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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Five More Beers from the Aass Brewery

Aass Bock (Norway - Drammen) 6.5%

I can see why the goat on the label is SO into this beer. This is a yummy German style beer that tastes almost like it's flavoured with milk chocolate, with a mild bitter taste and it smells a little like caramel. It is dark in colour but not opaque.

Aass Fatøl (Norway - Drammen) 4.7%

Pale pale gold in a glass. Sweet, tangy and skunky with its strong taste of hops. I found this beer to be really tasty and refreshing. A great example of the creative and fine tasting beers that I've come to expect from Aass.

Aass Gourmet Stout (Norway - Drammen) 4.7%

Quite bitter coffee taste with a dark chocolate finish. Very dark in a glass.


Aass Gourmet Weizen (Norway - Drammen) 4.7%

Matly and sweet. A little bitter and tastes a little bit (and a little strangely) like bananas and coconut as well as toasted bread. Golden amber in a glass.

Aass Halv Halling Pilsnerøl (Norway - Drammen) 4.7%

A very interesting beer, fruity but also really nutty with a dark licorice finish. A reddish gold in a glass and also flavours of rich toasted bread. A really different and delicious beer, it tastes as though it should be served by elves. As I've said several times I really like most beers from the Aass Brewery but of all their beers this may just be the one you absolutely must try, I'm as head over heels for this beer as the sprawling character on the delightful label.

This is the last review of the many Aass beers I had the great good fortune to try while I was in Norway, if you ever find yourself in Norway (even try looking if you are anywhere in Scandinavia) you should definitely take it upon yourself to pick up a wide variety of this breweries offerings.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Grans Brewery from Norway

Grans BARE (Norway) 4.7%

Initially the taste was overwhelmingly sour and the beer smelled a little like toasted bread. Many of Grans's beers tend to be sour, in fact the only one that seems to be well balanced is the Lettøl and their stronger Yule Beer . It is amber yet very clear in a glass. It is mildly malty and, this may be all psychological due to the clear glass bottle (rare in Norwegian beers), the minimalist label, and the crystal clear beer itself, but it tastes clear somehow: only a few flavours are pronounced and the rest stays in the background. It's an interesting beer to try if only because the brewer seemed to have accomplished what they were aiming for: a mild beer with only a few clearly distinguishable flavours.

Grans Fri (Norway) 0.0%

Skunky and slightly bitter, a lot like the Grans Lettol but sweeter and slightly wooden, all in all not a bad alcohol free beer.

Grans Premium (Norway) 4.7%

Almost no taste at all to this beer. Lightly carbonated, if you really work at it you can suss up a mild lager flavour. Quite bland for a 4.7% ABV beer but at least it is poundable - you can drink lots of them but this is an otherwise unremarkable beer.