33cl bottle from Systembolaget Umeå, Strömpilsplatsen. Pours clear yellow with an orange tint. Little head, but it stays. Aroma of malts, a bit bready. Definitely has a malty character in its taste, and an odd bitterness to it. Without question a very good Helles.

33cl bottle. Clear golden colour but only a very thin head. Bready, biscuity aroma. A bready, malty taste with a little sweetness and fruitiness. Finish was a little bitter/metallic. Otherwise a fairly decent beer from Sweden.
25th April 2015.

Dortmunder from the first of the Swedish craft brewers. Medium and lacing, but unstable, egg-white head thinning quickly but leaving a thin veil and steady rim, colour a beautiful ’old gold’, cristal clear but with faint and tiny ’dust’, quiet sparkling. Aroma begins skunky (cat pee), very lightstruck, though this comes from a brown bottle - must have been exposed to direct light for a long time in the Systembolaget where it was purchased. After this ’skunk attack’ has faded a bit, which it fortunately does after a while, more gentle odours appear: freshly baked brown bread, lightly toasted, perhaps some dried apricot, hay and dried leaves, some iron as well. The taste begins with a quite pointy, appetizing but restrained sweetness of honey and candied fruits, brief and very subtle, after which a more earthy, bready malt sweetness takes over, accompanied by a fairly strong, minerally, sourish carbonation and - unfortunately - a somewhat metallic feel; finish is lightly toasted with bittering, earthy, slightly peppery and leafy hops, medium long and dry with enough of the bready malt sweetness coming through to be credible as a Dortmunder, but still hoppier than usual for the style (if I had tasted this blind, I had classified it as a Pilsener rather than a Dortmunder). In fact, though far from a divine beer as the name would suggest, this is among the better Dorts I had so far - but then, I haven’t had that many. Still, enjoyable and a good starter of a Scandinavian tasting session. Big thanks to Sabine for bringing me this bottle from Stockholm!

Bottle 330ml @ home
Pours clear golden with a white head. Aroma has notes of malt, floral, grass and hay. Taste is light sweet and light bitter. Body is light, texture is thin, carbonation is soft.

Tap at the Moosehead Bar Malmo and accompanied by a rather nice Elk Burger! Poured a crystal clear light amber with a thin white head and lots of bubbles. The aroma is stale malt and yeast. The flavour is medium bitter with a yeast hop bitter palate and a short bitter finish. Medium bodied with lively carbonation. Not the worst beer I’ve had. Served cool and it went well with a bit of wildlife between my bread!

Bottle at home. Golden with one finger white head. Aroma is dominated by malt, white bread and some cookies. A tiny hoppiness in the bakcground. Taste has a more hoppy dominance with citrusy notes, resting on a malty ground. Some bitterness in the finish that lingers on. Body is medium, kind of light sticky texture. A delightful dortmunder, nicely balanced and very smooth.

330ml bottle at home. Pours a very nice gold with a nice head while it lasts. Nicely blended with faint caramel and a bready malt quality. Pretty nice.

Bottle from Tesco in Wokingham, Berks. Poured a clear golden amber colour with a scummy white head. Aroma of grains with some floral hops. Citrus and honey flavours with some bready malt. Finishes with bitter spruce like hops and orange peal.