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

(330 ml clear bottle.) A beer of ABV 3.7% is unusual in Norway, Grans Lyst Øl (="Pale Beer", they don’t hide the truth) is not much better than their Lettøl at 2.5%. On the other hand, their pale lager and pilsener varieties of ABV 4.5 or 4.7% are not exactly God’s gift to mankind either. Lyst Øl has at least a hint of malts. Aroma is weak but not unpleasant. Hop bitterness is low as expected, and the usual Grans metallic aftertaste is there. Avoid.

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

Norwegian discount grocery store Christmas beer. Fairly clean tasting low ABV Christmas beer, at least it's slightly better than you'd expect from this miserable brewery. Drinkable, but of course: watery and thin like most other "klasse D" Juleøl. I don't think Grans even make a "klasse F" beer any more.

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

Norwegian discount Christmas brew for the grocery store market. Just slightly darker (brownish) and less hoppy than Grans Juleøl. Watery mouthfeel. Too low ABV to be a "real" Christmas brew.

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

Actually, I have a bottle of this beer now and then with a nothing-special-dinner. There are three reasons for such an irrational behaviour: a) It's a low alcohol beer (in Norway, 'light' beers are always low alcohol, while colour may actually be slightly darker than most pilseners) - and I often have to drive after dinner (yes, our drink-and-drive laws are extreme too - as well as the prices of decent beer). b)Even the faintest beer flavour is better than no beer flavour. c) This beer is the cheapest there is, and I can't afford decent beers every day. A bit of malty flavour barely justifies this beer's existence. The usual metallic Gran's aftertaste makes it impossible to drink more than one bottle.

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

(330 ml bottle. A friend left me a few bottles after a party.) Another beer of the "low carb" craze. Golden colour, moderate head. Unlike some other brewers of low carb beers, Grans have retained more of the flavour of their ordinary pilsener. In Gran’s case, that unfortunately also means the house character of over-boiled vegetables flavour and the metallic aftertaste. Avoid.

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

(500 ml yellow can). This Easter Seasonal is barely discernible from Grans BARE ØL. These neutral discount pilseners are more or less all the same. Brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, despite Gran's alliance with Danish crap brewers Harboes Bryggeri.

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

BARE ØL means "only beer", and refers to this beer being brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, despite Gran’s partnership with Danish Harboe Bryggeri. This "no frills" discount beer comes in a simple unpainted 500 ml can. It is, so far, Norway’s cheapest canned beer. Pours with a moderate head, colour is very pale straw coloured, weak one-dimensional fruity aroma. Flavour is neutral and uninteresting, as you expect from a discount pils. At least it’s not really offensive, better than water. A little bitterness in the finish, becomes metallic in the aftertaste.

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

500 ml can. Deep golden colour, moderate head. A fairly decent standard pale lager with some caramel added, but without the typical Grans offensive side-flavours and metallicness. Not a typical Norwegian juleøl (it is not intended to be), but fairly drinkable, and a good choice for the lager louts who think that a standard juleøl / julebrygg is "too dark" (sic).

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

(500 ml bottle, bought in Sweden). Reddish brown colour, decent head. A drinkable dunkel, not outstanding but decent for a Swedish commercial brewer. Good with food.

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. ABV is 4.8%. Very pale golden colour, decent head. Weak aroma, some sweetish notes of maize (corn). Spritzy mouthfeel, moderately sweet, minimal hops. Thin. Typical run-of-the-mill contract brewed industrial lager.

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Hazy copper colour, good head that doesn’t last too long. Aroma is citrussy (Cascade) with hints of prunes and caramel. Flavour is malty and quite bitter (Carlsberg have been generous with the hops here), the rye doesn’t really stand out - this beer reminds me more of an American IPA than anything you’d associate with rye bread. Still, this is an interesting beer, and a likely favourite with people who can’t get enough Cascade hops.

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Good to moderate head, deep golden colour. Nice floral and fruity aroma, tones of butterscotch and mild spices. Tastes like a very strong English bitter, the hoppy bitterness in the finish is there, but "intense" is not the word I’d use. The Semper Ardens Winter Rye is more like an IPA than this one. Decent enough, but there are better beers around.

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

(700 ml bottle). Pours very dark with a moderate head. Aroma and flavour of liquorice, dark chocolate and roasted malts. A bit too much liquorice in my book. Still, this is a very good stout, but not a taste experience that much better than Carls Porter - not enough to live up to the price difference IMO. I guess some of the point with the Semper Ardens range is that Carlsberg want to show the world: "Hey, we can brew good beer too - but that is VERY expensive!" Price aside, you have to give them props for trying. After they killed Wiibroe Imperial Stout Porter, Carls Porter is the only surviving moderately priced quality Carlsberg beer - innovation is reserved for the Semper Ardens range, just pay and be happy!

