A taste of Christmas

I have tasted some of this season's Christmas beers, juleøl. Some are great, some are not. The first I tried during this session was Grans julebrygg with an alcohol content of 4.7%. That was a disappointment.

Grans julebrygg is a dark beer with a lot of carbonation, but the medium sized head disappears quickly. In the nose there is some toffee. In the mouth there is some caramel and old Coke before the taste of Belgian yeast and British washing cloth takes the lead. This is a boring beer!

The next beer was Hansa Juleøl. This was the supermarket version with 4.5% alcohol. The beer copper coloured beer was fizzy with a medium sized head. In the nose I felt some caramel. The beer had a watery feeling with some assertive toffee. There was also a metallic taste making the beer quite uninteresting.

Aass Juleøl was bought at Vinmonopolet. This was a dark beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I felt toffee and malts, while the beer tasted of dark chocolate and some caramel before a sweet finish. Aass Juleøl was a fine beer.

Ringnes Julebokk is a strong beer at 9%. In the glass it was a dark beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. I felt dark chocolate and caramel in the nose. The beer tasted of dark chocolate and some tobacco before a finish with cold coffee. This was a lovely, full-bodied beer that I really enjoyed. I will have more of Ringnes Julebokk before Christmas!

Ægir Julebrygg is a copper coloured beer with nearly no carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I felt cinnamon, cloves and some spices I could not pinpoint. In the mouth a taste of gingerbread took the lead. The beer was nice, but different. Still a glass is enough, as I got bored of this beer in the end.

More Christmas beers

There are many juleøl beers (Christmas beers) to be found in Norwegian supermarkets and at Vinmonopolet. Here you can read about some of them.

Hansa juleøl is the weaker version with a lower alcohol content than the traditional Christmas beer. It is a copper coloured beer found in supermarkets. There is some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I feel some caramel and a touch of malts. In the mouth there is little taste, but the caramel and malts are still there. In addition to this the beer feels a bit watery. This is not my favourite this year. It is just an average juleøl.

Grans julebrygg is also found in supermarkets. This is a better beer than Hansa with aromas of licorice and malts. In the mouth there is caramel and some burnt notes. This is a nice effort, but not among the better Christmas beers in Norway.

Erdinger Schneeweisse is a German wheatbeer brewed for the holiday season. In the nose I feel some malts and a touch of yeast. Typically for the Erdinger beers I have tasted, there is not much taste. I feel some fruitiness and hints of banana and cloves in a watery beer. Schneeweisse feels boring, and I prefer other wheatbeers to this beer.

Tuborg juleøl is the Norwegian variant of the Danish Christmas brew. It is brewed on licence by Ringnes, and it is a coppercoloured beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose there is some caramel, and in the mouth I feel toffee, cinnamon and a touch of licorice. It feels a bit watery, but it is the best of these four Christmas beers.

Anniversary: Beer saga #100

This is the 100th post here at Beer Sagas, and I will do a presentation of some Norwegian pale lagers. Some are interesting, some are boring and some are new in the shops this year. But as far as I know, they are not available outside Norway.

I will start with a beer that has been on the market for more than 20 years. If you buy it is shops, Hansa fatøl is only available in cans these days. Fatøl means draught beer, and it is quite an inconsistency calling a canned beer fatøl. In the glass this is a fizzy beer with a medium sized head which dissolves quickly. There are some flowers and sweetness in the nose. In the mouth I feel some malts and hints of sweetness. It has a half bitter finish with a watery feeling. It is a nice session beer, but it will fall through in competition with for instance Czech golden lagers.

Lade Gaards Brygghus Pilsner looks wonderful in the shops. It is a nice looking bottle with a beautiful oldschool label with an interesting writeup about Norwegian medieval history in general and Lade in particular.The beer is brewed by Grans brewery of Sandefjord. Grans is infamous in Norway for its cheap lagers, and some of them are absolutely not to be recommended.

