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

330 ml bottle, as St. Idesbald Dubbel. Some say this is the same beer as Duinen Dubbel. ABV was 8%. Bought in Frederikshavn, Denmark. Pours deep copper coloured with floaties, large off-white head. Sweetish malty aroma with caramel and some oak. Flavour is malty sweet and spicy with plenty of caramel, some hops, oak and alcohol in the finish. Moderately warming mouthfeel. A bit too sweet for me.

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

330 ml bottle, bought at Mahlers Vinhandel, Frederikshavn, Denmark. My first heather ale. Cloudy honey coloured, moderate head. Nice aroma of heather flowers and heather honey, notes of earth, peat and fresh sea air too. Flavour is earthy and moderately herbal, but not quite as exciting as I hoped - still good, though. Mouthfeel is maybe a bit thin, the beer is fairly dry but some heather honey notes shine through. A moderate herbal bitterness in the aftertaste. Also sampled cask conditioned at The Three Judges, Glasgow. Golden / deep golden colour. Nice aroma of heather flowers and fruits, hints of oak. Fruity and flowery flavour.

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

250 ml bottle, bought in Frederikshavn, Denmark. Hazy dark brown colour, large tan head. Pleasant aroma of dark malts, hops, chocolate, oak and bakery. Flavour is heavy dark malts, sweet, oaky and spicy. Hoppy finish. Warming mouthfeel as expected from a 12% ABV beer, there’s a certain "raw" and alcoholic edge (not entirely pleasant) that probably would benefit from a few years in a cellar. Powerful stuff, with a potential for improvement!

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

300 ml bottle, bought in Frederikshavn, Denmark. ABV is 6.8%. Top fermented blonde ale, brewed since 1994, allegedly replicated from a city of Haarlem recipe from 1501. Cloudy golden colour, huge head. Yeasty and fruity aroma, notes of barnyard and rotting/fermenting apples and pears. Flavour and aftertaste are fruity and mildly acidic, hints of oak and spices. Good beer!

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

330 ml bottle, bought in Frederikshavn, Denmark. Hazy golden colour, huge white head. Fairly moderate but very nice spicy, wheaty and fruity aroma. Flavour is spicy / peppery and sweet, with distinct bitter hops, hints of oak. Warming mouthfeel, alcohol is evident but not dominant. Another good Trappist!

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

355 ml bottle, bought in Frederikshavn, Denmark. A British spontaneously fermented cherry "lambic", hmm? Pours with a beautiful cherry red colour and a large and lasting pink head. Intense and beguiling aroma of sweet and sour cherries. Tastes like, duh ..., beer with cherry juice added, maybe because that’s what it actually is? Fairly sweet, reminds me of Lindemans Kriek, but also with a distinct cherry sourness. Low bitterness. Once you get used to the thought of beers tasting more or less like (first class) cherry sodas, this one (like most kriek lambics) actually taste GOOD! No, I wouldn’t want every beer to taste like this one. But it is a nice change of pace, and certainly worth a try!

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

330 ml bottle. Dark amber colour, pleasant aroma, hints of liquorice and spices. Excellent with traditional Scandinavian Yule/Christmas fare. This version (sold in Norway in Vinmonopolet stores only) is the way to go.

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

330 ml bottle. "Klasse D" means it's the grocery store version (= ABV < 4.75%) of their Yule/Christmas beer. Reddish brown colour, good head. Moderate toffee sweetness, moderately spiced flavour: cloves, cardamom, nutmeg. Not too bad, but of course it’s watery compared to the "klasse F" Juleøl.

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

On tap at the brewpub, which is situated in a listed building at the former Swedish (later Russian and Finnish) military island stronghold Sveaborg (since 1918 Suomenlinna) near Helsinki - now a UNESCO world heritage site. As I had this porter after the good Coyet Ale, my expectations were high (which normally, as in this case, leads to disappointment). Good to moderate head, pitch black. Coffee aroma with hints of fruit. Strangely sweet and fruity flavour. Some roast bitterness in the aftertaste.

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

On tap at the Suomenlinnan Panimo brewpub on the island of Sveaborg/Suomenlinna at the seaward approach to Helsinki (a UNESCO World Heritage site). This is an English style ale, golden to amber colour, slightly cloudy, moderate to low head. Moderate yeasty and hoppy aroma, some yeastiness and cloves in the well rounded flavour. Sufficient body to be a treat, light enough to be refreshing. Pleasant bitterness in the aftertaste. I'd say the brewer has done a good job with this one.

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

12 fl. oz. bottle, bought at Damsgaard Supermarked, Frederikshavn, Denmark, as "Sierra Nevada Unfiltered Wheat Beer". Pours very fizzy with a fairly large head. The beer is pale golden, slightly hazy. Pleasant sweetish aroma with strong notes of honey and flowers. Light bodied and refreshing with a distinct hoppy bite in the finish, but not much else going on. Still much better than some of the other ratings here made me fear.

