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

Bottle, at Haket, Göteborg. Black colour, moderate but lasting creamy head. Strong aroma of roast malts, chocolate and elderberries. Flavour is mellow and rounded with chocolate and elderberries, surprisingly well balanced.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 4

Bottle, RBESG 2006. Hazy brownish amber colour. Made with 5% grape juice (and fermented with wine yeast?) Vinegary aroma with strange notes of horsepiss and rotting garbage. Woody and funky flavour where the grape juice barely shines through, without the necessary freshness. If I want a sour beer, I’d rather have a gueuze, thank you.

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

330 ml can. A mix of industrial cider and beer. "Includes malted barley and malted wheat". Pale golden colour, fizzy, head goes from large to none. Nauseating aroma of artificial pear candy, vomit and burnt rubber / industrial waste, absolutely disgusting. Artificial apple and sugar flavour, like the crappiest alcopop you can think of. Nothing resembling "beer" here. Blindfolded I would probably have denied that this could be a beer mix. Definitely "crapolainen". Couldn't finish the glass. Drainpour.

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

Lemon soda drinkers will regard this one as a lousy lemon soda, beer drinkers will regard it as a lousy beer. No one will be happy. We don't need it. (Well, if you're dying of thirst, you might find it refreshing - no alternatives given). Having written that, I found myself craving this beer a couple days later, on a very hot day. Strange ...

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

(330 ml bottle.) Women are the target group for this new beer, and women also took part in choosing the cloudberry flavour profile. Golden colour, moderate to low head. Artificial smelling cloudberry and raspberry aroma. Flavour is a standard "neutral" lager, with some artificial cloudberry and raspberry flavour added. Nice try, but this is nothing to seek out.

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

330 ml bottle, now available in Norway (ULTRA stores a.o.). ABV here is 4.5%. Hazy golden colour, moderate creamy head. INTENSE aroma of "banana split" toffees, pleasant at first whiff, then VERY unpleasant sidenotes of vomit and chemical waste take over. Sickly sweet artificial (allegedly NATURAL, "fair trade" even - good grief!) over-ripe / rottening banana flavouring. A truly disgusting beer! It was expensive, so I forced myself to finish the glass. Urk! Blah! etc. Been there, done that. Never, never again!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

330 ml bottle. This is obviously a different beer from the 7% ABV Mongozo Coconut. This one is probably brewed for the Swedish market (Sweden has a 3.5% limit for beers sold in grocery stores), but it is now also available in Norway (ULTRA stores a.o.). Gushes out of the bottle, opaque straw colored, decent white head. INTENSE sweet aroma of coconut suntan oil, which is a smell I like, but not necessarily in beer! More unpleasant "chemical" notes come through later on. Flavour is very sweet and reminds me of the coconut & sugar filling in Bounty chocolates. Pretty bad beer, but not quite as disgusting as Mongozo Banana.

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

Bottle conditioned, batch no. 040812arw. Bought at Memorable Cheeses in Ipswich. This fruit beer is an unfiltered and bottle conditioned wheat lager, not an ale. Cloudy golden colour (I poured the yeast in). Aroma and flavour are prickly and tart raspberries on a wheat background, not too sweet. Rather bitter finish. Not bad.

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

440 ml can. Guajiro is a very pale golden new lager from Ringnes, artificial (?) lime and mint flavouring, probably developed by the marketing department rather than by any brewer with some self esteem. Initially decent head that rapidly disappears completely and leaves no lacing. Sweetish artificial aroma of lime and mint candy. Nasty and watery flavour with repulsive notes of "lime and mint" chemicals. Minimal hops. A remarkably bad beer! Avoid!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 3

330 ml clear pale green bottle, a gift from my son Steinar (bought at Bremen Airport). ABV is 2.5%. Crystal clear greenish yellow (or yellowish green) colour, moderate off-white head with a greenish hue. Fruity weak aroma, notes of lime and lemons. The sweetish flavour has notes of lime and sugar, refreshing in its own peculiar way, hardly any bitterness. Blindfolded I would probably not have guessed that this was a beer at all. Not undrinkable though, at least when cold.

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

Sampled bottle, RBNAG 2007 in Grimstad. ABV was 6.4%. Hazy golden colour, huge head. Pleasant aroma of blackcurrants and hops. Moderately fruity flavour (blackcurrants), light bodied for a 6.4% beer.

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

Sampled bottle, RBNAG 2007 in Grimstad. Limited edition, bottle No. 008603. Brewed with extract of hips. Golden colour, decent head. Pleasant witbier-like aroma. Light and fresh flavour, moderately fruity, nothing spectacular but nice enough on a summer’s day.

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

250 ml bottle, bought at Vaaland, Bryne. ABV is 4.1%. Cloudy brownish red colour, large pinkish head. Intense sweet aroma and flavour of strawberry jam and artificial "strawberry" candy bars, kind of sickly and sugary. Not undrinkable though. If blindfolded, I would probably not have guessed that this was a beer at all. Not my cup of tea (uh, beer) this one, but people who love candy and strawberry soda might like it.

