What is this new greatness? Looking absolutely stunning, delicious thick and hazy yellow, pouring a creamy beautiful head on top, this might just be a gamechanger of a NEIPA… From Louisiana? I’m excited- big time!

Let’s head from the great looks to the taste then. Mouthfeel: medium to light-bodied. It starts off deeper and a little sweet, with the copious amounts of hoppyness lingering in the back. But beware, quite mind-blowing it is. Lots of the citra I like in here, providing some real fruity Power to this hopsoup. I’m currently drinking it a bit closer to room tempered than I tend to like this kinda style. Still, it is amazingly smooth, and with a slight special NOLA twist to it. Great stuff fo’sho!

A new star on the relatively new Norwegian craft beer-radar, the excitement is great in this one. Created by the former founder & integral parts of already well-established Cervisiam, new born star Krecher picks up the thread and furthermore explores interesting paths/trends in the current beer scene. The particularly cool thing is that a great deal of passion is noticeably present in their first series of (high quality) beers, leaving no doubt that this is beer made by beer geeks themselves.

When it comes to the beer at hand’s impressions, it is mention-worthy to point out superbly deep yellow colour, pouring a subtle head and leaving creamy edges. So what about nose? Notes of citrus, pineapple and forest comes to mind. Lets put it to the test of taste then: Nicely carbonated and mild gentle lacto-sweet passage. Refreshing and rich. Copious levels of hops, providing both generous levels of fruityness, as well as smooth’n suitable bitter twist @ the end. F**king great to see this kind of beer coming out up here on Norwegian shores! Congrats, and welcome-you-is. Your sincerly, Yoda(rchaon).

Photo: M.K. Burheim

Bygland? Very-what?? What is this newbie on Norwegian turf?

Well well, in for a surprise I was, Yoda.

Beautiful dark yellow colour, Pouring massive bubbly head. Nose contains notes of orange/citrus zest, passion fruit and strange earthy reflections. Mouthfeel is medium to light bodied, with delicious creamy edges.

Taste is unexpectedly delicate: Smooth, balanced fruityness with fresh presence, followed by a not-over-the-top hopptyness contributes to making this the absolute highlight of all beers that is kveik for me. (Never been a fan, always had aversions…) A game-changer, so to speak. I’m loving this!

RYGR «Yggdrasil Hopbatch #1» (8%) 5/6

Light yellow with creamy bubbly head on top. This is kind of a new-comer (at least for this style to be) from the brewery, but from what I can tell from this double dry hopped New England India Pale Ale, these guys are onto it- and then some. A proud strike for this new Norwegian star!

Nose is beautifully fruity, with notes of pineapple, fresh lemon and a hint of eucalyptus. Furthermore, as for taste- it’d fresh in appearance. Medium/light bodied. Bitter, green apples followed by balanced hoppy finish. In the long aftertaste one can find sweetness of pineapple mixed with banana. Surprisingly awesome!

RYGR «Yggdrasil Hopbatch #2» (8%) 6/6

Darker yellow in appearance that it’s predecessor, with much more solid’n tight & creamy (yeah, I hear that it may sound like… something else) head. This one has everything that was lacking for me in #1. The nose gives away much of the complexity. Packed with fruityness, thicker solid body and more hopburn- for those who like that. Personally I find it perfectly suitable when the beer is as fullbodied, fruity and sweet as this. Just pure joy, similar to several of those well-known best ones from the US, such as Trillium or Tree House. Right up there with for instance Big Fat Cat from Haand, this standout NEIPA from Norway proves that we’ve taken a liking to this style enough to execute them well, even at our own shores. Very good.

Been looking forward to trying this. A part of the funny gaming-concept «Green city», a series of beers that Other half has launched, this one comes in funny packaging w/box set. What we’ve got at hand today is the funny-named lvl. 2 installment.

Looking as you’d want a hop-juice to do, this is pouring a great creamy layer on top of the yellow sea in the glass. Nose reveals massive fruityness, pineapple & citric fruits in play. Elegantly hopped. Fruityness is furthermore altered in the actual taste, all the while fronted by a stingy hopflirt underneath. There’s also a foresty, earthy (perhaps lightly nutty?) touch to it.

Superb degree of bubbles gives the presentation on the palate a fresh and still smooth impression of this medium bodies Triple IPA. Coated smoothly with interesting twists & turns, it’s definetely a smooth beer. Rounds off with an ever-increasing bitterness, fading slowly.

