Bottle. Nice tan head with good duration. Color is black. Aroma and taste are fruits and licorice. Some chocolate as well.

Bottle. Creamy lightbrown fair mostly deminishng head. DArk brown colour. Light malty moderate hopy complex fruity! aroma. Moderate bitter flavor. Slightly smoked and nice licorice notes. Oily palate.

black with beige head.Rosted taste with a note of blackberry and liquorice.Sweet mouthfeel and well balanced my first beer from Norway and not my last.

Bottle. Black color with a average fizzy fair lacing light brown head. Aroma is moderate malty, vanilla, dark chocolate, roasted. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a average duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.

I started the new year with three different batches (vintage 04,05 and 06) of Julenatt. The appearance was quite similar according to body and head, but the smell and flavour turned out to be rather different. The three 500ml bottles were enjoyed while watching The New Year Concert from Wien on TV. All the bottles were served lightly chilled. My score represent an average of the batches - so here we go:
a) Batch 99 (bb.10.08.2007). Rose coloured label design. Bubbling, brownish head, mostly diminishing. No laceworks. Dark brown red-tinged body. Burnt malty aroma. Has also got malty depths in flavour. Brilliant-balanced taste with a delicate confectionary touch. Smooth and well-built. Two years in the cellar has almost made this ale to a masterpiece.
b) Batch 198 (bb.30.09.2008) Dark blue label design.Very dark brown body topped by a brownish eggshell head that last for a while. Complex aroma with dark malts and vanilla sweetness. This the only batch with a bit of tartness in both aroma and taste. The flavour has also got some solid notes of chocolate malts. Ends up with elements of bitterness
c) Batch 236 (bb.02.09.2009).Deep rusty brown body with a brownish head. Slight lace. Aroma of malts and juniper. Rounded taste of liquorice spiciness supported by dark coffee on a malty backbone. Vague, but lasting bitter end. Solid amounts of sediments that stay at the bottom (01.01.2007).

(Bottle 50 cl) Pours a very dark, reddish brown with a small, creamy head. Slightly sweet vanilla aroma - perhaps with a whiff of wood. Rather full-bodied with very sweet roasted malts. Vinous notes of raisins in rum combined with very distinct vanilla notes. Nothing burned or really bitter here. Quite delicious really. 151006

Bottle 500 ml. Almost dark body with a nice decent white head. Dominating vanilla aroma with a hint of roasted malt. Flavor is much like a well-balanced stout, sweet but not too much, moderate roasted and an evident vanilla character. Plenty of vanilla in the aftertaste as well. Actually I prefer this beer a bit colder than recommended

Bottle.Black colour with light brown head. Aroma is vanilla, hop,roasted choclate malt.Flavour is the same. A good christmas beer.

(Bottled) Colour is dark brown, almost black. Large, brown head. Nose is very rich with roasted malt, black coffee, dark chocolate and ... hazel nuts. The dark and bitter chocolate comes through in the taste as well, accompanied by coffee and vanilla (like those chocolates with vanilla cream inside, nice!), maybe some liquorice as well. Full bodied with a tarry (not really smoky, rather burnt) character. Finish is long and the slight sweetness is overshadowed by bitterness (hops or chocolate?). A very nice winter beer.

Bottled. Pitch black colour, big brown head, Burnt and roasted aroma, along with vanillaish hints. Flavour is king of sweetish, very burnt, also notes of chocolate, and some vanilla (after it gets warmer). Aftertaste sweet and burnt.