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

ABV in Norway is 4.5%. I'm sure the (slightly stronger) export version is even better, if you get it fresh. This beer is basically a pilsener (Saaz hops), but brewed with a certain amount of Munich malts to give it some of the rounded flavour of a Munich dunkel. Not a bad marriage, I'd say.

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

(Also known as Aass Dark.) A quite acceptable Norwegian Bayer, but not as rich flavour as I expected. Rerate: This beer grows on you - the bitterness and burnt tastenotes make this beer probably the best all-year Norwegian beer for the grocery store market (ABV < 4.75%) there is.

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

(500 ml bottle, bought in Norway.) Pours with the typical large & lingering weissbier head, colour of the beer is brown, not black as the name suggests. Slightly hazy. Pleasant aroma of fresh baked bread and weissbier yeast, hints of dark syrup and caramel. Flavour has a slight roastiness and some farmhouse bread character, smooth and pleasant to drink, but not very complex. Just enough hops to leave a pleasant aftertaste, but like most weissbiers the aftertaste does not last "forever". This is a decent but unpretentious beer, a nice accompaniment with a meal or as a refreshment on its own.

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

(500 ml can, bought in Denmark). Beautiful amber colour, good head. Some corn sweetness, fairly neutral flavour, moderate to low bitterness. No foul taste, but far from being a great beer.

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

"Fad" means "draught" (or really: "keg"), but the name is used on bottles and cans too. This is an acceptable Danish lager - nothing special, but not bad either. Very average, no reason to search it out.

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

500 ml bottle. Looks like a very pale Hefe-Weissbier, and for some reason I hoped a N/A Weissbier would be much better than other N/A beers. I was disappointed. Sickly "boiled" smell and flavour of wort, overdone vegetables and wet cardboard, just like Clausthaler. None of the Hefe aroma and "freshness" I hoped for. Avoid.

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

The bottle I had (bought in Norway) was outdated 2 weeks ago, and was not stored cool at my retailer’s like it ought to be. Cloudy brew with a far-from-appetizing lumpy sediment. Unpleasant aroma. A major disappointment.

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

(500 ml bottle). Large head, like the name says crystal clear, pale golden colour. This is a decent and thirst quenching summer beer (available all year) from Erdinger - but their Hefe has a little more of everything! Like all "Kristall" Wessbiers: Why filter away the goodies?

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

Cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. The IBF programme description: "Biscuity malt and earthy hop flavours" seemed spot on to me. Decent.

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

Sampled cask conditioned at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Amber colour. Malty ale, reasonable bitterness. Not brilliant, but good!

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. Black colour (no surprise). Aroma of raisins, cigarbox and coffee. Surprisingly fruity flavour for a stout (=surprising if I hadn’t read the IBF programme), dark fruits on a background of espresso coffee and dusty roasted malts. Interesting beer!

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

33 cl capped bottle simply called "Saison Dupont" (bought in Norway), "Vieille Provision" is apparently used only for the corked bottle, otherwise it must be the same beer. Hazy golden beer with a large head. Lovely farmhouse aroma with spices and tobacco. Spicy and "authentic" farmbrew flavour, which unfortunately soon is overpowered by a strange medicinal bitterness on the the back of my tongue - I’m not sure how much of this bitterness comes from the hops and how much comes from dead yeast cells. This bitterness dominates the long aftertaste.

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

(500 ml bottle, bought in Norway). Filtered wheat beer, like the name says crystal clear, very light golden, enormous head. Strong aroma of ripe bananas (or rather: the artificial "banana" filling you get in some chocolates + bubble gum), cloves too. Banana, cloves and hops in the flavour - but there's just too little of everything. Why filter away the goodies? Very short aftertaste.

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

(Sampled 500 ml bottle, bought in Norway). This is a decent Helles with a pleasant aroma. Flavour and aftertaste are OKish, but far from exceptional. Probably better on tap - or maybe all the "Bierkeller" hype is misleading?

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

(500 ml bottle). This is an ale (bitter), not a lager! Deep golden to amber colour, moderate head. Aroma is hoppy and dominant vanilla. Flavour is not sweet, quite bitter actually, and the vanilla somehow seems out of place. I guess there's a reason most beers don't smell and taste strongly of vanilla. Nice for a change of pace, though.

