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

Sampled RBESG 2006 Grand Tasting. Golden colour, low head. Weak industrial pale lager aroma and flavour. Pass. (Most Eastern European breweries of some size seem to be taken over by the multinational giants these days - Ariana is one of them).

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

Aass ice beer is not the worst example of this miserable style, which as its "raison d'être" serves the needs of people who really don't like beer, but insist on trying. No foul taste. Actually, hardly any taste at all.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. My first (and last?) Tonga beer! "Naturally brewed" - that’s an important piece of information, as you otherwise might think that this beer came out of a chemical factory ... Sweet aroma, kind of sickly, notes of rotting pineapples. Mouthfeel is watery like hell, hardly any flavour at all. Well, there’s another "beer country" rated!

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

(330 ml bottle). Very pale golden colour, some malty sweetness - and then: not much more. Thin mouthfeel. Not good. Norwegian "sommerøl" (summer beers) are all uninteresting pale lagers without any character - as if our ordinary pilseners were not "summer beers" good enough!

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

(330 ml clear bottle). Being the most active Norwegian rater at this website, I have taken upon my shoulders the heavy burden of tasting every new Norwegian beer that comes my way. Unfortunately most macro (by Norwegian standards of size and quality) breweries seem intent on producing at least one "summer beer" and one "ice beer" (or even an "summer ice beer") - in each and every case we’re speaking of very pale lagers with as little flavour as possible, to satisfy the large(?) group of consumers who really don’t like the taste of beer, but want a refreshment and a nice buzz. Could as well drink sparkling water? Yeah, I know, I know - you don’t get a buzz from water. Borg Sommer"pilsner" is a tasteless joke - as if the ordinary Borg Pilsner wasn’t bland enough! Avoid.

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

330 ml clear bottle, bought in Norway. As if the European brewed "Indian" Cobra was not boring enough, they HAD to brew this special low carb version for slimmers who really don’t like beer, but like the buzz. God, I hate the low carb craze! This "beer" is very pale golden, foamy white head. Fruity aroma, citrus, pineapple and maize, could have been worse. "Flavour" is very bland and tasteless, just a hint of fruity sweetness. No bitterness. Very thin and watery mouthfeel. Extremely flat and bland aftertaste, as far as there is any at all. This is definitely a beer to avoid.

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.