FRYDENLUND «Juleøl» 2022 4.6% 3/6
Dark Amber colour, pouring a large head. Distinct notes of fruit and caramel. Quite round taste,very subtle. A tad metallic,low carbonation. Particularly good to pair with food for this season.
NORLANDSBRYGGERIET «Nordlands juleøl” (4.5%) 4/5
Lighter amber in color with modest heads pouring. Lightly fruity notes in the nose, as well as a transformation when it comes to taste: This light but smooth beer morphs into further bitter notes enhanced by darker malts. Smooth balance, a great all-round Xmas beer.
E.C.DAHLS “Dahls juleøl» (4.5%) 3/5
Beautiful amber color here w/small head. Nose is delicious malty wort. Lightly carbonated and very minimalistic in its presence, making this a safe go-to for all parts of the Xmas timeline. Tasty although subtle, smooth & delicious.
RINGNES «Julebokk» 2022 (9%) 4/5
So, what we’re up for now: this grand master’s annual return. From Oslo‘s industrial Pilsner makers, and we have a beer that has been completed for the top three at least for me several times. By looks irlt is very dark shimmering red, pouring little top. The nose reminiscent of sweet dark dried fruit, and the mouthfeel is light but extravagant. Notes of licorice, draped with a bitter edge gives this super beverage extra dimensions. Superb, this year too.
RINGNES «Lite Jul» (4.3%) 3/6
Quite lines in color one, looking like a dark lager as such. Very little carbonation going on. Nose is also hard to distinguish… close to undetectable. Tastewise, it’s quite bland and thin, making it very quenchable. Refreshing at the very least- and also: Low carb/low cal😜
OSLO BREWING «Voksenjulebrus» (6%) 4/6
Looks like pink drink! Smells of red berries and lightly of grape juice. Ask for taste: these elements also ressonates well here, the- and a sour twist to top it. Very nice! Little bubbly action going on, but an interesting, great twist that will be a pleasure to drink again.
OSLO BREWING «Multekrem 2022» (4.5%) 3/6
Pure yellow colour, with big head. Nose is at first fruity, almost reminding about a NEIPA- but then- deep at the bottom of things, somet strange, molten acidity. Not repulsive, just like those associations of bacteriaculture-milk. As for the taste, it is mild, dry and grainy with wheat-Sweet coating. But it works very well with certain desserts.
BERENTSEN «Julefnugg» (6.5%) 5/6
Dark red/brownish visuals. Nose is extremely malty, pointing a lot towards bread. A lightbodied beer suitable for most moments during this holiday season. As for taste: Crumbles/bread, sweet malt and refreshing degree of carbonation. A mild, suitable hint of liqorice at the end. This is very good stuff.
BERENTSEN «Juleøl» (4.7%) 3/6
Amber red in color pouring nice head. Deep malty aroma of wet oaky cellar. Nice wort taste, thin body. A bit bland, and sharp edges.
E.C. DAHL «Dahls Juleøl» (4.6%) 4/6
Nutty and lightly fruity aroma. Good degree of carbonation and mouthfeel. Light to medium body… a little thin perhaps, giving just a tad too much room for the ABV-strenght. Taste is caramelly sweet and eventually bitter. Apart from that, all in all a good choice.
E.C. DAHL «Dahls Julebrygg» (6%) 3/6
Lightly brown colourwise with elegant creamy head poured. Aromas are of droids dark fruits, very delicate. Mouthfeel is very good, thin-bodied but with suitable carbonation-levels. Taste is fruity and a hint nutty. Quenchable seasonal drink.
MACK «Juleøl Lite» (4.5%) 3/6
Amber brownish visually.
Nose is a bit fruity and malt-orientated… I suspect this beer will be a little bit thin. Well- let’s try: distinct wort-notes of bittersweet roast. Thin as suspected, albeit quite nice and easy drinking.
MACK «Tradisjonell Julebokk» (9%) 5/6
This one is so red-brown that it’s almost hard to see through… Though it is transparency and a clean, delicate look to it. Pours beautiful head too. Nose is lightly Xmassy, of subtle caramel. However, the taste is not subtle at all, but pure delicassy! Delicious malt sweetness with hops to match this powerful body. Aftertaste is heavily sweet too… but hey, nothings wrong with that? This is an awesome choice!
