Ooohh… Black as night. Thick, oily looks- exactly the beerstyle that tends to be cherished the most, in my personal perspective, that is.

Nose reminisces clearly dark chocolate and cocoa, with hints of fruity bourbon waaaaay down in the deep. I’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time… now, let’s check it out.

Taste is insaaane! Thick mouthfeel, fullbodied. A real strike to all senses, a blow to the palate! Super-smooth, silky veil of elegance- with powerful bitter dark chocolate of the most delicious kinds play it out on the tongue. Long lasting and with subtle caramelly hints at the very first couple of seconds, before the bitterness sets in, dancing hand-in-hand with cocoa. No diminishing sweetness here, I tell ya. So I’ll be careful with detecting fruityness herein, cause it sure shouldn’t be a main part to be emphazised, with so much good stuff already going on.

And underneath it all: A highly suitable heat that stems from those magnificent bourbony traces. Super-delish! Quite incredible, what them masters at Side Project has got going here. So happy I don’t have Covid right now! Because for a beer like this, nothing but all senses must be intact in order to give justice to such greatness.
Suberbly executed.

Photo: M.K. Burheim

As a fan of many of their brews, Haand does create a bit of excitement for me. Having explored most of their styles, I’m well aware what tricks these guys can pull and the magic they can cook up in them kettles. At hand tonight we have a bold pastry stout clocking in on a quite powerful ABV, something that might be promising for this kind of beer.

Visuals are black and thick, still producing a beautiful head when pouring. Nose is highly complex- not just the coffee roast and choc one would expect, but also with fruity notes, especially of raspberries. But also other berries and green summery fields are detectable, besides the great chocolaty coating. Smooth and balanced, this is a beer I could drink several times. Freshly carbonated at first, developing taste layers throughout and a bittersweet aftertaste rounds off this heavy-bodied beautiful beast.

Haand: 5 points to you!

This one has been lying around for a while now, enough excitement-factor: Tonight’s the night!

I’m familiar with Solo’s (Jikiun’s) brews from before, have had several of them. But the other part herein is new to me, and they’re playing the main part in this one. So how does this work?

Bright yellow in the glass, on the verge to orange. Pours very little head and nose is mildly buttery and fruity of orange/carrots.   Interesting that these guys teamed up with Kjetil Jikiun, previously of Nøgne Ø fame.

Taste is comfortably sour , with a pinch of salty edge to it. There’s distinct lemon in here, and very little carrot remaining intact. Somehow sweet aftertaste rounds it off. Quite smooth for a newcomer to be!

A collab between the front soldiers Siren, who has teamed up with Stillwater and Prairie Artisanal, is what we have here. An exiting, intriguing artwork on the label is good and all that, but the real exitement starts when reading about the contents here. A bunch of different ingredients in this blend, where grapes, blackberries, cherries collides front-to-front with lactose and coffee, creates this fine favourite beer type of mine, Flanders ale. 

Needless to say, it looks striking. Nose is becoming more and more right down towards room temperature. Insanely dark fruit infusion, stingy acidity, lightly spiced and deep subtle sweetness… Right, I’m dying to drink this. 

At first, the berries welcomed midway/far back in my mouth, great balanced tart taste. The berries’ taste span from sweet cherry taste and deep dark raisins, to tart, to oak mateurity, before rounding off with sweet, delicate outro. Amazing stuff! Will definately have again.

Photo: M.K. Burheim

It is always interesting to come across a brewery that one hasn’t tried something from before.

This German brewery has thus collaborated with Denmarks To Øl, in order to serve this bright-yellow beauty. For starters, it seems well carbonated with a great head when being poured- and the nose is nothing but splendid. According to the bottle information, this is a rose hip-infused sour rye pilsener, and flower’ish, mineral/fruity citrus notes does subtly emerge. Also acidic hints. 

When it comes to taste however, it starts off with a quick flirtation with sweetness before the acidity undoubtedly shows it’s presence… very sour for this type of beer to be. Very fruity middle with bitter high end to it. Also, it’s quite salty and I find hints of seaweed in here. Mildly sour aftertaste that evaporates quickly.

Very nice and fresh, this one.

Photo: M. K. Burheim

Photo: M. K. Brochs

This beer is strikingly dark yellow in color and pours a small nice head on top. Almost on the verge to brownish, just on the borderline between dark yellow to light brown, I’d say. 

Judging by the “book” or more correctly in this case, by the box, it seems highly interesting and something that I’ve never tried before… Apparently what we got here is an orange ice cream ale, and being a collab between Amundsen and Fierce, we might just be in for a treat here. This seems to be something that I am more familiar with within the stout- category. 

So, what’s going on in terms of nose? Well, there’s the lights beautiful sweet fruitiness combined with the distinct Caramel& vanilla here… Almost toffee-like. And then, the taste: great freshness at first, in terms of carbonation. 

Then, that sweet sweet caramel comes into the picture, creamy and now even clearer before evolving into fruityness most definably banana, rounded off with a hint of citrusy bitterness that lingers into the aftertaste. 

What a fabulous surprise! And what a great beer. Astonishing stuff, this one.