Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

500 ml can, bought in Norway. The Swedish 5.2% version is too strong for us! Very pale golden colour, large fluffy head. Sweetish aroma, notes of apples, sidenotes of soap. Bland and uninteresting pale lager flavour, but not quite as offensive as I feared. Some metallic bitterness in the finish. God knows why they have introduced this beer on the Norwegian market. Maybe some Swedish expats feeling homesick?

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

BARE ØL means "only beer", and refers to this beer being brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, despite Gran’s partnership with Danish Harboe Bryggeri. This "no frills" discount beer comes in a simple unpainted 500 ml can. It is, so far, Norway’s cheapest canned beer. Pours with a moderate head, colour is very pale straw coloured, weak one-dimensional fruity aroma. Flavour is neutral and uninteresting, as you expect from a discount pils. At least it’s not really offensive, better than water. A little bitterness in the finish, becomes metallic in the aftertaste.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

(330 ml bottle. A friend left me a few bottles after a party.) Another beer of the "low carb" craze. Golden colour, moderate head. Unlike some other brewers of low carb beers, Grans have retained more of the flavour of their ordinary pilsener. In Gran’s case, that unfortunately also means the house character of over-boiled vegetables flavour and the metallic aftertaste. Avoid.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Actually, I have a bottle of this beer now and then with a nothing-special-dinner. There are three reasons for such an irrational behaviour: a) It's a low alcohol beer (in Norway, 'light' beers are always low alcohol, while colour may actually be slightly darker than most pilseners) - and I often have to drive after dinner (yes, our drink-and-drive laws are extreme too - as well as the prices of decent beer). b)Even the faintest beer flavour is better than no beer flavour. c) This beer is the cheapest there is, and I can't afford decent beers every day. A bit of malty flavour barely justifies this beer's existence. The usual metallic Gran's aftertaste makes it impossible to drink more than one bottle.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

(330 ml clear bottle.) A beer of ABV 3.7% is unusual in Norway, Grans Lyst Øl (="Pale Beer", they don’t hide the truth) is not much better than their Lettøl at 2.5%. On the other hand, their pale lager and pilsener varieties of ABV 4.5 or 4.7% are not exactly God’s gift to mankind either. Lyst Øl has at least a hint of malts. Aroma is weak but not unpleasant. Hop bitterness is low as expected, and the usual Grans metallic aftertaste is there. Avoid.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

330 ml bottle. Light (which in Norway means low ABV) lager with some bitterness but otherwise little flavour. Like all light beers easily forgettable.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 2

(500 ml can). Golden pilsener-like colour, low head. Decent fruity and grassy aroma, flavour is blah! - sweet and alcoholic, I can hardly finish the glass. Completely unbalanced. How the heck do Swedish alcoholics manage to drink stuff like this? - other Swedish breweries make similar crap.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

For a non-alcoholic beer (which in itself is a bad idea) this one at least has some traces of initial beer flavour, with an unpleasant medicine-like bitter finish. Good lasting head, weak aroma. Unless you INSIST on having a n/a beer, there's really no reason to sample this one.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

330 ml bottle. N/a beer with lactic acid and artifcial aroma added, hmmm..... Typical hefeweizen appearance, greyish pale yellow colour, large head. Weird aroma, reminds me of camomille shampoo, notes of ensilage and bouillion too. Camomille and soap is what I get in the flavour too, maybe a hint of carraway. A faint bitterness in the finish. Pretty bad n/a beer, but what could you expect?

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Formerly known as Ringnes Light. "Light" in Norway always means ABV below 2.5%. These beers (all are pale lagers) have been known as "driver's" light beers. Consider selling your car in stead. (Well, maybe it is not quite that bad, but aroma, flavour and not least mouthfeel are all very boring.)

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

(500 ml can). There's a price war on cheap swill going on in Norway at the moment, and this lager is probably meant to be Ringnes' contribution. I'm not sure where they actually brew this, no mentioning is made of the Reinheitsgebot, so it's probably full of adjuncts. It's just another pale industrial lager, not unlike the ones made by Grans/Harboe/Faxe. The brewery's recommendation "to be served ice cold" is an appropriate warning. Totally forgettable. At least they had the decency not to call it a pilsener.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

It works when you're thirsty enough. That's it. Hard to say how this one differs from the Skjærgårds Pils (they are both summer seasonals), they exist side by side so they can't be exactly the same beer. My impression is that the Sommerøl is even more tasteless, bland and boring. Hurrah!

