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: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

I did not appreciate much the flavour and aftertaste of this one. Found nothing 'creamy' about it. Lacks the hoppy freshness of other Norwegian pilsners.

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

Another "klasse D" Christmas beer, brewed by Aass under the name of long gone Lundetangen Bryggeri. Reddish brown colour, artificial raspberry candy aroma, weak and watery flavour - not nearly as spicy as this style requires. Weak aftertaste. And of course, too low ABV to be a "real" Juleøl.

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

(330 ml bottle). This beer is contract brewed by Aass by the initiative of Mr. Arvid Ystad. I had a nice conversation with him about the background of his initiative. He also sent me a memo about the use of herbs in Norwegian traditional brewing. However, this beer is not an ale like traditional Norwegian farmbrew, it is based on a standard Aass pale lager with juniper berries, caraway/cumin and tarragon (estragon) added in the brewing process. These are herbs recognizable by modern Norwegians from the flavouring of aquavit, and Mr. Ystad emphasizes that they were already well known in Norway from the art of brewing, when aquavit was invented at a much later stage. Balders Brygg (named after Odin’s son Balder, Norse mythology) looks like a standard pale lager with a moderate head, but the aroma and flavour are much better due to the herbs used. The tarragon and caraway (to some degree reminiscent of aniseed) dominate both aroma and flavour, while the juniper berries are more subdued. Mr. Ystad himself thinks that the tarragon is more dominant than he intended, I would also like the juniper berries to stand out more than they do. But these herbs can't hide the fact that the basis of this beer is a pale lager with a rather thin mouthfeel. Props to Mr. Ystad for his initiative, but Aass Bryggeri should clearly have taken a leap forward and made an ALE with these herbs. As it is, Balders Brygg is at least a nice change of pace from the standard pilseners / pale lagers that dominate the Norwegian beer scene.

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

(Bottle). "Uten" is Norwegian for "without" - this is a beer without alcohol. Looks OK, golden colour, good thick head. Malty sweet aroma that becomes sickly as the beer warms up. Tastes as if it's made from a little malts, a little hops and lots of contaminated water from an industrial waste dump. Avoid!

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

(500 ml can). This beer is named after the founder of Aass, Norway's oldest working brewery. Typical pilsener colour and aroma, good head, quite refreshing, nice bitterness. A decent pils, no more, no less.

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

Try the stronger 'klasse F' version of their Juleøl instead. Rerate 2002: Has the good caramel sweetness, maltiness and spiciness a Norwegian Christmas beer should have - there's just too little of everything! And 4,5% ABV is simply not enough for this style. The 'klasse F' (6,2%) is still A LOT better!! I believe the version sold in the US is 5,9%.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

A new "klasse D" Christmas brew from Aass, much better than the "Julebrygg" they introduced last year. Beautiful deep copper colour, very good and thick head. Aroma of malts, oak and spices. Malty flavour, a bit thin as expected from a "klasse D" beer - still one of the best Norwegian beers of this ABV class. Sweet, but not too much. Decent.

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

This "klasse D" Christmas brew has the colour of a brown ale, but is of course bottom fermented. Decent aroma of oak and some spices. Drinkable with a meal, on its own it's just too watery to bring about any Christmas joy. Weak aftertaste. This style just calls for a higher ABV!

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

A continental style pilsener, clean taste, fairly well balanced but a bit on the light side. Brewed by Aass to get market shares in Nordland county (North Norway), sold in southern Norway as well. You could easily drink quite a few of these under the midnight sun.

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

The Norwegian valley Hallingdal has from ancient times been famous for its strong homebrew and subsequent knife-fights. Aass Bryggeri's Halling beer is an insult to the proud people of Hallingdal. It's a lousy pils with little or no character besides being far too sweet. (Sampled 0,5 liter can.)

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

Norwegian "light" beer always means low alcohol (<2,5% ABV). This is another "draught" (actually bottled) beer which means that it's marginally darker than an ordinary pils or light beer. It is, after all, not the worst example of this lousy style. Still, avoid it if you don't have to drive!

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

Copper coloured Christmas beer, brewed for the Norwegian grocery store market when the traditional "klasse F" Christmas beers could be sold only through the government owned Vinmonopolet stores. This beer is an example of the fact that the Juleøl style NEEDS an ABV of 6,2% - 7% to be decent. The beer looks good, but that's all. Bland metallic flavour, just a hint of caramel. It's stunning how little taste they have managed to put into this beer. Low score in all Xmas beer ratings in Norwegian newspapers - well deserved. BTW, like (nearly) all Norwegians, I believed that Norwegian Juleøl was a style in its own right - I actually learned from RateBeer that they could be classified as Vienna. (I don't know if people living in Vienna would agree.) Fortunately, the best "klasse F" beers are a lot better than this.

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

This traditional 'klasse F' (strong) Christmas beer has the last years been given the lowest or second lowest 'klasse F' rating in Norwegian newspapers. I can understand why - it's now too lightbodied for its strength, flavour is slightly metallic, a substantial bitterness is not balanced by an equally substantial malty sweetness like a real 'Juleøl' should have. Colour is reddish brown, low head. I think this beer was considerably better 20 - 30 years ago, before Tou Bryggeri (Stavanger) became part of the Ringnes group.

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

Was brewed by Tou Bryggeri in Stavanger, a Ringnes subsidiary which they closed. As with other brewers, I hate it when they call something "draught beer" ("fatøl") when it actually comes out of a can. This beer differs only marginally from Tou Pilsner, hops are slightly more accentuated. Not too much flavour except for the hops. I find nothing 'unique' about the head! Drinkable beer, after all.

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

One of the best Norwegian lagers. Moderate carbonation, head disappears quickly. Even though the pilsnermalt is dominant, the use of münchener- and whiskeymalt adds some interesting notes to the aroma and flavour. Malty sweetness is quite well balanced by the hops.

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

This used to be my local pilsner before Ringnes closed the Tou brewery and moved production to Oslo - I wish I could give it a higher rating. It was probably the most bitter of all Norwegian pilsners, which may be said to give it some character. Fizzy carbonation, head disappears quickly. Good from draught in summer, otherwise you will find that the new Tou Blå (Blue) has a lot more going - if it is still available. I have stubbornly refused to drink even a drop of Tou Pilsner after production was moved to Oslo.

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

(330 ml bottle). A "klasse D" Yule brew for the grocery store market, made by Arendals Brewery, which is one of the few local breweries in the Ringnes portfolio that hasn't been shut down (yet...). This beer can't make anyone happy, colour is transparent brown, aroma and flavour have some malts and caramel and are not offensive - but watery, watery, watery! Just too little of everything you want from a Christmas/Yule brew. Metallic bitterness in the finish.

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

(330 ml bottle). Beautiful copper colour, moderate head. Moderate malty aroma. Flavour is pleasant malty sweet, mellow, hints of caramel and spices. Not very complex, but decent. Much better than the weaker "klasse D" version.

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

(330 ml bottle). Allegedly another "Christmas classic" from one of the many breweries Ringnes has bought and closed. This beer has a rather weak aroma, acidic and slightly malty with just a hint of caramel and oak. Even for a "klasse D" Yule beer this one has a weak and watery flavour and thin mouthfeel. Little aftertaste. Very disappointing.

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!