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

750 ml bottle, batch #617, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 5.9%. Hazy deep golden to amber colour, large white head. Strong sweetish aroma of marmalade, cider apples, oak, farmhouse, vinegar and pickled pumpkin. The flavour is sour / acidic with notes of vinegar and pickled pumpkin. Not my cup of tea.

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

On tap at The Irish Pub, Torshavn. Pale golden colour, slightly hazy, minimal head. Aroma of diacetyl / butterscotch, not unpleasant though. The flavour has also one-dimensional notes of diacetyl / butterscotch (but is not too sweet), moderate hops in the finish. No masterpiece this one.

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

750 ml green "champagne" bottle, as La Choulette Bière du Nord La Triboulette Bière Blonde Artisanale, from Voldby Købmandsgård, Denmark. ABV is 5%. Golden colour, pours rather fizzy, moderate white head. Malty and grainy aroma. Malty and slightly nutty flavour, a hint of pepper in the aftertaste. Not much hops. Drinkable but boring, not very "artisanale" in my book.

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

"Champagne" bottle, from Carrefour, Cartagena. ABV is 4.1%. Golden colour, no lasting head. Aroma and flavour of sweet eating apples, just a hint of sulphites. Fizzy mouthfeel. Among the more anonymous of Spanish sidras, but drinkable.

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

500 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. The glass fills completely by white foam, and a golden beer (slightly hazy) appears slowly. Strong and sharpish aroma of German and Czech hops, grassy, floral and fruity notes, also hints of honey. Light to medium body, lagerish mouthfeel (this is an ale, though). The flavour is medium dry with some "dusty" malts and grassy hops, some fruity hints. The bitterness is too low, but this is still a drinkable beer.

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

330 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Unfiltered and unpasteurised Kellerbier. ABV is 4.7%. Cloudy pale golden colour, moderate white head. The aroma is yeasty and grassy, hints of honey. Moderate flavour with some hops, hints of citrus. Low bitterness. "Empty" mouthfeel. Not much to write home about here. Atna’s organic "Nakenbad" is a better choice.

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

500 ml bottle, at a pub in the Nordstan shopping centre, Göteborg, as "Spaten München - Original Munich beer". ABV is 5.2%. Pale golden colour, moderate head. Pleasant aroma of flowery hops. The flavour is fairly bland and boring, but there are no unpleasant off-flavours.

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

Draught, sampled at Gladmat festivalen, Stavanger, served too cold. This is a light bodied golden ale with a low head, obviously brewed to satisfy the majority of Norwegian beer drinkers who believe that beer = pilsener. This will be the first ale that many of them have ever tasted, and as an introduction to the world of ales for "the ignorant multitude" this is acceptable. But the experienced ale drinker will find that "Kvek" (Valdres dialect for being quick, bright, alert, vigilant) has just too little of everything, even though there’s nothing wrong or offensive about it. Light maltiness and fruitiness in aroma and flavour. If given the choice, I’d prefer this ale to most pilseners, but if you have access to the products of the Valdres farm brewery, their "Staut" dark ale is the one you’ll want. Also sampled bottled, even more boring than from draught.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at Fenaknoken, Oslo. Brew #909, ABV is 4.5%. Organic, unfiltered and unpasteurised "kellerbier". Hazy pale golden colour, big and lasting white head. The aroma has a pleasant mix of fruit, malts, toffee and butterscotch, hints of honey and resin too. The flavour has first a tolerable balance between the malts and hops, but also some coarse "traditional homebrew" notes, which I am not entirely happy about in such a delicate beer style. Some resin in the finish, unpleasant hints of metal and cardboard.

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

330 ml bottle. Dark reddish brown colour, moderate orange to beige head. Moderate aroma of brown malts, hints of caramel and "dusty" hops. The flavour has a moderate malty sweetness with notes of caramel, a noticeable fruitiness, low bitterness. Drinkable, but lacks the character of a "proper" (strong) Yule/Christmas beer.

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

Bottle, RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. Dark brown colour, nearly black, low head. Strange aroma and flavour of smoked beef, peat and tar. The flavour has also some roastiness and a very moderate sweetness.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Bottle, 5.1% ABV, RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. Brew No. 77. Very dark brown colour, low head. Strange aroma of aniseed, liquorice and cough medicine. The flavour has notes of mild coffee, hints of cocoa and liquorice, fizzy mouthfeel.

