Ægir Julebrygg 4.7% (red label, 2012-)

Brewed by Ægir Bryggeri
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Flåm, Norway

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Bottle traded with Cunningham. What an underrated gem this is! Greyish brown with a nice, frothy head. Tart, fruity aroma of berries, some resiny notes, a bit dark malt and anise. Nice spicy note going extremely well with the sharpish berry fruitiness. Rather dry taste, balanced by a very creamy mouthfeel - the carbonation expands this beer Duvel-style while drinking. Light tart berry flavour, a subtle resiny bitterness and a spicy-tart finish. Complex and an easy drinker at once. Lovely!

Lovely deep red, huge fluffy head. Quite sweet, yet some nice redcurrant sourness.Fine mix of spices, more for sipping with nuts and cookies than with food.

Bottle from my local Mega store. Pours clear deep amber with a big, fat collapsing off-white head. Aroma is good malty,nutty and plums, chocolate. Taste is rich and filling for a 4,7 % beer, moderate sweet nutty malts, some aniseed and spices towards the end. High carbonated, and high on my rankings of christmas beers in the light scale

0.5l bottle. This is a deep dark plum-brown one with a nice medium sized light chocolate-brown top. On the nose there is traces of some spices. I pick up cloves, nuts, chocolate and something softly perfume like. It’s perhaps a bit thin on the mouthfeel with a nice small bubbly average carbonation level. The taste is pretty nice! Much more interesting than the previous version. Nuts, chocolate, star anise and ginger. Somewhat on the sweet side also. Ends with a lasting chocolate-paper aftertaste. This was a nice little surprise as my expectations were not sky high. Tasty, and I think this has to be one of the best 4.7% abv beers I’ve had for quite some time! 03.11.2012

50 cl bottle at home. Hands down, one of the most surprising and best storebought beers I have had in 2012. Aroma leaves a bit to be desired, but once you taste it, you will understand what i mean. A wondeful symphony of herbs and spices, wich is surprisingly complex and longlasting for a 4.7 ABV beer.

Shared 0,5 l bottle at home. Hazy deep golden body with a small beige head. Hops and light tropical fruit on the nose. Mouth is hoppy, spicy, coriander and light acidic. Medium body. Dry tongue.

Bottle from trade. Pours a deep cloudy nougat body with a medium thick creamy off-white head. Nose is subdued licorice and ginger tones, coca-cola, nougat and hints of grains and caramel. Nice. Taste is nicely balanced ginger and nutty caramel tones, hints of burnt sugar and nougat with some coca-cola around mid-palate. Mild burnt/bitter aftertaste. Medium body, smooth carbonation. A tasty and yet very, very drinkable Christmas ale which I suspect is the best in the peculiar class that is "Norwegian grocery store beers" from 2012.

Appearance: Hazy red amber color with a frothy tan head that leaves a fine lacing.
Aroma: Mild malty and a bit spicy.
Palate: Medium body. Moderate sweet and a mild bitterness. Creamy carbonation.
Taste: Caramel malty, cinnamon and cardamom.
Overall impression: This shows that it is possible to make a tasty and nice beer even at the stupid Norwegian 4,7% rule for being sold in a grocery store.
Personal stats: Bottle from Meny Begby in Fredrikstad, Norway.

500 ml bottle, provided by gunnar, thanks! Amber to brown colour, large off-white to beige head. Moderate but pleasant aroma, notes of caramel malts, dark dried fruits and mild spices. The flavour has also notes of caramel but is not too sweet, dried fruits / raisins and a mild and pleasant spiciness throughout. Light bodied, but this is nevertheless good stuff.

Bottle. It pours a clear, chestnut colored body and a nice, dense, off-white head. The aroma has a faint roasted note, as well as nuts, caramel and a hint of dried fruits. There’s not much spice aromas or flavors, which puzzles me a bit, I remember to have read there should be. Anyway, it’s a quite tasteful beer, at least considering the low ABV. Caramel, nuts, dried figs and apricots, a hint of yeast and roasted malts, and some balancing bitterness. It’s quite dry on the palate, with good carbonation. Medium to full body. The finish has something resembling cardamom, as well as the flavors found initially. Overall, a very nice grocery store strength Christmas beer, glad I found some more bottles of it.

Correction: The yeast and cardamom aroma came from my bun baking activity, not from the beer. How silly is that... 130129