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

(330 ml bottle). Very pale golden colour, some malty sweetness - and then: not much more. Thin mouthfeel. Not good. Norwegian "sommerøl" (summer beers) are all uninteresting pale lagers without any character - as if our ordinary pilseners were not "summer beers" good enough!

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

(500 ml can). Golden colour. Pleasant aroma. Clean, well balanced flavour. Not a bad lager. Better than Trio Pilsner. "Fatøl" is Norwegian for "draught beer", but this beer still comes out of a can!

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

(500 ml can). Pale golden colour, moderate head. Run of the mill pils, "neutral" flavour, thin mouthfeel. Nothing to write home about. Trio Bryggeri is a former soft drink factory that started brewing a few years after the old brewery in Skien, Lundetangen Bryggeri, was closed.

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

750 ml corked "champagne" bottle. Vintage 2003. As far as I know, this is the only commercially produced craft cider from Norway (the other Norwegian "ciders" are more or less industrial alcopops made with a little apple or pear juice). Very expensive (NOK 145 at Vinmonopolet). Pours very fizzy (strong natural carbonation), no lasting head, carbonation dies out quickly. Pale yellow colour. Aroma of fresh and fermenting apples, notes of oak and apple cider vinegar. Flavour is sweet (too sweet) and alcoholic, notes of oak and vinegar, hints of spices. One small glass is enough. Apparently the 3 apple varieties used (Aroma, Gravenstein and Torstein, all good to eat) are not ideal for cider production. Overall disappointing. Will not buy again.

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

Draught at Café t'Arendsnest, Amsterdam. I expected of some reason this to be a Dutch copy of English cask ales, but it has a more yeasty and spicy flavour than any English brew I've had, and is also more carbonated. (But not as carbonated as Belgian ales). Flavour is otherwise dominated by rather bitter hops (but not as bitter as the barman made me expect). The colour is light brown, slightly hazy. You'd think the ABV was higher than it actually is. It is not a bad brew, but I'd prefer most English ales / bitters to this one. Still it's nice to find Dutch alternatives to the inevitable macrobrews

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

500 ml can, sold at Vinmonopolet. Peculiar yeasty (even though this is a filtered and pasteurised lager) sweet and fruity aroma. Flavour is nothing to shout hurrah! for (bland and alcoholic), very little aftertaste. You'll be so more happy drinking any Norwegian Christmas beer ('Juleøl') - just be sure to get the strong ("klasse F", Vinmonopolet) version. Beers like this one just aren't flavourful enough for winter, and not refreshing enough for summer!

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

330 ml bottle: Reddish amber colour, relatively pale for a dunkel, good head. Malty aroma with caramel and some aromatic hops. Light bodied but well balanced, fairly malty but not really sweetish, nutty flavour with a reasonable amount of hops which make it refreshing. Nice.

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

Draught at the brewpub, RBESG. Fresh and aged versions. I liked the fresh one better, so my ratings are for that one. Comments aged version: Cloudy brown colour, decent head. Yeasty and strong wort aroma, smells kind of "unfinished / immature". (5/10) Flavour is worty sweet, again "unfinished / immature". (5/10) Not my favourite this one. Overall 11/20. Comments fresh version: Cloudy brown colour. Aroma is malty and "fresher" than the aged one, fruity elements. Some oaky notes too. Flavour is malty / worty sweet - too sweet. Still better than the aged one.

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

Draught at the brewpub, RBESG. Notes of the "normal" version (which is rated here): Brown colour. Lovely hoppy aroma. Flavour is pure "hop juice" on a moderately malty background. A "demanding" beer, but not too extreme. Notes of the randallized version: Exciting and stimulating hoppy aroma. (9/10) Flavour is a lovely hoppy explosion from start to finish, with barely enough malts to support it. (9/10) Very bitter aftertaste. Overall 17/20.