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

633 ml bottle, vintage 2009, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 6%. Deep golden to amber colour, big and lasting off-white head. Interesting and unusual fruity aroma, which probably is due to the biwa fruit, but also fruity hops. The flavour is zesty and fruity, but not very sweet nor sour, with distinct hops in the dry finish. Some woody notes in the aftertaste. A very drinkable beer!

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

633 ml bottle, as Baird Beer Japan Tale Ale 2009, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 6%. Cloudy pale brownish yellow colour, big to moderate white head. Pleasant fruity aroma, notes of plums and citrus, also sweetish malts, hints of caramel and wood. The flavour is very fruity and fairly sweet, notes of plums and citrus again, with a mild spiciness in the finish.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at Føtex Aalborg. Organic, ingredients include wheat malt and spelt malt - and blueberries, of course. ABV is 5%. Pale golden brown colour, huge head, slightly off-white. Sweetish aroma of malts, blueberry jam, caramel and butterscotch. Soft mouthfeel. The flavour is fruity (blueberries) and fairly refreshing, but is suffering from a lack of hops. Bland finish.

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

500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 7.0%. Reddish brown beer, big to moderate off-white head with a reddish hue. The aroma is yeasty and somehat alcoholic, with distinct and unusual notes of crowberries. The beer is fairly light bodied and refreshing for its strength. The crowberries come through nicely in the flavour, but the beer is neither very sweet nor very sour. Very moderately hopped, obviously with the intention of letting the crowberries stand out more, but I’d still like some more hoppy bitterness in the finish.

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

250 ml bottle, as Hoegaarden Citron, thanks to tarjei. ABV is 3.0%. Very pale straw coloured, slightly hazy, big to moderate white head. Aroma of lemon and lime (as expected), also more unpleasant notes of rotting fruits and vomit. The flavour is sugary sweet and citrussy, without the zesty freshness I hoped for (considering the beer had already had the misfortune of being diluted with this citrus stuff). Nope, this is not a beer for me. Drainpour.

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

250 ml can, thanks to tarjei. ABV is 4.5%. Cloudy pink colour, big to moderate head with a pinkish hue. Strong sweetish aroma of ripe raspberries / raspberry jam. The flavour is sugary sweet with loads of ripe raspberries. Oh dear. Well, at least it is not as horrible as Hoegaarden Citron. I was able to finish this one.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

250 ml bottle, thanks to tarjei. ABV is 3.1%, Ext.Sec.Prim. is 12.0%. Witbier flavoured with 30% apple juice. Very pale straw coloured beer, slightly hazy, with a huge white head. Strong sweetish aroma of apples, orange peel, coriander, Christmas spices and artificial "apple" candy. The flavour is sweet with strong notes of apples, also notes of spices. Minimal bitterness. Fairly refreshing when cold.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 4

500 ml clear bottle, bought at Systembolaget, Sweden. ABV is 5.2%. Deep golden to amber colour, moderate white head. Fairly strong artificial banana aroma, not very pleasant, kind of sickly actually. The flavour is somewhat better than the aroma, notes of artificial "banana" candy throughout, but the sweetness is not overpowering, and there are notes of malts, toffee and hops too. The finish is reasonably hoppy. Would I drink it again, if for free, in order not to insult the host? Yes I would. Will I (ever again) pay good money for it myself? No way!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

On tap at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Opaque black colour, dark ruby in the highlights. Nice and creamy beige head. Very interesting aroma, strong notes of raspberries and balsamic vinegar, on a subtle background of vanilla, malts and chocolate. The flavour was extremely sour and acidic, with notes of raspberries, red wine vinegar and undefined sour fruits, hints of chocolate. Interesting beer, but too far out on the sour side to be a favourite of mine. Maybe not a good idea to make a DARK beer this sour? - people kind of expect a fairly different flavour profile from the dark stuff.

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

12 fl. oz. bottle, bought at the GBBF 2008 for takeaway. ABV is not stated on the bottle, but the festival programme says it's 4.8%. Crystal clear deep golden to amber colour, moderate head, fizzy. Distinct aroma of blueberries and raspberries, also notes of candy with said artifical flavourings. Thin mouthfeel. The flavour is wheaty with notes of blueberries, otherwise fairly bland with minimal hops. Not very sweet. Drinkable, but not very exciting.

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

Cask at the GBBF 2008. Black colour, dark brown in the highlights, decent tan head. Lovely aroma of cherries on a background of milk chocolate. The cherries are also clearly noticeable in the flavour, but roasted malts, dark chocolate and mild coffee also come up front. Moderate bitterness in the finish. This beer is something out of the ordinary, but I’d still like some more malty sweetness.

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

500 ml bottle, as St. Peter's Fruit Beer Grapefruit, bought at Vaaland Spesialbutikken, Bryne. ABV is 4.7%. Deep golden colour, moderate white head. Strong and pleasant aroma of grapefruit, also moderate notes of malts and toffee. The flavour is zesty with plenty of grapefruit, also a distinct hoppy bitterness in the finish. I love notes of "grapefruit" in a beer when they are caused by American hops, but actually adding grapefruit flavouring to the beer might mean a bit too much of the good stuff. Still, this is a refreshing and very drinkable beer, which requires that you have a crush on grapefruit to be really enthusiastic about it.