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

330 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Not bad - not outstanding. Amber colour, malty sweetness in aroma and flavour, not very complex, a drinkable Christmas beer but no masterpiece.

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Murky brown colour, large tan head. Surprisingly weak initial aroma - Hallertauer with faint notes of malts, spices and brown sugar. Improves a bit as the beer warms up. Flavour is much stronger, fuller and richer - but unfortunately also too sweet. Spices (coriander, aniseed, cardamom and more?), molasses and plenty of malts. The brewers have obviously used far too much brown sugar. They have also missed the target completely with their choice of hops - Hallertauer Mittelfrüh in a strong Belgian ale, WTF? I’m not a hops expert, but this beer obviously needs hops with more character, and in larger quantities. And PLEASE, less sugar to get rid of that syrupy mouthfeel!! Acceptable as a dessert beer, but not with the main Christmas meal. Incredibly, Carlsberg claim (on the rear label) that this beer has a "DRY(!!) and light ACIDIC structure". Who wrote that? Winnie the Pooh? Better luck next year, Carlsberg!

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

Draught at Den Tatoverede Enke, Copenhagen, as Celis Wit. Lovely aroma of burnt caramel / treacle and spices. Flavour is not nearly that exciting, this is a fairly watery and bland wit.

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

500 ml can, as George Killian’s Bière Rousse (Bière Spéciale de Tradition Irlandaise), bought in France. ABV is 6.5%. Reddish amber colour, large off-white head. Moderate malty sweet aroma with notes of caramel and fruit. Flavour is also moderately malty with some caramel, very moderate hops. Little complexity. Drinkable beer, but nothing to get excited about.

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

750 ml corked "champagne" bottle. Bought in Norway (Vinmonopolet). Pours very fizzy, moderate carbonation in the glass. No lasting head. Hazy golden colour. Intense aroma of cider apples, notes of barnyard, hints of ammonium, oak and leather. Fairly mellow flavour of cider apples, hints of oak, sweeter than expected from a brut. OKish and easy drinking, but lacks "bite". Bottle might have been over the hilltop.

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

On tap in Oranienburg. Pale golden colour, decent head. Herbal aromatic hops in the aroma. Flavour is relatively rich and malty for a German pilsener. Nice.

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

500 ml can, bought in Poland. Golden to amber colour, large head. Fairly strong sweetish musty and fruity aroma. Flavour is fairly malty and sweet with evident alcoholic notes, partially balanced by tolerable hops. I had it on its own at cellar temperature, would probably prefer it cold with a solid Polish meal.

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

Rerate bottle, bought at Vinmonopolet: With a brisk pour you get a very large and lasting head, and the carbonation is not too much after all. Fairly decent hops place this pils in the "slightly above average" category. I’m upping it 1 point. Original rating: 330 ml bottle, as Vedett Extra Blond, ABV is 5.2%. Courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Also available in Norway in Vinmonopolet stores (bestillingsutvalget). The beer’s website is www.vedett.com . Served in Duvel glass (same brewery). Very pale colour, decent head. Moderately hoppy aroma, notes of cardboard and "dusty attic". Flavour is moderately hoppy - this is an average pils. A bit too carbonated for my taste.

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

330 ml bottle, bought at Ole Simon, Sandnes. Batch # 22. Unfiltered, unpasteurised and bottle conditioned organic pilsener (doesn’t that make it a Kellerbier?). Cloudy brownish golden colour (would probably be clearer if the sediments hadn’t been disturbed through transport). Moderate white head. Moderate sweetish aroma, some fruit, some aromatic hops, hints of leather and wet cardboard. Flavour is tolerably hoppy on a decent malty base, hints of citrus. Moderate carbonation. Acidic finish. No masterpiece, but not bad either.

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

355 ml bottle, at The Rover, Göteborg. Amber colour, large to moderate creamy head. Hoppy sweetish aroma, strong notes of blackcurrants / blackcurrant leaves. Flavour is sweetish and reasonably malty, some blackcurrant notes, but far too little bitterness for an ESB.

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

From the tank at the brewery, RBESG 2006. According to the brewer, this beer "with a Belgian palate" is the result of a mistake, and it is weaker than intended. Deep golden colour, slightly hazy, large head. Moderate yeasty aroma with faint hints of barnyard. Moderate flavour of "dusty" hops, faint hints of pepper, fairly dry. Mouthfeel is too watery.

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

On tap at Pannrummet. Golden brown colour, low head. Moderate toffee, nutty and biscuity aroma. Fairly bland biscuity flavour, hints of toffee, minimal hops come faintly through in the finish.

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

RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting, as Krajan Irlandzkie Mocne. ABV is 6.5%, malt content is 14%. Malty sweet aroma and flavour, bready and pastry notes. Okay, but too sweet and one-dimensional to make me excited.