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

Draught at Plan B, Copenhagen. Hazy golden colour. Subtle flowers and honey aroma, some pineapple and citrus too. Fruity flavour, moderately sweet, pineapple and citrus again. Not bad.

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

Draught at Carlsen’s Kvarter, Odense. Served too cold. Chestnut colour. Aroma and flavour are very fruity (plums), nearly acidic / vinegary. Decent maltiness, notes of English malt vinegar. Minimal hops. Refreshing and pleasant to drink. Acidic even in the finish, but a wormwoodlike bitterness pops up in the aftertaste.

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

355 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Deep brown colour, large light tan head. Pleasant aroma of dark and dried fruits and caramel, hints of chocolate, tobacco, oak and leather. Nice malty and nutty flavour with some caramel but not too sweet, well balanced with sufficient hops, hints of spices. Easy drinking, refreshing, decent mouthfeel. Moreish.

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

Draught at Carlsen’s Kvarter, Odense. Golden colour, slightly hazy. Traditional hefeweizen aroma with an unusual hint of vomit and rotting fruits. Flavour is much better than the aroma, but unusually sweet for a hefe, plenty of cloves though.

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

Bottled 2004, 500 ml swingtop bottle (Thanks, JensenTaster!). ABV was 8.3%. Murky dark brown colour, very good & lingering tan head. Lovely aroma of dark malts, dark chocolate, Christmas spices, caramel and candy sugar, hints of cherries. Flavour is very rich & malty with some alcoholic warmth, spices and dark chocolate are present. Plenty of hops (maybe a tad too much?? - or maybe not) in the finish balances the sweetness nicely. This is good. This is very good. Maybe not quite as exquisite flavour as Nøgne Ø God Jul (at least it’s a bit different) - but very, very good.

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

Draught at a Turkish restaurant in Odense (had it also later on two other occasions in Denmark). Served too cold. Surprisingly dark colour, orange to brown, cloudy. Moderate but nice hefe aroma and flavour, tolerable hops. Went nicely with the Turkish buffet. Pleasant cloves aftertaste.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Reddish brown colour, low head. Malty aroma with notes of rye bread. Malty flavour but relatively light bodied, moderate carbonation, notes of fresh rye bread, quite refreshing.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Strong aroma of Christmas spices, sweet malts and vegemite. Very SWEET flavour, molasses galore. Far too sweet in my book.

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

Bottled from draught, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Brown colour, strong aroma of caramel and Chinook hops. Decent malty flavour with some caramel, well balanced with the hops. A nice strong bitter!

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005 Grand Tasting. Amber colour. Aroma is smoke and oak with some brown sugar and white pepper notes. Flavour is moderately smokey with faint notes of tar, fairly dry. Okay.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005 Grand Tasting. Very nice hoppy aroma, citrus, pineapple. Flavour is dry and hoppy, light bodied, bitter aftertaste. Must be a great beer to drink when you have been working up a sweat doing farm work (or garden work) in the summertime.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005, Grand Tasting. Lovely hefe aroma (cloves, bananas) with a substantial contribution made by elderflowers. Flavour is again hefe with elderflowers. A quite nice beer this one!

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

Bottle, reads only "Boerke", RBESG 2005 Grand Tasting. Slightly hazy amber to brown colour. Barnyard aroma. Moderately dry flavour, hints of oak, decent hops.

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

Bottle, RBESG 2005 Grand Tasting. XO cognac coloured. Aroma of oak and dried fruits, some peppery notes too. Flavour is a bit oaky with low bitterness, a bit thin mouthfeel. Relatively dry.

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

(330 ml bottle, in Sweden. Later also available in Norway). Beautiful ruby colour, moderate head. Malty sweet aroma with hints of oak. Mellow flavour - a tad too sweet in my book. Low bitterness. Not a bad beer, but it lacks "bite".

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

355 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Amber colour, large foamy head. Very nice flowery and fruity sweet aroma. Flavour is somewhat less interesting, some toffee, nuts and dusty hops. Bitter finish.