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

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Like all bottled beers from this brewery, it is filtered to remove all remaining yeast (but possibly not pasteurised?). ABV is 4.2%. Brewed with "bere", traditional wild barley. Deep golden colour, low white head. Malty and distinctly "dusty" aroma, weak hints of fruit. The flavour has much of the (lack of) character of a standard English bitter, "dusty" notes again, quite dry, with a very moderate fruitiness in the finish. The aftertaste has a distinct hoppy bitterness, with a hint of resin. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse.

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

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Like all bottled beers from this brewery, it is filtered to remove all remaining yeast (but possibly not pasteurised?). ABV is 4.0%. Golden colour, low white head of poor retention. Moderate aroma, some fruity hops on a grainy background. Moderate carbonation in the glass, initially a soft mouthfeel. The flavour has first some fruity hops, ending in a sharpish bitter finish, also some sharpish grainy notes, which seem to be part of this brewery’s "house character".

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

330 ml bottle, at Café Luna, Aalborg. Brewed at Refsvindinge for Medici Beers. ABV was 4.8%. Served in a "Royal Beer" glass. Copper coloured beer, moderate off-white head. Some fruit and toffee in the aroma. The flavour is moderately fruity with notes of berries, but is otherwise fairly bland. Low bitterness.

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

500 ml can, as Tatra Jasne Pelne, thanks to my son Steinar (bought in Krakow). ABV is 6.0%. Crystal clear pale golden colour, big to moderate white head. Strong sweetish aroma, notes of "banana" candy, hints of flowers and new-mown grass. Moderate carbonation in the glass. Medium sweet flavour of malt sugar and candy, decent hops in the finish. Not a beer I’d buy again, but drinkable.

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

500 ml swingtop bottle, from Rewe Getränkemarkt, Erding. ABV is 5.4%. Very pale yellow colour, big to moderate white head. Fairly nice sweetish aroma of pilsener malts and grassy hops. Light bodied. The flavour has some malty sweetness and moderate German hops in the finish - nothing remarkable here, but still a fairly well made and drinkable beer.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

330 ml bottle, a gift. ABV is 5.8%. Very dark brown colour, nearly black. Moderate beige head. Moderate aroma of dark malts, hints of chocolate and mild coffee. Light bodied, thin mouthfeel for its strength. Lacks the full and creamy mouthfeel of a good stout. The flavour is quite dry, notes of roasted malts and thin coffee. The dusty bitterness in the finish is too moderate. Drinkable of course, but very far from the most impressive stouts I’ve had.

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

330 ml can, kindly shared by my beerpal Jan Magnus. ABV is 5.4%. Dark ruby colour, moderate off-white head. Moderate aroma of malts, caramel and butterscotch. Thin mouthfeel. The flavour has very moderate notes of malts and caramel, low bitterness.

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

Bottles, bought in Denmark. Historically interesting recipe, but this is not a beer I'd choose for daily consumption. Rerate: I generally like Münchener dunkels (which is what Carls Lager is supposed to be), but this one is too bland, despite some caramel in aroma and flavour. Would profit on a higher ABV.

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

330 ml bottle, at Cardinal, Stavanger. ABV is 7.5%. Moderately hazy reddish brown colour, small off-white head. Aroma of caramel and over-ripe red berries, hints of mild spices. Medium sweet and malty flavour with the same elements, also distinct bittering hops in the finish.

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

From cask / hand pump at Cardinal, Stavanger. Golden colour, moderate to small white head. Moderately malty aroma and flavour, not very sweet, with moderate earthy hops.

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

750 ml clear bottle, vintage 2018, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 6.5%. Lots of pulp sediment in the bottle. Moderately hazy (when poured carefully) greenish pale straw colour, no lasting head. Aroma of Nordic apples, a hint of sulphites. Apple flavour, some unfresh notes. Cannot compete with the best Norwegian ciders.

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

330 ml bottle, as Ugly Duck Callista Moon Pilsner, from BilkaToGo, Skalborg. ABV is 5.2%. German hops. Slightly hazy golden colour, moderate to small white head. Aroma of newmown grass and herbal hops. Crisp flavour, not too sweet, hints of citrus, with fairly distinct herbal hops.

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

500 ml bottle, as Arcobräu Mooser Liesl Helles, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 5.3%. Clear and pale golden colour, moderate white head. Sweetish aroma of pilsener malts and grassy and floral hops, hints of honey. Smooth flavour, some sweetness, floral hops, low bitterness, a little citrus and honey.