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

Not THAT bad - a light/pale summer pilsener that's intended to run smoothly down your throat. It does. Period. Rerate: This year's production has not improved the quality. Why on earth do all Norwegian breweries insist on making light/pale, bland and totally uninteresting 'summer beers', when their ordinary pilsners are summer beers good enough?? (Actually, the ordinary ones are much better).

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

Another 'draught' beer that comes out of a can. (Sigh!) Golden colour, weak aroma, head disappears quickly. The flavour is not something you'll remember, aftertaste has some (fairly unpleasant) bitterness. No favourite of mine.

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

"Better" than most Norwegian ice beers - but still an ice beer! - which means that they are basically tasteless pale lagers for people who really don't like the taste of beer, but want the buzz.

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

(500 ml can). Very pale golden colour, decent head. Weak aroma, but some pleasant aromatic hops are there. Little flavour and aftertaste as expected, at least it’s not offensive. Hardly discernible from the ordinary Lysholmer Double Ice. Clean enough to be a tolerable thirstquencher - if you look for taste, look somewhere else.

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

Rerate: Apparently they have changed the recipe now. Colour is much paler, flavour more like a standard Ringnes pils. Average at the best. Original rating: Malty and fruity flavour with some bitterness, hints of spices. Lots of taste for a lager, not among the most 'easily drinkable'. You'd think the alcohol content was higher than it actually is.

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

Very light and pale thirst quencher for a hot summer's day. Not much taste, but not offensive either. Nice label! (The name and label refer to outdoor life and boating along the range of skerries on the coast, the favourite activity of many Norwegians in the summertime).

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: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 4

All Norwegian "summer beers" (very pale golden and bland pilsener varieties) are the work of the devil. Aass' version is one of the least miserable, but still bad. That is, it doesn't taste awful - it just doesn't taste much at all.

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

(500 ml can). Another beer brewed by Aass Bryggeri, Drammen, in the name of long gone Lundetangen Bryggeri, Skien. Norwegian "summer beers" (= very light pilseners) are generally the work of the devil - this one is far from the worst of its kind. Pale golden colour, moderate head, aromatic hops are not too bad (Saaz?), very light bodied (of course), clean taste (as far as there is any taste at all), not much bitterness / aftertaste. A thirstquencher for a hot summer's day - if there are no better beers around.

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

More flavour than the other Dutch macrobrew lagers, still I'm far from ecstatic. Clearly on the bitter (hoppy) side (too much bitterness for me), some sweetness too. Not as easily drinkable as Dommelsch. I had it on tap (in Holland) as well as can (have sampled the original bottle earlier), it didn't improve much from tap, unlike most beers.

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

330 ml clear bottle, ABV 5%, bought at Vinmonopolet, Norway. Surprisingly strong aroma of yeast and artificial candy. Light golden colour, moderate head - and then: nothing. Blurk! As if the ordinary Bud wasn't tasteless enough...

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

It IS better than water - but not much.

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

Marginally better than Budweiser. And that says the rest.

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

(330 ml bottle, brewed by Shepherd Neame, England). I have probably used this beer to wash down some Indian food in England, had to buy it again in Norway to rate it without food (by special order, it's normally sold only in our Indian restarants). Besides being wet and thus fit to help you survive a hot curry, this beer has nothing "Indian" or any other quality that should put it on a beer geek's wish list. Light golden colour, low head, Heineken-like aroma, uninteresting flavour but at least a hint of bitterness. Typical mediocre lager, not good, but not as bad as I expected.

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

(330 ml bottle, ABV 4.5%): Light golden colour, large head that doesn't last long. Initial fresh Heineken-like aroma that doesn't linger, bland watery flavour, aftertaste has a little strange and unpleasant bitterness in the end. So boring they could have named it "Neville Chamberlain".

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

I used to appreciate its crisp citrus perfumed aroma, often accompanied by a fresh seafood meal - but alas, I grew tired of it. I'm not the only one.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

I bought this beer just for the fun of it - shipping beer all the way from China to Norway seems like the ultimate absurdity, if the beer isn't something extraordinary. This beer isn't. But Tsingtao is not outright bad either - it just isn't very interesting. Heineken-like aroma, neutral flavour, overly carbonated, no lasting head. Sure it would be refreshing on a summer's day in China - exporting it to Europe should be considered a waste of resources.

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

(375 ml bottle.) Sweetish orange-like aroma. Flavour is mostly bitterness - more than in Foster's and Castlemaine, but not really pleasant. Will not be a regular beer of mine this one.

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

330 ml bottle, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet, bestillingsutvalget). Pale golden colour with fluffy white head that doesn’t last very long, some lacing. Grassy sweet aroma with notes of maize/corn and molasses, hints of vomit. Bland flavour, typical industrial adjunct lager, some maize sweetness, low bitterness. I think even Sagres tasted fresher than this one. Not a beer I’ll buy again. If I go to Portugal I’ll probably stick to vinho verde.

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

(500 ml bottle, in Sweden). Pale golden colour, decent head. This is a fairly "neutral" lager, a bit sweet, low bitterness. Drinkable, but certainly not remarkable.

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

I’ve noticed many raters frequently use the term ’bland’ for a lot of beers, appropriate or not. Now listen guys: You don’t fully realize what a ’bland’ beer is before you have sampled Bucegi! A remnant of the communist era, Bucegi was withdrawn from the market in 1995, but re-launched in February 2002, to nourish some Romanians’ nostalgic sentiments of the good old bad old times.

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

(33 cl can, bought in Greece.) Made with hop extract. Pale golden colour, moderate head. Moderate grassy aroma. Typical industrial lager with too little of everything. Drinkable, but not much more.

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. Named Wuld Pilsen, Quality Premium Beer. Crystal clear and very pale golden colour, lasting foamy head and nice lacing. Fruity and grassy aroma. Soft mouthfeel with a very subdued flavour, very moderate hops. No offensive side-flavours detected. A tolerable industrial pale lager for the Spanish sun.