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

(500 ml bottle, bought at Systembolaget, Sweden). Dark brown colour, low head. Aroma of malts and ensilage. Flavour has some maltiness, some bitterness - but lacks complexity. Cool bottle and label promises more than the beer keeps. Probably better cask conditioned?

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

(500 ml bottle, now available in Norway). Colour is yellowish brown, good thick head. Aroma has first some fruity hops, then dusty malts. Flavour is malty with hints of caramel and dust. There is too much carbonation for my taste. OKish beer, but not remarkable.

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

This is a crisp German pilsener with a considerable hoppy bitterness. Been a while since I had it, can't get it in Norway so far. Rerate on tap in Hamburg: Light bodied, but dominated by a distinct hoppy bitterness from start to finish. Typical Northern German pilsener style.

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

(5 liter mini-keg, bought in Norway, ABV was 4.9%). Moderate aroma of hay, light golden colour, enormous head when poured from the mini-keg - like the head of a weissbier. Clean crisp flavour, good bitterness makes this a better-than-average pilsener. The mini-keg is great for parties!

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

(5 liter minikeg, bought in Norway - ABV here is 4.5%. The ABV in Germany is supposed to be 4.9%. I think "Kulmbacher Premium Pils" is an alias of this beer. Not be be confused with the Kulmbacher Mönchshof Original). Typical pils golden colour, large head. Hoppy but not very strong aroma. Flavour is surprisingly malty, slightly sweeter and less crisp than the somewhat stronger EKU Pilsner which I prefer (also in a minikeg). Still, this is a rather tasty pilsener, miles ahead of the many tasteless "neutral" pilseners you get these days.

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

500 ml bottle, as "Black Sheep Ale" ("Black Sheep Special Ale" is the cask version of the same beer). Amber colour, moderate fluffy head. Aroma of toffee / caramel and dried fruits, hints of barnyard. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, moderate flavour of dusty malts and hops. A bit too carbonated for my taste.

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

A strong lager with an aquired taste. Not bad! - at least better than its reputation. Great accompaniment with a Danish "sildemad". I've had this one mainly from can or fresh bottles in Denmark, thus avoiding the skunkiness some of our American friends report of. Rerate German brewed version, (brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot), ABV 7.5%: The extra 0.3% alcohol certainly doesn't bring anything good to the beer. 7.2% is plenty for a beer with a body as light as this. Stick to the Danish original!

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

Cask conditioned in England. Pumped through coolers not normally used for cask ales. Apparently an effort from Theakston to attract cool people through cool ale. They can do better than that. Oh yeah, it's smooth and drinkable, but I'd prefer an XB or a Best Bitter at normal cask temperatures, thank you.

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

A medium strong golden lager, out of the ordinary due to the bog myrtle (porse) used in stead of hops, interesting brew - but hardly my first choice for daily consumption. Well worth sampling, though. RERATE: After repeated sampling, I've upgraded the score, and regret one of my remarks: If it was more easily available, I would NOT mind having this beer for "daily consumption"!

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

One of the better Danish pilseners - and it’s organic! Standard pilsener golden colour, moderate head. "Clean" flavour with a well balanced amount of hops. Maybe nothing to get ecstatic about, but nice enough.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Aroma is very malty with notes of oak. Flavour is malty and rather boring. Not the highlight of the festival.

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. One of the last beers I sampled at the festival ... Pale lagerish more than a typical wheat beer, but okay. Not remarkable, though.

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

Formerly known simply as "Ringnes Gold", and before that (many years ago) as "Ringnes Export". Ringnes Gold was renamed "Extra Gold" when the Ringnes brewery discontinued their short-lived 5.3% ABV medium strong "Ringnes Extra". Ringnes Extra Gold is a strong and fairly malty golden lager in the Norwegian "eksport" style, closely related to Danish "gulløl" and German "Heller Bock". Quite acceptable, but no masterpiece.

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

330 ml bottle, now available in Norway. ABV is 5.3%. Clear pale golden colour, decent to moderate head. Flowery aroma of aromatic hops, notes of honey, grass and fresh plums. Flavour is less interesting - moderate grassy hops with a certain fruity sweetness. Easy drinking, but no masterpiece.

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

Cask conditioned at the 32nd Cambridge Beer Festival, gravity dispense. Golden / amber colour, no head or carbonation. Peachy aroma (no surprise!). Flavour is slightly fruity and moderately malty, with moderate dusty hops.