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

Rerate, 500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 4.5%. Clear amber to brown colour, moderate head. Moderate aroma with notes of malts and bread, just some faint hints of caramel, sulphur and fruity hops. The flavour has some nutty malts, and the fruity hops are more pronounced. A hint of toffee too, and a moderate bitterness in the finish. It is quite obvious that this is not a "live" beer. Cask conditioned this is a mellow, easily drinkable bitter. Not the very best, but GOOD, to be sure. Available in most of Britain, partly because of Marston's contract with the nationwide pubchain J.D. Wetherspoon.

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

(750 ml "champagne" bottle, vintage 1997-98). Pours with an enormous lasting head. Cloudy golden colour. Lovely aroma of sour fruits, notes of spices and horse stable. Flavour is fruity, sour but not vinegar, a little tart. Quite dry. Reminds me of a brut champagne. Moreish aftertaste. Yummy!

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

Cask at the Ipswich Beer Festival 2004, gravity dispense. I haven't had the bottled version yet, but it is reported to be somewhat different. ABV of the cask version is 4.4%. Golden colour. Flowery and candy-like aroma. Light bodied. Would benefit from a cooler serving temperature than was the case at the IBF. Flavour is moderately hoppy, would no doubt be refreshing if served cooler. As it was, it lacked some "freshness". Dry finish. BTW, it’s organic - "suitable for vegans" = no animals killed for the purpose of brewing this beer. Nice to know before you order your plate of bangers & mash.

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

Rerate bottle, pasteurised: 500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Amber to brown colour, large off-white head. Moderate malty aroma, slightly sourish. Flavour is also moderately malty with low bitterness, fairly dry. Mouthfeel is "dusty" and slightly sourish, not very rich. Drinkable, but better cask conditioned. Original rating: Sampled cask conditioned in Scotland. Copper coloured. Smooth and pleasant Scottish "heavy". Nice malty aroma and flavour. I'm ready for another one any time.

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

Sampled cask conditioned in Scotland. This is a very pleasant and refreshing British IPA / golden ale, with numerous CAMRA awards. Moderate ABV. Not over-hopped like American IPAs, but a popular and very nice pint indeed. Rerate bottle, ABV 4.4%: 500 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger. Golden to amber colour, decent lasting head. Pleasant hoppy aroma with fruity notes (citrus, pineapple). Flavour is moderately hoppy and refreshing, grapefruity in the finish. Not quite as good as the the cask version, but even from a pasteurised bottle it is a pleasant session beer without any obvious flaws.

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

(330 ml bottle). ABV of my bottle was 9,2%. Nearly black (= dark ruby when held to the light), good to moderate creamy tan head. Started drinking it too cold, surprisingly weak initial aroma, improves as the beer warms up - malty, but not very complex. Flavour is malty sweet with burnt notes - not nearly as cloying as EKU 28 (thank God!) but also less complex. Alcohol is well hidden. OKish mellow aftertaste. Good beer, but it doesn't exactly take my breath away.

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

(500 ml bottle). Pours with an enormous lasting head, colour is cloudy golden brown. Overwhelming lovely sweet aroma of ripe bananas, "bubblegum" and spices, hints of oak. Flavour is refreshing and slightly spicy (cloves, cardamom), a little more hops than most Weissbiers.

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

Christmas seasonal, 500 ml cool swingtop bottle. Aroma like an average lager, rather weak. Golden colour, good to moderate head. Flavour is well balanced with a herbal character, moderate sweetness and decent hops. Flavour and aftertaste is better than the average lager, but this is definitely not what I want for CHRISTMAS! As a standard lager it passes the test, as a Christmas beer it fails!

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

Sure it's black - but when I feel like anything black, I'd most likely go for any dry or imperial stout instead, any time - if given the choice. As far as German Schwarzbiers go, there are tastier ones around than this one. Disappointing lack of flavour and 'bite'. Of course it's drinkable, but I expected more.

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

(5 liter minikeg, bought in Norway - ABV here is 4.5%. The ABV in Germany is supposed to be 4.9%. I think "Kulmbacher Premium Pils" is an alias of this beer. Not be be confused with the Kulmbacher Mönchshof Original). Typical pils golden colour, large head. Hoppy but not very strong aroma. Flavour is surprisingly malty, slightly sweeter and less crisp than the somewhat stronger EKU Pilsner which I prefer (also in a minikeg). Still, this is a rather tasty pilsener, miles ahead of the many tasteless "neutral" pilseners you get these days.