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

(330 ml bottle). Light brown colour, malty and caramelly aroma, good to moderate head. Light bodied as expected, moderate malty flavour with some toffee and spices. Not too sweet, very well balanced. Too light bodied for Christmas, but this is a beer I'd be happy to drink with dinner at any time of the year, if it was available. Fredrikstad Juleøl klasse F is a better choice for Christmas dinner.

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

A slightly-above-average golden lager (Easter seasonal) in a yellow can. Nothing offensive, nothing remarkable. But what makes it an EASTER brew?? Or is that a theological question?

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

Another "klasse D" (moderate ABV) Christmas brew. At least this one has some aroma and flavour of toffee, caramel and spices. Reddish brown colour. Drinkable, but far from impressive.

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

(330 ml bottle). This beer is contract brewed by Aass by the initiative of Mr. Arvid Ystad. I had a nice conversation with him about the background of his initiative. He also sent me a memo about the use of herbs in Norwegian traditional brewing. However, this beer is not an ale like traditional Norwegian farmbrew, it is based on a standard Aass pale lager with juniper berries, caraway/cumin and tarragon (estragon) added in the brewing process. These are herbs recognizable by modern Norwegians from the flavouring of aquavit, and Mr. Ystad emphasizes that they were already well known in Norway from the art of brewing, when aquavit was invented at a much later stage. Balders Brygg (named after Odin’s son Balder, Norse mythology) looks like a standard pale lager with a moderate head, but the aroma and flavour are much better due to the herbs used. The tarragon and caraway (to some degree reminiscent of aniseed) dominate both aroma and flavour, while the juniper berries are more subdued. Mr. Ystad himself thinks that the tarragon is more dominant than he intended, I would also like the juniper berries to stand out more than they do. But these herbs can't hide the fact that the basis of this beer is a pale lager with a rather thin mouthfeel. Props to Mr. Ystad for his initiative, but Aass Bryggeri should clearly have taken a leap forward and made an ALE with these herbs. As it is, Balders Brygg is at least a nice change of pace from the standard pilseners / pale lagers that dominate the Norwegian beer scene.

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

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 4.3%. Pale golden colour (probably the palest British ale I’ve ever seen), slightly hazy. Moderate white head. Moderate fruity aroma. Flavour has some some citrussy notes and fairly decent hops, light bodied, dry bitter finish. In a blind test I might have guessed that this was a kölsch, or even a well-hopped pils. The lager malt used may explain that. An okay beer for a hot summer’s day, but I wouldn’t mind having some noticeable malts around, to balance the Fuggles hops.

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

500 ml brown bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 5.8%. Reddish amber to brown colour, low off-white head. Minimal carbonation, nearly flat. Moderate but nice aroma of caramel, toffee, berries and dried fruits, with some oak in the background. Flavour has plenty of caramel, and a substantial bitterness in the finish and aftertaste, and a sweetish reminder of the relatively high ABV, but little else than that. Not an easy-drinking ale this one, and not particularly interesting either. Still better than many run-of-the-mill ales.

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

July 2018: 500 ml can, thanks to Holmen1. Reddish brown colour, large off-white head. Malty aroma, notes of brown bread, some caramel. Malty flavour too, brown bread again, also slightly burnt breadcrumbs, a little caramel but not very sweet, noticeable bittering hops in the finish. Okay beer.

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

Aug. 2014: Keg, halfpint, as Randall’s Monty’s, at The Last Post, Guernsey. Copper colour, low white head. Moderate aroma, some caramel and nuts. Distinctly nutty flavour, also caramel, but not very sweet. Moderate hops in the finish, some bitterness in the aftertaste. For a keg ale, this is not too bad.

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

750 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 10.5%. Dark brown colour, thin beige head. Aroma of dark dried fruits, malts, a hint of molasses. Very moderate carbonation. Flavour of dark dried fruits, oak, some bittering hops, brown kandij sugar.

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

On tap at Cardinal, Stavanger. Moderately hazy pale golden colour, large white head. Malts and bakery in the aroma. Malts, citrus and herbal hops (Tettnanger) in the flavour. A fairly decent pilsener.

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

330 ml can, at Cardinal, Stavanger. ABV is 6.0%. Made with gooseberries and fig opuntia / prickly pear. Moderately hazy golden to orange colour, minimal white head. Aroma of jam of said fruits, also notes of tangerine. Medium sour flavour of gooseberries, prickly pear and tangerine, also lactic acid. Hardly any bitterness. Refreshing and nice to drink.

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

750 ml green bottle, from the cidery. ABV is 8.5%. Clear and very pale straw colour, no carbonation. Aroma of apples, a hint of sulphites. Dry and minerally flavour, apples and sulphites, some tannins. Probably better with food than on its own.