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

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Copper colour, slightly hazy, moderate head that doesn’t last very long. Lovely aroma of dark fruits and spices. Malty and slightly spicy flavour, could have been more complex but is still very good. Pleasant aftertaste. They have used Saazer hops for this beer, nothing wrong with that, but additional hop varieties would probably have brought the beer closer to "perfect". Still, quality is of course lightyears ahead of what most people know as "Carlsberg".

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. Pale golden colour, decent head. Sweetish fruity and grassy aroma, notes of maize (corn) too. Flavour is watery and "neutral" with some tolerable hops in the finish. Acceptable as a thirstquencher, but not much more.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

(700 ml bottle, bought in Denmark). Murky brown colour, large tan head. Surprisingly weak initial aroma - Hallertauer with faint notes of malts, spices and brown sugar. Improves a bit as the beer warms up. Flavour is much stronger, fuller and richer - but unfortunately also too sweet. Spices (coriander, aniseed, cardamom and more?), molasses and plenty of malts. The brewers have obviously used far too much brown sugar. They have also missed the target completely with their choice of hops - Hallertauer Mittelfrüh in a strong Belgian ale, WTF? I’m not a hops expert, but this beer obviously needs hops with more character, and in larger quantities. And PLEASE, less sugar to get rid of that syrupy mouthfeel!! Acceptable as a dessert beer, but not with the main Christmas meal. Incredibly, Carlsberg claim (on the rear label) that this beer has a "DRY(!!) and light ACIDIC structure". Who wrote that? Winnie the Pooh? Better luck next year, Carlsberg!

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

(500 ml can, bought in Sweden). The Falcon Bayerskt version with the lowest ABV. Dark golden / amber colour. Malty, refreshing, decent for a beer as low as 2.8%.

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

330 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Not bad - not outstanding. Amber colour, malty sweetness in aroma and flavour, not very complex, a drinkable Christmas beer but no masterpiece.

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.

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

330 ml can, bought in Tenerife. Apparently Estrella del Sur originally was brewed (since 1959) in Sevilla, in one of the breweries bought and closed by the Damm group. Damm have kept the brand. Not to be confused with the 0.9% stronger Estrella Damm. Extremely pale crystal clear straw colour. Large and lasting foamy head. Pleasant fruity sweet aroma. Bland and uninteresting flavour, some faint unpleasant "boiled" sidenotes. Forgettable.

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

750 ml corked "champagne" style bottle, packed in metal gift box. Now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet). Very dark reddish brown colour, slightly hazy. Moderate tan head. Very nice aroma of Christmas spices, oak, raisins, old sherry, toffee and treacle. Flavour is very malty sweet, plenty of caramel and some spices, hints of smoke, tart/bitter finish. Fizzy mouthfeel - due to the aggressive carbonation and tart finish this beer was not a "silky smooth" experience for me. I actually preferred du Bocq’s Regal Christmas to this one (haven’t tried them side by side, though). R.C. is also somewhat less expensive.

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

500 ml bottle, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet, bestillingsutvalget). ABV is 5.6%. Golden colour, large to moderate white head. Nice grassy aroma of aromatic hops (in America it would probably be known as "skunky", sic), some flowery notes too, hints of honey. Easy drinking, the pale malts are fairly well balanced with the moderate hops, some alcoholic sweetness. Does not carry its 5.6% supremely, but this is another OKish German beer - not one I’ll search out again, though.

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

500 ml swingtop bottle, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet, bestillingsutvalget). ABV is 6.9%. Orange to amber colour, large off-white head with an orange hue. Moderate aroma of malts, some fruity hops and bakery, notes of alcohol. Flavour is fairly malty and bready, some caramel sweetness, alcohol is evident but not too much. Some hoppy bitteness and slightly burnt notes in the finish. OKish, but not my favourite bock.

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

500 ml swingtop bottle, bought in Bier Spezi Hamburg. Chestnut coloured, decent light tan head. Rich malty aroma with notes of moderate roastiness, caramel, marzipan and bakery, hints of red fruits. Flavour is malty sweet but not overdone, notes of caramel and dark bread, but a decent hoppy bitterness in the finish makes it very drinkable and moreish. Good beer!