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

2 liter mock ceramic (glass, actually) swingtop siphon ("growler"), as "Neuschwansteiner Das Echte", bought at Ole Simon, Sandnes, Norway. Pale golden colour, a faint haziness. Large to moderate head. Pleasant aroma of aromatic hops. Flavour is a typical standard helles: moderate malts, moderate hops, grainy notes, easy drinking, nothing unpleasant but nothing really remarkable either. Nice enough, but the siphon was more impressive than the beer.

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

This is a fairly good good strong lager, carries its high ABV well. Good head, pleasant aroma, powerful flavour. Beats Carlsberg's Elephant beer. But a ROYAL selection?? Oh well, I've never been a monarchist anyway...

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

330 ml bottle, now available in Norway. Golden colour, large foamy head. Strong perfumed aroma of shampoo, flowers, molasses and green apples, not entirely pleasant. Flavour is grassy with lemon notes, some sweetness. Low bitterness. Drinkable, but no masterpiece.

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

RBESG 2006, bottle. Golden colour, moderate head. Sweetish aroma, notes of flowers, grass and honey. Flavour is rounded and mellow, moderately malty and slightly sweet, low bitterness.

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

500 ml bottle, now available in Norway in MENY stores. Clear golden colour, decent white head. Filtered without adjuncts. Nice grainy / malty / bready aroma with tolerable aromatic hops. Notes of alcohol, despite only 4.7% ABV. Grainy flavour with a certain malty sweetness, very moderate and "dusty" hops. A drinkable helles, but the style rarely makes me ecstatic.

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

330 ml bottle. Golden colour, low to none head. Fruity aroma, hints of strawberries. Pale bock qualities, alcoholic warmth. Not bad, but not remarkable either.

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

(Sampled 500 ml bottle, bought in Norway). This is a decent Helles with a pleasant aroma. Flavour and aftertaste are OKish, but far from exceptional. Probably better on tap - or maybe all the "Bierkeller" hype is misleading?

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

A weaker version (4.75%) is sold in Norway. I don't like this stuff. Metallic bitter and unpleasant aftertaste. Better on tap in Germany (original strength), but still not one of my favourites.

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

Pilsener-like golden helles, decent head. A tad more malty than the average pilsener, probably more hops than the average helles, otherwise this is just a decent pils to me. Nothing wrong with it, but this style rarely gives me an orgasmic drinking experience.

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

500 ml can, bought in Spain. ABV is 5%. Crystal clear pale golden colour, big white head. Sweetish and grassy aroma, some floral notes too. The flavour has a very moderate malty sweetness, with a tolerable hoppy bitterness throughout. Not exceptional, but decent.

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

500 ml can, bought in Spain. ABV is 5.4%. Crystal clear pale yellow colour, big white head. Sweetish aroma, some malts and floral hops. Fairly sweet flavour, tolerably balanced with the hops, the alcohol is noticeable though. Still better than I feared, easy drinking when cold.

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

Shared 330 ml bottle, ABV 5%. Golden colour, low head. The aroma has some sweetish fruity notes. High level of carbonation in the mouth. Tolerably fresh flavour, drinkable, but nothing remarkable here.

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

On tap at the Brauerei-Gasthof zur Post, Erding, as Fischer Helles. Crystal clear golden / yellow colour, moderate white head. High level of carbonation in the glass. Moderate aroma of light malts, a hint of grassy hops. The flavour is nice and refreshing, with more distinct hops than expected from an industrial helles, quite good actually.

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

500 ml bottle, from MENY Grønland Torg, Oslo. ABV is 4.3%. Pale yellow colour, large white head. Moderate aroma of smoked sausage. Ordinary helles flavour with a little smoke added. Moderate hops in the finish. Nice enough to drink, but did not blow my socks off.

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

330 ml bottle, as Fucking Hell Original, kindly shared by gunnar. A helles named after the Austrian village Fucking - what did you think it was? Brewed in Germany. Very pale golden colour, low white head. Very little aroma, a hint of grass and flowers. Moderate flavour, a little sweetness, a little bitterness in the finish. Nothing spectacular here, except the name ...

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

500 ml swingtop bottle, bought in Spain. ABV is 5.0%. Very pale yellow colour, large to moderate white head. Aroma of "dusty" malts and grassy and slightly herbal hops. Light bodied and refreshing, soft mouthfeel. The flavour has a subtle presence of pilsener malts and German noble hops - nothing spectacular, but nice enough to drink. No offensive off-flavours.

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

330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet (bestillingsutvalget). ABV is 4.8%. Clear pale yellow colour, moderate white head. Aroma of sweetish pilsener malts and grassy and herbal hops, hints of honey. Reminds me much of their Premium Pils. Soft mouthfeel. The flavour is crisp and not too sweet, still with a nice and subtle maltiness, while the the hops are more subdued than in the Premium Pils. An easy-drinking helles.

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

500 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet Sandnes sentrum. Brewed in Flåm. ABV is 9.0%. Cloudy brownish-orange colour, large head, slightly off-white. Lovely aroma of American hops, citrussy and piney notes. The flavour is first sweet and malty with fruity notes, then the hops take over with a solid bitterness. For a double IPA, it is not too extreme though. Will buy again.

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

Shared bottle at local tasting, thanks to gunnar. Deep golden colour, large white head. Intense sweetish aroma with loads of crystal malts, slightly stale orange marmalade, and loads of American hops. Sweet flavour with insane amounts of American hops. Maybe not "overkill", but pretty close.

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

Shared bottle at local tasting. ABV 8.0%. Amber colour, moderate head, slightly off-white. Distinctly hoppy aroma and flavour, grapefruity and piney notes. Very "American", good stuff.

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

Bottle, kindly shared by gunnar. ABV 8.9%. Cloudy deep yellow to orange colour, moderate white head. Very hoppy aroma, catty and resinous notes, also hints of blackcurrants and grapefruit. Hoppy and very bitter flavour, sharp and nearly medicinal in the finish. Clearly overdone on the Target hops, but nice (in a weird way) anyhow.

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

650 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 11.0%, 23 degrees Plato. Made with 2-row pale malt, cara-pils malt and red wheat. Kettle hops are Chinook and Cascade, dry hopped with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook. Orange to amber colour, big off-white head. Aroma of resinous American hops, also hints of stale orange marmalade. The medium sweet flavour is intensely hoppy throughout, bordering on "too much", piney and resinous notes. Some notes of old orange marmalade and caramel too. Not for the faint of heart.

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

330 ml bottle, as Emelisse TIPA, kindly shared by abemorsten. Hazy dark orange-brown colour, moderate off-white to beige head. Strong and "typically American" DIPA/TIPA aroma of orange marmalade, apricots and loads of fruity and piney hops. The flavour has first a smooth malty and fruity sweetness, then the hops really set in, and last through the bitter finish and long aftertaste. Powerful stuff, but not too extreme after all.

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

500 ml bottle, from the Norwegian importer. ABV is 7.7%, 80 IBU. Hops are Dana, Aurora, Cascade, Citra, Amarillo and Galaxy. Malts are Pilsener only. Hazy brownish golden to orange colour (how did they get that colour with pilsener malts only?), large white head. Distinct aroma of piney and grapefruity hops. Fairly dry flavour with loads of piney and grapefruity hops, very bitter finish.