Bottle. Off-white head and brown beer. Aroma is sweet and malty with a little alcohol. Taste of malt, caramel and alcohol, but sweet malt dominates. Even the aftertaste is mostly sweet. (050918)

Can. Light cloudy beer that pours an orange/golden colour. White head that diminishes quickly. Aroma of banana and citrus. Fizzy, fruity taste with metallic hints. Some pear also, I think. The aftertaste has some bitterness. Easy-drinkable, had a few of them this summer, but there’s better weissbier’s even in Norway. (050912)

Can. The beer is copper/brown in color with an off-white head that disappeares to fast. Aroma is almost non-present but hints of malt is present. As it is very little taste in the beer, it is quite drinkable in large volumes, but the taste is to me more like a dark lager than what is a brown ale in my opinion. Unfortunately for Mack, I don’t think they have success in making something special, and this is a beer that I won’t return to too often. (050905)

A hazy brown beer with a thin lazing brown head. The aroma is light, but sweet malty, and the flavor is pretty one-dimensional sweet malty, only with hints of caramel.

500 ml can. Pours a dark reddish brown, medium head. Unremarkable appearance. Aroma is faint; vague hints of malts and spice. Taste is not very powerful, mostly malts and a hint of roastiness, somewhat sweet. The aftertaste is where it happens, the taste goes somewhat dry and more intense, but even that isn’t too heavy. My impression is that Mack is trying to introduce non-lager beer to their customers without scaring them off with something wild. If so, this might just work, or they might not be able to tell the difference between this and Norwegian bayer. Anyway, the beer is nice, drinkable, and unexciting.

500ml can. Pours a hazy light orange, with slight yeast, and small head. Can makes it difficult to get the yeast into the beer, so hefeweizen in a can is clearly not a great idea. Aroma is fainly fruity and banana-like. Taste is thin, somewhat sourish, with slight fruity and spicy notes. Pleasant, easy to drink, but not very remarkable. Probably a good way to introduce Norwegians unfamiliar with weizen to the style.

(500 ml can.) Mack Bryggeri in Tromsø, the worlds northernmost commercial brewery (there’s a brewpub further north) is a macro brewery by Norwegian standards (not by American!), but they have recently also bought a full micro brewery equipment in order to brew "niche" beers (= ales, mostly) as a welcome change in the Norwegian pale lager desert. You have to give them props for trying, even if the results are not remarkable (and I’m not sure that the "micro" varieties, all named "Ludwig" something after the founder of the brewery, will help them out of their financial problems). Their attempt at a brown ale has a deep golden brown colour and pours with a large head. Aroma is yeasty and fruity (apples). Flavour is very mellow, some maltiness but not much else. Minimal hoppiness. Flat and bland finish. If Mack’s purpose is to brew a truly GREAT brown ale, they have a long way to go ....

(500 ml can.) Mack Bryggeri in Tromsø, the worlds northernmost commercial brewery (there’s a brewpub further north) is a macro brewery by Norwegian standards (not by American!), but they have recently also bought a full micro brewery equipment in order to brew "niche" beers (= ales, mostly) as a welcome change in the Norwegian pale lager desert. You have to give them props for trying, even if the results are not remarkable (and I’m not sure that the "micro" varieties, all named "Ludwig" something after the founder of the brewery, will help them out of their financial problems). Their attempt at a German hefeweizen is drinkable, but unfortunately the pleasant standard hefeweizen aroma is flawed by strong sidenotes of SOAP. Flavour is tolerable, but fairly bland and far from great. Still, they ARE trying. And I’d prefer their Hvete (wheat) to their standard macro lagers. Doesn’t take much, really.

(Bottle 33 cl) Beautiful golden colour, not much head. Very pronounced almost candy-like malty sweetness and only a discreet bitterness. Reminds me more of a microbrew somehow. Delicious. 080405