Bottled. Black brown colour with a light brown head. Rasin, plums and a lot of coffee in the aroma.Sweet roasted coffe and plum flavour. Roasted coffe and plum finish.

Bottle from Vinmonopolet. Batch 13 (BB August 07). Murky brown. Dense head with nice round dimples. Sweet aroma of burnt malt. Depth in flavour with medium bodied mouthfeel. Delightful mixture of malt. Dark chocolate, spicy and bittersweet in a lasting and lovely finish. Perfect combinations of sweetness and bitterness. A role model for a traditional Yule ale, and one of the very best beers for xmas in Norway last season. Nearly two months after xmas the beer is yet better. A very suitable drink to pork and other butcher’s meat.

Tan coarse-laced medium head topping opaque black body. Aroma of coffee and citrusy hops. Powerful, sweet, roasty taste with notes of hops, and a nicely rounded burnt dry finish. Lovely! Now this is a proper Christmas beer. (This rating stinks. Need to rerate.)

Bottle conditioned, 500 ml. Very dark colour, nearly black. Large brown head. Delightful aroma of roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, prunes, caramel and oak. Flavour is not quite as complex but still good, bitter roasty and coffee notes combined with bittering hops dominate, on a background of dark bitter sweet chocolate, hints of English liquorice. Roasty bitter aftertaste. I’d say Imperial Stout is the closest style here - but maybe it’s not extreme enough. Anyway, this is a very fine effort from Haandbryggeriet. Not a beer for the traditional Scandinavian Christmas dinner, but try it if you have chocolate pudding for dessert - or simply enjoy it on its own!