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

440 ml can, as ABC (Apex Brewing Company) Doomrider DIPA, from Vinmonopolet Herbarium, Stavanger. ABV is 8.0%. Hazy yellow colour, moderate white head. Aroma of guava, papaya, pineapple and honeydew melon. Medium sweet flavour of said fruits, also some citrus, and a moderate piney bitterness in the finish.

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

355 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 11%. Clear deep golden colour, moderate white head. Moderate aroma of caramel, toffee, English orange marmalade and piney and grapefruity hops. Medium sweet flavour with the same elements, a distinct resinous and grapefruity bitterness. The alcohol is noticeable.

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

750 ml clear bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 6.5%. Golden colour with a pink-ish hue. Pours sparkling with a large but shortlived white head. Pleasant aroma of fresh Norwegian apples, hints of blackcurrants and redcurrants. Slightly dry flavour with the same elements.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

On tap at Cardinal, Stavanger. Dark ruby colour, moderate off-white head. Malty aroma, hints of dark bread and caramel. Malty flavour too, not too sweet, hints of dark bread and caramel again, also hints of dark fruits and mild spices, moderate hops.

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

Bottle conditioned, opaque black (= very dark brown), pours with a good tan head that does not last long. Surprisingly fruity and vinous complex aroma of plums / prunes with notes of seaweed, cocoa, colombian coffee and cigars. Light bodied for a stout, but very refreshing. Moderate roast coffee flavour, quite dry, moderate roast bitterness in the aftertaste, a bit short. Must be a good accompaniment with all kinds of food - not only oysters.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

(500 ml bottle, under its alias Löwen Weisse, ABV 5,2%). Typical hefe cloudy golden colour, large head. Delicious aroma of ripe bananas and spices, typical hefe flavour with cloves and hints of citrus. Short aftertaste. Great in summer, but I'd prefer this one to Löwenbräu Original at any time of the year.

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

Better than the Urbock hell. Low head. Pleasant malty / toffee aroma. Slightly nutty flavour. Strong alcohol presence, fairly well balanced with the malts and hops. A decent bock, but not as good as the Norwegian ones (esp. Aass).

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

(500 ml brown bottle). Typical pilsener golden colour, large frothy head. Lovely Saaz aroma, the flavour has sufficient malts to balance the irresistibly crisp hoppy bitterness. This is another evidence that pilseners / lagers from big breweries do NOT have to taste like ...nothing. A great refreshment beer from our friends in Brno!

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

Great on draught, great bottled. Forget that Bass is now owned by big bad Interbrew - just enjoy it!

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

Good of course - but Guinness Draught is much to be preferred.

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

I had this one on tap in Scotland - it's definitely a good ale. Not brilliant, but good. Very good!

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

(500 ml bottle). Pours with a large to moderate frothy head. Very dark brown colour. Moderate but pleasant aroma of cherry chocolates and coffee. Decent sweetish flavour of roasted malts, oats, coffee and dark chocolates, some fruityness too. Mouthfeel is surprisingly thin for an oatmeal stout. A bit too carbonated for my taste. Acceptable bitterness from the hops and roasted malts in the aftertaste.

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

(500 ml bottle conditioned). Deep golden / amber colour, large & lingering fluffy head. Lovely flowery and grapefruity aroma, all from the hops, no doubt. Flavour is dominated by the grapefruity and resiny hoppy bitterness, which is a tad too rough for me in the finish. Long lasting aftertaste. A beer well above average.

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

Rich aroma and flavour, but lacks a little "freshness" to be absolutely "perfect". Still a nice cask ale!

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

Cask conditioned at the Prince of Wales, Wimbledon, London, Christmas 2004. This winter seasonal is very different from the ordinary Directors bitter. Mahogany brown colour, low head. Aroma has malts, dark fruits, sherry and oak. Sweetish flavour, notes of sherry, dried fruits and Christmas cake. Reminds me of a Scottish "heavy" with Christmas elements added. Low bitterness. At 5.5% ABV, alcohol is evident but not overwhelmingly so. Interesting.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

250 ml bottle, bought at Borough Market, London. Beautiful dark ruby colour, very good thick head. Moderate barnyard aroma on a background of red wine vinegar, honey and raisins. Flavour is not nearly as sour as the other two Flemish Sour Ales I’ve had - more sweet than sour, actually. Too sweet for me - elements of syrup, caramel, honey, balsamico vinegar, blackcurrants and blackberries. A craft beer, no doubt - but definitely not a favourite of mine this one.