BÅDIN «All I want for Christmas is a hoppy beer» (7%) 4/6
Hmm… strings for a Christmas beer to be. Deep yellow with a large head pouring. nose is fruity with hints of banana bread/grains. Supersmooth bubbles, sweet light fruity notes- with a hoppy aftertaste. Definitely a nice twist for a Christmas beer- and a well tasty one.
BÅDIN «Stille Dal» (7%) 5/6
Delicious, inviting murky yellow-brown visuals, seemingly quite a bit of bubbly action going on. Now, this is described as a wheat-IPA to accompany Christmas foods, and understandably so. However, the fruityness of orange, apples and plum makes me think it’ll go well on it’s own too… Let’s dive down tastewise: medium to fullbodied,good carbonation as suspected. Very cool bitterness for a wheat beer to be! At the same time: very delicate. Grassy intro followed by a distinct great bitter midsection, before leaving that dry, lingering grassy outro. Very good and all-around, indeed.
AASS «Juleøl Premium 2022» (9%) 5/6
Deep Amber colour with great head in glass. Delicious smells of dark-burnt Xmassy malts, figs and subtle spices. Refreshing carbonation for this medium-to fullbodied beer.
Taste is furthermore enhanced by wet wood, along with dark fruits, especcially dates. Mild enough to enjoy on its own, yet complex enough for heavy food-pairings. A very nice choice!
MACK «Juleøl 2022» (4.5%) 4/6
Dark amber color, pouring great head. Fruity, malty subtle aroma of the season. Light body but great mouthfeel. Mack has really got the hang of this!
ÆGIR «Julepott» (4.5%) 4/6
Dark rubyred colourwise, like a jewel. Pours nice head. Highly vinous nose! Almost on the brink to red wine, Deep fruity vibes going on here. Tastewise its pretty stunning too: Light to mediumbodied, nice Sweet start before mild bitterness comes to surface. Then, a nutty, dry finish lingers at the end. Very good!
SOMERSBY «Christmas cider» (4.5%) 4/6
First off: being a Seiter, kind of derails from the rest here… when that is said: Visually it looks like apple juice, very light in color and the carbonation looking good. The nose, however, is in addition to being typical apple/flute fruit oriented, this one contains a lot of Christmasy spices, such as the cinnamon and carnation. Let’s taste it. At first, the spices comes through together with him, huge sweetness the midsection Terrace the apple, ripe fruit come out before it all fades out with the massive, sweet spice and sweetness.
After many notes being written and many a beer consumed, this blog finally saw the light of day late 2013.
By the first eye-glance, it looks dark and thick. Quite promising, so to speak. It would be completely wrong to say that it has a little carbonation- cause here there’s none… (to justify a tad, it is serves on tap tho)
However- when that stopped taking place in Oslo, Nøgne Ø grabbed the opportunity- and formed their now annual fest: Dark Night. Basically, the idea of having this yearly launch of (one of?) their most demanding beers to produce, has now presented both it’s facets; namely the brewery’s flagship beer Dark Horizon. This once-upon-a-time mythical proud take on an Imperial Stout has been brewed every second year since 2007 (? if I’m not mistaking) and still to this very day, holds high regards with many Norwegians. And not very surprising, as this beer has seen many slight changes/variants throughout the years- spanning from more bitter nuances to more super sweet.
Dark and nice visuals, pouring small creamy head. Nose reminiscent of leather, Smoke, dried fruit and wet oak. Body is medium to light, enhancing the peated notes. Mouthfeel is fresh, sharp- a bit stingy, but comfortably so. Tastewise, it really embraces the whisky flavour, but also leaves behind room for other elements, such as distinct coffee-traces, figs, a hint of liquorice and almost rum-like aftertaste.
It’s always with great anticipation that I approach any beer that rides under the Side Project/Shared-banner, being aware of their extremely high quality stouts and Barleywines. However, they’re also incredibly competent when it comes to sour beers, giving the European competitors such as 3 Fonteinen and Cantillon a run-for-the-money, for sure. (I’ll always cherish the moment when tasting that “Fuzzy” of theirs… Amazing!)