Thanks to Mads for giving me the honor of posting the first U.S. rating for this one. It’s a fitting beer to use for adding a new country as well! Bottle conditioned .5l bottle. Batch 75 brew date Brygget 30.04.04 Best for 30.04.07 No health-warning label from the Norwegian Government! This was shipped from Denmark in early Dec and arrived in early Feb! Even after this 8 week long journey, this one filled the glass with a immense, sticky head of rocky foam that gave off a clean grapefruit and malt aroma. The body was an orange/amber color, and a bit hazy, which I find perfectly acceptable in a good IPA. The flavor was nicely bitter. But the hop flavors are rounded rather than crisp in this one. The middle is well balanced with malt joining in, but remaining slightly bitter to the finish in a nice way. This could only be better fresh without the long journey, but as it was in my glass, this was an IPA that would satisfy most U.S. IPA drinkers. Getting to try a beer like this is what International trading is all about! A new beer to rate, and the first one to post a U.S. rating. Makes me feel like this was truly unique and worth the trouble and expense of doing one of these trades. Again thanks to Madsberg for the trade!

Rapidly dwindling foxy head; foxy-amber beer, hazy. Cookie malts, vanilla, creamy nose, bit dusty, faint hops. Much more pronounced (bitter)hops in the taste, even as far as walnutpeelflavour, roasted flavours too. Bitter taste keeps going on, too harsh. Woody, tannines and cake-malt notes. Light to medium bodied. Hopoil impression. Definitely not the best try by Nøgne. The beer cannot sustain this hopoil onslaught.

Foxy amber colour; good off-white head. Jute (hempen) hopsacks and grapey hopsnose. Ambrée malts, roasted malts, lots of hops, both American and best British in character. Bitterness gradually building up, lending the beer a little bitter chocolate flavour. Well bodied, excellent balance, slightly oily. A more than decent IP, only possible criticism would be exactly its ideomacy.

Clear orange beer with a good thick, just off-white head, leaving some lace. Again an unbelievable solid whack of yeast, clinging to the bottle, but menacingly inching to get out. Creamy nose with American hops in the background, coming more and more to the fore, grapey in character. Bitter and flavourful American hops, citruspeel, flowery; and a good cookie malt back-up. Finish is dry hopbitter. Strangely enough, the hopbitterness keeps building up, seemingly unaffected by warming up. Medium bodied, slight but unmistakable slickness. In the aftertaste, I seem to get toasted whitebread. Another proof that this Norwegian newcomer excells in making light, but extremely tasteful beers - something I usually link with British brewers - but in several styles at that. Their yeast blobs are incomparable.

Good dark-beige head, slightly irregular on nearly totally black beer. Creamy, chocolatey nose, dark & burnt malts. Burnt malts, and typical sourish taste, fortified by carbonations. Tad of bitter chocolate, grainy. Some acid/roast burn, well bodied, but thinned by the acids. Good, but nowhere exceptional porter.

Very dark brown, nearly black beer; good dirty-beige head, with big collapsing bubbles. Sweet, blackcurrant-like nose, bit meaty aroma, or like dusty animal fur. Obvious oatmeal taste, roasted/burnt grains, bit sweet, cola-like undercurrent and again faint fruity flavour, not unlike blackcurrants. Faint liquorice. Medium bodied, slightly syrupy. Bready aftertaste, once more black cardemom. They buy this by the shipload in Grimstad? Good oatmeal stout, sweet but nowhere cloying. Quite agreable.

Slim yellowish head, soon gone, over deep-dark chestnut/mahogany beer; beautifully bottom-sticking yeast. Chocolate & piney nose; slight burning notes, as heated, full-chocolate sauce; burnt grain. Pure, piney & dark chocolate flavours, not heavy but very perfumed. Touch of black cardemompeel, and also some mineral saltiness. Medium bodied, warming feeling without ethanol character. Simply superior for a 4.5 % ABV beer. How does one say "my humblest eulogies" in Bokmaal? Big thanks, B., A. & P.!

Nearly black beer; creamy beige head, quite stable. I nearly swallowed my Adam’s apple, when at the end of the bottle, the yeast left the bottle in one loud splash. Nose of black cardemoms, sweet frying fat (zoete lies), leafy, even earthy. Again baadi elaachi , some leafy, and chocolatey notes; typical stout-like malt flavours, but without the associated acidity. The little salty touch is there, however, as well a discreet malty sweetness, getting almondy warming up. Quite carbonated, medium bodied, slightly viscous texture. Another excellent beer from this Norse brewery. The Dolle Brouwers from the High North?

Little creamy, beige head; virtually black beer, opaque. Very herbal nose, mint and something conifer-like, nearly iodine, jumping out of the glass; cardemom and cloves. Bitter, but these are no hops, little dark malt, and loads of spices, making it, before anything, harsh-bitter spicey. Well bodied; long spicey aftertaste, nearly inkmushroom-like. This is shocking. I can well believe the set-off for "Julekraker" can be optimal, but short of these, this is a bit much. Way too much. Original it is, no doubt.

Nearly black beer, reddish shine; medium amber-crème head. Creamy-vanilla nose, liquorice. Very stout-like, liquorice, finish more bitter than slight sweet-sourish main taste. The vanilla here shows its oakwood origins. Ends sweeter, warming up, getting a bit Cola-like, and also getting more and more clovey. Well-bodied, warming but alcohol not obvious. Good, but severe Christmas ale. Doesn’t fall in the spicey "Underlig" trap.