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

Cask conditioned in Scotland: A Scottish ale or "heavy" which is copper coloured, low head, quite malty, low on hops - not bad for a "macro" cask ale.

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

(750 ml corked bottle). Pale golden pilsener-like colour, . Large lasting head. Spicy aroma. Flavour is spicy white wine-like, a bit alcoholic. Well balanced, nice aftertaste. A good beer, but I don't find it quite as complex as some other raters do.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

33 cl capped bottle simply called "Saison Dupont" (bought in Norway), "Vieille Provision" is apparently used only for the corked bottle, otherwise it must be the same beer. Hazy golden beer with a large head. Lovely farmhouse aroma with spices and tobacco. Spicy and "authentic" farmbrew flavour, which unfortunately soon is overpowered by a strange medicinal bitterness on the the back of my tongue - I’m not sure how much of this bitterness comes from the hops and how much comes from dead yeast cells. This bitterness dominates the long aftertaste.

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

(Also known as Aass Dark.) A quite acceptable Norwegian Bayer, but not as rich flavour as I expected. Rerate: This beer grows on you - the bitterness and burnt tastenotes make this beer probably the best all-year Norwegian beer for the grocery store market (ABV < 4.75%) there is.

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

Cask conditioned at the Alexandra Hotel ("The Alex"), Derby. Very pale colour, low head. Fruity / citrussy aroma. Hoppy flavour, light bodied. Very nice for its strength.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

(Bottle conditioned, 500 ml). The good people of Nøgne Ø have brewed as many as 4 different Yule/Christmas beers for the Yuletide of 2004. "God Jul" and "Julesnadder" are continued from last year with revised recipes, new ones are "Underlig Jul" and this one, their vanilla porter "Julenatt" (= Yule/Christmas Night). Black colour, thick tan head. Aroma of vanilla, roasted malts, hot chocolate and dark fruits. Flavour is rather sweet, dominant vanilla, roasted malts, coffee and plenty of chocolate. A roast and hop bitterness make the aftertaste tolerable. Nice for a change of pace, a decent "dessert beer" for those with a sweet tooth. But like I said in my rating of another vanilla beer: "there’s probably a reason most beers DON’T smell and taste strongly of vanilla". I’m not a big vanilla fan, but for those who don’t mind, this is probably as good as it gets.

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

This is definitely going to be one of my favourite pilseners in the future (whenever I can afford it - it's quite expensive in Norway - or get it abroad). I guess the Czechs won't call it a pilsener as it's not being brewed in Plzen, but to me it's a pils good enough. Good lasting head, delicious Saaz aroma, pleasant flavour, very well balanced, better aftertaste than most pilseners.

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

Oops - forgot to write in the ABV when I added this beer to the database: It's 5.2% (described as "deceptively strong" by the brewery - but then, the English are used to cask bitters at 3.8%). Sampled cask conditioned at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival. (Room temperature). Golden coloured strong bitter, rather heavily hopped.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at Pivni Galerie, Prague. Label says " Herold hefeweizen Bohemian Wheat Lager Kvasnicové psenícné pivo - kvasnícový svetlý lezák 12 degrees plato unfiltered blond lager ABV 5.1%". So is this a "real" hefeweizen (which I thought were technically ales?), or is it a wheat lager with hefeweizen yeast added in the bottle? Or am I asking stupid questions? Anyway, the beer is "murky golden" with a large to moderate head. Aroma is fairly sweet and fruity (blackberries/brambles, blackcurrants?) with hints of sheepshed and old leather. Lagerish elements. Some cloves too, but not as strong as with most German hefeweizens. Flavour is a strange combination of a typical premium lager and a typical hefeweizen. Moderately spicy. Dusty finish. Not bad.