very dry and the beer is light bodied, notes of mild coffee, wood and hints of smoke again.

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

330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, as Silenrieux Joseph Wit Bière d’epautre Bio. ABV is 5%. Milky pale straw coloured beer, moderate white head. Yeasty and estery aroma, notes of citrus and spices (coriander). Fizzy mouthfeel. The flavour is very citrussy, nearly acidic, moderate spicy notes. Refreshing, but not really a remarkable beer.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at Vaaland, Bryne, also Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 4.5%. Sediment, the bottle should be turned upside-down a couple times to get more wheat yeast flavour. Cloudy brownish-yellow colour, moderate white head. Moderate wheaty aroma, notes of citrus, hints of cloves and banana, but not as much as in most German hefeweizens. Light bodied. Refreshing wheaty flavour, moderate notes of citrus, cloves and banana, dry and slightly peppery finish.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV 3.5%. Very dark reddish brown colour, low beige head. Strong aroma of canned cherries, marzipan and almond essence - lovely (in a weird way). Flavour of cherries, marzipan and brown malts. Nice enough to drink.

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

500 ml green swingtop bottle, as Chodovar Zámecké Černé, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV is 4.2%. Dark brown colour, moderate beige head. Malty aroma, notes of brown bread. Malty flavour, medium sweet, some caramel. Okay, but not the very best Czech dunkel.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV 6.5%. Golden colour, moderate white head. Effervescent and slightly spicy aroma and flavour, crisp and nice, but nothing special.

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

Bottle, at the Manneke Pis, Tenerife. ABV was 2.8%. Contains 25% raspberries. Dark red colour, low pink head. Intense aroma of ripe raspberries. The flavour is intensely sweet and sugary, with strong notes of ripe raspberries throughout.

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

180 ml red-waxed capped green bottle, as De Molen Mooi & Machtig Cognac B.A., courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Bottle No. 027 out of a batch of 624 bottles. ABV is 17.4%. OG 1150, FG 1030. Brewed 9. Oct. 2009, bottled 20. Sept. 2010. Bittering hop Premiant, final hop Czech Saaz, 51.3 EBU. Cloudy brown colour, low off-white head. Strong aroma of malt sugar, molasses, alcohol and cognac oak barrel. Very moderate carbonation in the glass. Very sweet flavour, with malts, molasses, alcohol, fortified wine and oak galore. The bitterness seems very moderate. A bit too far out on the sweet side for my taste, but definitely worth sampling.

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

330 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 9%. Fairly clear yellow colour, huge white head. Strong sweetish aroma of ripe bananas, coriander and Belgian ale yeast. The flavour is spicy and rather sweet, okay but not really remarkable. A hint of anise in the aftertaste.

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

330 ml bottle, from Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 5.8%. Copper coloured beer, big to moderate off-white head with an orangey hue. Strong sweetish aroma with loads of Christmas spices (nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom etc.), nearly "gløgg" (=mulled and spiced wine). Too much carbonation in the mouth. The flavour is not as sweet as I feared, but has loads of the above Christmas spices. Definitely drinkable, but not what you would call "well balanced". The finish is a bit "empty", could use more hops.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by abemorsten. ABV is 4.6%. Beautiful chestnut colour, decent beige head. Nice aroma of malts, toast and a hint of toffee, also a hint of tobacco. The flavour has notes of smoked malts, ashes and tobacco. Quite dry.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by abemorsten. ABV is 7%. Golden colour, not as pale and milky as other witbiers, big to moderate white head. Nice aroma and flavour of coriander, cloves and orange peel. Very drinkable, despite its higher ABV.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by abemorsten. ABV is 8.4%. Gusher bottle. Black colour, huge greyish beige head. Nice dryish smoked aroma, notes of ashes, hints of tar and old rope. Flavour of dominant smoke, smoked meat and ashes. Too dry.

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

750 ml "champagne" bottle, vintage 2008, from Vinmonopolet (bestillingsutvalget). ABV is 7%. Pale yellow colour, pours very fizzy with a big white head that soon disappears. Typical aroma of oxidised cider apples and sulphites. The flavour is very dry and crisp, oxidided cider apples again, slightly astringent finish, moderate sulphites. Does not feel as strong as it actually is. Must be good with food.