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

Draught at The Jolly Butcher, Frederikshavn. Deep amber colour, hazy, moderate off-white head. Caramel and barnyard aroma. Soft malty flavour, some caramel. Moderately warming mouthfeel. Decent.

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

12 fl. oz. (355 ml) bottle, at The Jolly Butcher, Frederikshavn, Denmark. "Limited bottling - Winter ’05 - ’06." ABV is 8.25%. Nearly black colour, very low tan head. Vinous aroma with strong notes of dark chocolate, plums, prunes and oak. Powerful flavour of strong coffee and dark bitter chocolate. Relatively sweet. Alcohol is evident, but not dominant. A great sipping beer!

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

500 ml bottle, Vinmonopolet. Batch No. 31. On the first pour my weissbier glass fills completely with brown foam, which very slowly subsides to form a large and creamy head, on top of an opaque dark brown beer. First a very nice aroma of dark fruits, bakery / rye bread, bananas and cloves, then some less pleasant sidenotes of pepper and artificial candy set in. Flavour is sweet and alcoholic, notes of roasted malts and slightly burnt toast. Fairly bitter finish. This weizenbock is no Aventinus, but still a nice try.

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

330 ml bottle, Vinmonopolet. Typical hefeweizen appearance, cloudy golden colour, large head. Lovely h.w. aroma, cloves and ripe bananas abound, hints of leather, wood and ammonium. Soft flavour and mouthfeel, I want a litlle more "spritziness" from a h.w., but this is still a drinkable beer. Too expensive compared to other h.w.s available in Norway.

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

500 ml bottle, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet). Reddish brown colour, large and creamy off-white head. Bakery aroma, notes of brown bread and moderate hops. Flavour is also bready with distinct notes of caramel, sweetish with a hoppy and alcoholic bite in the finish. Not the best beer in the world, but much better than I feared.

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

330 ml bottle, bought at Ole Simon, Sandnes. Batch # 22. Unfiltered, unpasteurised and bottle conditioned organic pilsener (doesn’t that make it a Kellerbier?). Cloudy brownish golden colour (would probably be clearer if the sediments hadn’t been disturbed through transport). Moderate white head. Moderate sweetish aroma, some fruit, some aromatic hops, hints of leather and wet cardboard. Flavour is tolerably hoppy on a decent malty base, hints of citrus. Moderate carbonation. Acidic finish. No masterpiece, but not bad either.

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

500 ml can. Pale golden colour, moderate head. Weak sweetish aroma, hints of candy. Minimal flavour, some malts and the usual Grans over-boiled vegetables / wet cardboard notes. Hardly any hops. Another sad Norwegian "ice beer".

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

500 ml can. Golden colour, low head. You don’t expect much from a Grans beer, and you don’t get much either. Weak sweetish fruity aroma (at least it’s not offensive). Moderate carbonation. Flavour has some pale malts, very moderate hops, a hint of toffee and wet cardboard, and a dusty finish. A boring beer, but I’ve had worse.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 2 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 2

(500 ml can). Golden pilsener-like colour, low head. Decent fruity and grassy aroma, flavour is blah! - sweet and alcoholic, I can hardly finish the glass. Completely unbalanced. How the heck do Swedish alcoholics manage to drink stuff like this? - other Swedish breweries make similar crap.

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

This beer is inspired by US West Coast steam ale. EBC 21,8, IBU 15,8. Copper coloured, crystal and chocolate malts are used. Several hop varieties are used, East Kent Goldings and Liberty are mentioned. Moderate fruity aroma, flavour is dusty malty with a dusty hops finish. Undefinable lack of balance, made worse by serving the beer far too cold. Too carbonated.

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

Draught at the brewpub. EBC 61, IBU 18. Hops used: Cascade. Too carbonated for my taste, served far too cold. Dark ruby colour. Fruity (plums) aroma, like many English porters. Roast malty flavour, rather dry. Quite bitter finish, both from the roast malts and plenty of Cascade hops.

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

500 ml bottle, bought at KaDeWe, Berlin. Dark reddish brown colour, large tan head. Pleasant roasty and malty sweet aroma, notes of dark chocolate, prunes and leather. Lightly roasty and malty flacour, hints of chocolate, pumpernickel bread and mild coffee. Pleasant and easy-drinking bock.

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

Draught at the brewpub. EBC 4.8, IBU 13.5. Hops used are Saaz, Perle and Nugget. Very pale golden colour, slightly hazy. Lovely flowery aroma and flavour. Light bodied, reasonably bitter finish. Decent pils.

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

500 ml bottle, bought in Germany. Deep copper colour, large beige head. Intense aroma of red fruits, dried fruits and jam / marmalade, also notes of cloves, oak and sherry. Flavour is moderately malty, slightly acidic with some vinous qualities, red fruits, caramel and rye bread in the background. Moderate carbonation, soft mouthfeel, smooth and pleasant to drink. A very nice rye beer.