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

(Bottle). Pale golden colour, low head. Weak aroma, weak flavour dominated by over-boiled malts. Low bitterness. Very little to make you happy here - like all Norwegian "lettøl" low alcohol, but Aass Fatøl Light (same ABV) tastes better.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 2

330 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub, Stavanger. ABV is 3.5%. Hazy pale yellow colour, some floaties. Moderate white head. Sickly aroma of lactic acid and yeast. Thin body. Extremely sour flavour, loads of lactic acid, nothing else. Not a beer for me - undrinkable.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Nov. 2013: 330 ml bottle, from Coop Mega Sola. ABV is 4.0%. Very pale yellow colour, moderate white head of poor retention. Moderate sweetish aroma, notes of grass, maize and artificial candy. Watery and soft mouthfeel. Bland flavour, some slight citric notes, could with some benevolence be called "refreshing", empty finish, minimal hops. We don’t need this.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 3

500 ml brown bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. Very pale golden colour, large head. Typical n/a beer aroma - sweetish "boiled" notes. Watery and thin mouthfeel. Bland flavour with some sweet and salty notes. Utterly boring.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

330 ml can. ABV is 4.7%. New (2007) "summer" (= pale and thin) lager, brewed by Lervig in Stavanger, canned for them by Trio in Skien. Pale golden colour, fizzy, moderate head. Weak and slightly fruity aroma. Fizzy and thin mouthfeel. Bland and boring flavour. Come on, Lervig - you can do better than this!

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

330 ml green bottle, as "Classic Gingers Beer / Piwo Imbirowe". Courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. Original gravity 11.8%, ABV is 4.1%. Admixtures: E300 anti-oxidant, caramel E150c-colour, apple acid E296 acidity regulator. Contains barley malt, sugar and sweetening substances: glucose syrup, E950, E951. Contains a source of phenylalanine. In other words: not quite "Reinheitsgebot" .... Good grief! Crystal clear pale golden colour, with relatively big bubbles. Fizzy and foamy head that dies out completely after a while. Strong sweetish aroma of ginger, glucose syrup and disgusting chemical stuff. The flavour is also very sweet, but not really disgusting - it has a lot in common with the softdrink / mixer ginger "ale". There’s just a weak notion that the basis of this drink is actually a beer. People who really like "ginger ale" might like this beer too. I’ll pass, thank you.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

330 ml bottle. Very pale golden colour, decent head. Relatively strong sweetish aroma of wort with some of the "boiled" notes of your typical n/a beer (over-boiled vegetables, grit), but I’ve smelled them worse - there are also some fruity notes. The flavour is slightly wheaty, light bodied of course, but there are also some hops in the finish. Not good, but I’ve had worse.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Sampled bottle, RBNAG 2007 in Grimstad. Pale golden colour, low head. Aroma of apple juice mixed with water, hints of raw alcohol. Very thin mouthfeel. Grainy and chalky flavour, minimal hops in the finish.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 3

330 ml can, as Bali Hai Bir Lager / International Premium Lager Beer, a gift from my Indonesian-born sister-in-law. ABV is 5.0%. Pale yellow colour, big to moderate head. Strong "industrial" sweetish pale lager aroma, maize or other adjuncts galore. The flavour is also sweet with plenty of adjunct cereals, minimal hops, just a weak metallic bitterness in the finish. Not good.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Sample from 500 ml can, Aass Brewery stand at Smak 09. ABV is 4.7%. Golden colour, low head. Minimal aroma, just a slight fruitiness. Bland flavour, a little pilsener malts and butterscotch, minimal bitterness. Are "the youth segment" of the Norwegian pale lager market happy now?

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Shared bottle, RBNAG 2011. Gusher bottle. Golden colour, enormous white head. Acidic / lemony aroma and flavour. Infected as hell. Has apparently not survived being bottled.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 2 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 2

Shared bottle at RBNAG 2011. ABV 5%. Reddish brown colour, huge white head. Aroma of malts and lactic or vinegar infection. The flavour is infected as hell, undrinkable.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 3

Shared 330 ml can at local tasting. ABV is 5%. Clear pale golden colour, low white head. Very moderate aroma, but not bad. Sweetish and grainy flavour, not good at all, disgusting aftertaste.