3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle. Pours unclear dark brown with a fingerthick light brown head. Aromas of roasted malt, spices, yeast and alcohol.
Taste is dark malt, dark chockolate, licorice with a dominant hopbitterness. Lingering bitter finish. Very nice!
4.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
UPDATED: NOV 10, 2004 Rerate 2004, bottle conditioned: Recipe has been changed this year. The beer is now much darker, nearly black. Good tan head. Complex aroma and flavour, a distinct roastiness but also spices and leather. Full rich flavour, bitter aftertaste - this is a damn good beer!! Rating 2003: (500 ml bottle). Christmas/Yule ale from Norway’s sole uncompromising micro brewery. Only 5000 bottles made. Bottle conditioned. Deep copper colour, hazy only when yeast is poured. Moderate head. Aroma of oak, leather, caramel and spices. Flavour is malty and spicy, alcohol is evident. Drier than I expected. Good bitterness. A good beer, but after all the good things I’ve heard about it, I expected even more.
4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle. Pours an amazing dark chocolate color with a thick creamy brown head. A great appearance. The aroma is light; some roasted caramel malt. The taste is dominated by a creamy chocolate and smooth roasted malt. Some spices and a bit of hops finish it out. A bit of Belgian yeast in there perhaps also. I really enjoyed this beer.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle on 06/28/2008, labelled Winter Ale. Very dark brown body wtih ruby highlights and a medium creamy tan head. Sweet caramel and molassas aroma with some earthy malt and hops. Sweet earthy malt and lots of earthy hops with more caramel and molassas. Medium full body with moderate carbonation.
3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: JAN 27, 2008 Hard to really identify the aroma on this. Flavor is dominated by a sweet character, Also, not real easy to identify the flavor right now. Roasty, maybe some chocolate. Nice, but not their best. But not too over-spiced like most Christmas ales.
2.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20
The aroma is hoppy with caramel and toasted malt. The appearance is dark brown with a tan head. The flavor is like the aroma and very bitter. The palate is smooth. Overall it’s OK.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Near black colored, medium sized beige head. Aroma is rich with roasted licorice, even some spices with sweet caramelly porterish tones. Mild alcohol also there. Medium to full bodied. Flavor is also roasted with strongly sweet touch, medium alcohol with coffee and bittersweetness in aftertaste. Almost too sweet for this strong beer, still world class brew.
3.3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
This is a very odd beer and I am left sort of confused. Pours almost pitch black with an enormous dark, creamy head. Aroma is cloves and alcohol. Incredibly sweet from all of the different types of malt but the hops is overpowered leaving the beer heavily unbalanced. The alcohol is strong and unpleasant. Aftertaste is bitter and also unpleasant. I would say that this beer has too many flavors flowing together at once. Overall, I would liken this to a porter that somehow skunked.
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