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

500 ml can.) Mack Bryggeri in Tromsø, the worlds northernmost commercial brewery (there’s a brewpub further north) is a macro brewery by Norwegian standards (not by American!), but they have recently also bought a full micro brewery equipment in order to brew "niche" beers (= ales, mostly) as a welcome change in the Norwegian pale lager desert. You have to give them props for trying, even if the results are not remarkable (and I’m not sure that the "micro" varieties, all named "Ludwig" something after the founder of the brewery, will help them out of their financial problems). Their attempt at a German hefeweizen is drinkable, but unfortunately the pleasant standard hefeweizen aroma is flawed by strong sidenotes of SOAP. Typical cloudy hefe appearance. Flavour is tolerable, but fairly bland and far from great. Still, they ARE trying. And I’d prefer their Hvete (wheat) to their standard macro lagers. Doesn’t take much, really. But any German brewed macro Hefeweizen is still a better choice than this micro ...

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Golden colour, fluffy head diminishing rapidly. Moderate but pleasant hoppy aroma with citrussy elements and some toffee. Flavour is rather lager-like, with a grapefruity bitterness with some metallic notes in the finish. I started drinking it far too cold, improves a bit as it warms up, but not much. Reasonably refreshing, but no masterpiece.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. ABV was 8.1%. Hazy brown colour, no carbonation. Interesting aroma of bread yeast, brown sugar, rye bread, fermenting fruits and pigshed(!). Flavour is sweet and fruity and rather alcoholic. Hints of juniper berries.

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

Bottle at Den Tatoverede Enke, Copenhagen. Funky farmhouse aroma with notes of honey. Flavour has some honey (not much), but is surprisingly dry. A bit watery and bland though.

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

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 5.0%. Brown colour, low head. Moderate but pleasant fruity aroma, hints of spices. The flavour is spicy with moderate malts, not very sweet, pleasant to drink. Relatively high carbonation in the glass. This is not an "extreme" Belgian ale in any way, and no "challenge" for the beer enthusiast, but probably an ale that most people will like.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. Also available in Norway at Vinmonopolet. ABV is 6%. Brewed in the abbey. Secondary fermentation in the bottle. Hazy golden colour, no head, minimal carbonation. The bottle cap can’t have been air tight - a part of the glass rim was missing. The aroma and flavour were okay, though. Yeasty, sweetish, fruity and spicy aroma, notes of leather and oak too. Fruity and spicy flavour, quite nice. Soft mouthfeel, due to lack of carbonation. Will need to try another bottle.

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

Cask conditioned at The Lord Rosebery, Scarborough. Served at correct cellar temperature. Golden colour, low head. Moderate aroma, nothing stands out. Thin, sourish and watery initial mouthfeel. Tolerably hoppy flavour. Pleasant hoppy aftertaste.

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

Rerate, 500 ml brown bottle, at Cardinal, Stavanger. ABV is 4.4%. Clear and reddish brown colour, moderate white head. Aroma of malts, caramel, brittle, burnt breadcrumbs and earthy hops, hints of forest, moss and dark berries. The flavour has again malts, caramel and burnt breadcrumbs, followed by earthy hops. Bitter and roasty aftertaste. I'm upping the score a little. Original rating: 500 ml bottle, from the fridge (= too cold) at Arnie’s Coffee Bar / Bistro, Whitby. ABV was 4.4%. Brown colour, fizzy, minimal head. Reasonably hoppy aroma with some "boiled" malty notes. Brown ale flavour, some caramel and toffee. Oct. 2016: Cask half pint at The Eel Pie, Twickenham. Deep golden to copper colour, small white head. Toffee and fruity aroma. Fruity flavour, hints of currants, medium dry. Very moderate hops.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

500 ml brown silk print bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 6.5%. Also available in Norway at Vinmonopolet. Beautiful copper colour, large tan head. Malty sweetish aroma, notes of caramel and bakery. Malty sweet flavour, loads of caramel, sweeter than I appreciate. Very moderate hops in the finish.

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

On tap in a beach bar at Jurmala, Latvia. Pale golden colour, moderate head. "Neutral" aroma. Clean flavour, with a moderate hoppy bitterness on a pleasant but very moderate malty base, with some nice notes of fruit (pineapple). Easy drinking.