Photo: M.K. Burheim

Salikatt is a Norwegian brewery that seems to really have taken off the last two years. Having recently moved location and increased their capacity, they are now able to unprepared to serve a hungry Norwegian market. As with the most popular brews, their new ones now sell out quickly, leaving many thirsty beer enthusiasts. I’ve tried several, and they really are undisputed kings of the scene nowadays in Norway.

Their latest offering, “Cold Fusion” is no exception. So, what are we faced with here is another super-haze: Deep yellow, murky pouring a great head. Nose being distinctly citra notes from the hops, and very subtle fruityness apart from that. In other words, seemingly a very clean beer. And tastewise?

Super carbonization. Fresh as hell, just overall sooo clean taste. So easy to drink! Subtle vanilla notes and creamy medium body. Delicious juicy, fruity mid-section of orange and citrus, before a great adjusted touch of tasty hoppy bitterness gets into play. Eventually the suitable hopburn provides an longlasting aftertaste, tickling & tingling the tongue. Another superb work, which maintains their position. I’d have this all days next summer, please.

Photo: M.K. Burheim

With a fancy can like this featuring a cat (Little chubby cutie) on the label, this seems promising for a cat lover and beer geek. The kind of beer that has potential outside it’s current boundaries, even for many that are not yet won over in the beer scene. So this hazy juicy neipa from Haand… some thing that they have not done before I believe? Clocking on a 6.7 ABV, I’m excited to try this. The color is beautifully hazy yellow and it’s pours a great head on top. As far as nose and aromas goes, we find here pineapple, citrus/orange, summery that sends associations to a varm summer beach. Now, let’s try it!

Light carbonization, easy notes of both fruit and earth, great subtle hoppyness. Lightly creamy, nice body (giving the impression of being lightly thin at the same time. Great balance between hops and sweetness in this one. Oh yeah it’s fresh, and it places Haand on the NEIPA-map like never before.

Photo: M. K. Burheim

After a good 14 days (and then some), the bearded gent Westum himself, decided to “celebrate”… Or shall we say, mark that day and occation. With the entire world being quarantened up, I suppose it would be a great time to brew a beer, keeping several imprisoned souls happy. The time has come to finally taste it…

Presented in a highly stylish can with fitting label concept, the beers actual colour is light yellow, pouring small head. Hazy and murky indeed. Nose is highly priomising, with light citrusy elements such as lemony hints, pineapple and deep down, tempting distinguishable orange. One will hold back no more.

Perfectly carbonated, light appearance with remarkable bitterness that stings for a good while. As for taste elements, it’s overall hoppy, more so emphazizing bitterness than the more typhical-in-haze, fruityness that defuses the “hop-attack”, enhances by pine needles. It’s still containing those fruity elements in a developed scale, with crescendo in the aftertaste, blending orange and bitter hops perfectly. Stunning. I for one, will not complain as long as beverages like this in my hand now, is within reach.

Photo: M. K. Burheim

As one would with such a hyped item, this beer has been looked forward to consuming a long time. Being one of the pretty difficult ones to get hold off out there, expectations are high when pouring this deep murky yellow perfection in the gloss. Aromas of citric fruits, piney notes and mango strikes the nose instantly, all the way from can into glass. Powerful indeed!

Murky-looking, perfectly carbonated, fresh albeit broad and bold, this masterpiece first teases the palate with a swift sweet brush, before all hell breaks loose- cause that is indeed what happens here. I mean sure, yeah- it’s an incredible double IPA, but the grip that the stingy hop has on the tastebuds cannot be described along anything else than stormy, yet still evolving. It’s one of the best examples of how this style’s mastery can be: Complex, all over the place, multi-dimensional and violent to the palate… Completely insane.

Looong after the swig, it keeps on stinging the back of my tongue, like a swarm of miniature hop-bees, ravaging. And several minutes after, it’s slowly fading out, with a sweet fruity  touch closing. This was actually worth the wait. Supreme.

Photo: M. K. Burheim

Already on the roll, why not have another one? This time, their Mettle-series. More correctly, the Heavy one. With a nice, light head topping the golden-yellow beverage, I explore the nose here. Quite subtle, but there’s some light sweet sommerly fruity notes here.

With regards to taste, it must be said that the carbonization provides great amount of freshness to it. At first, a hoppy sting attaches to the palate. Then sweet, very subtle caramelish hint emerges, before blossoming in a furthermore sweet fruit middle, all the while underlined by a distinct hoppy sting.

The bitterness becomes full circle in the aftertaste, like a deadly scorpio clinging on till your final breath. Almost too much, I feel all numb now… RIP, dear palate. You’ve served me well throughout the years.

Photo: M. K. Burheim