Lade Gaards Brygghus Pilsner is brewed by barley and Czech saaz hops. The water used is from the famous Norwegian well Farris. I must say that this made me very interested in the beer. The nose is flowery, but the taste was not very good. There is a nasty metallic taste to the fore. Yuk! There are also some malts and hints of hops before a watery feeling takes over.

This is a boring lager that I will not spend money on in the future.

Ringnes is Norway's largest brewery. It has several beers on the market, and Skjærgårdspils is a seasonal offering meant for Summer. The name can freely be translated to English as "coastal pils". In the glass this is a pale lager with some carbonation. There is very little aroma, and the same goes for the taste: Some malts, a hint of bitterness and that is all. Another boring lager, but it will probably be a good session beer for a long night of eating fresh prawns and crabs.

Ringnes Classic is based on an old recipe. It is a golden lager with a solid and large head. There is some carbonation, and in the mouth I feel yeast and some malt. In the mouth, this lager beer has a feeling of bread and sweetness dancing with hops. This is a very good lager beer that is among the better offers from Ringnes.

With this being post number 100, it is time to look forward. What is to expect? Well, there will be updates now and then, but I can not promise how regularly. I also have a large backlog of tasting notes right now, and I hope to get up to date soon. I am not through with posting from my visit to the Czech Republic last month, and there are also some Norwegian pubs I have visited during the last few weeks. Therefore you can expect a combination of posts with focus on Czech and Norwegian beers in the next month.

I enjoy writing this blog, and I would like to thank all of you readers for taking the time to read it. Cheers, everybody!

Christmas in October

As Christmas is getting closer, I will taste some of the Norwegian Christmas beers, juleøl. First out is a tasting of three Christmas beers with less than 4.7% alcohol, which are beers that can be sold in Norwegian supermarkets.

Ringnes is the largest brewery in Norway, and their Ringnes Juleøl is brewed at 4.5% alcohol. Poured into the glass, the beer is coppercoloured and has a medium sized head that dissolves rather quickly. There is little carbonation, and in the nose I can feel some burntness and hints of caramel. In the mouth there is some sweetness, hints of malts, a semibitter finish and a watery feeling. This is a nice beer that easily could be sold in Norway as a Bayer, a beer brewed in the Bavarian style. I would anyway have preferred it to be a more filling beer. By the way: Ringnes Juleøl is also available in 0.33 litre bottles.

Grans is one of Norway's traditional breweries, and it was founded in 1899. The Sandefjord brewery has a distribution deal with the largest supermarket chain, Rema 1000, and thus their beers are available all over the country. Grans' beers are among the cheaper ones in Norway, and there are some of them that I do not like.

Grans Bare Jul is at the stronger mark for its style at 4.7% alcohol. It is much paler than the Ringnes beer in colour, and it could be mistaken for a golden lager at the first glance. The head is more compact, but it disappears nearly as fast as the Ringnes Juleøl. There is very little carbonation, and the same can be said about the nose. I can feel more or less nothing. In the mouth I feel this is a boring beer. It is dominated by a metallic aftertaste, which could be the can's fault. Actually there is nothing that can keep up with the comments on the can that promises a beer full of taste. If so, it was not commenting on the beer in my can!

Hansa Juleøl is one of several Christmas offerings from the Hansa brewery this year. It is an amber beer with little carbonation and a little head. The nose has some caramel, but it is less exciting than the Ringnes Juleøl. Just like Ringnes there is a watery feeling, but there is also some maltyness and toffee. A metallic presence is also found here, but it is not as dominating as in the Grans Bare Jul. This is an OK effort from Hansa, but I prefer for instance the Hansa Bayer to this beer. Like Ringnes Juleøl, Hansa Juleøl is also available in 0.33 litre bottles.

The best of these three Christmas beers is Ringnes Juleøl. It will fall through compared to the stronger beers that will debut at Vinmonopolet next week, but so far it will probably be one of the better offers in the Norwegian supermarkets. But of course: There are more Christmas beers available in Norway than these ones. And here at Beer Sagas we will take the challenge and try more of them.