Ölvisholt Skjálfti

Brewed by Ölvisholt Brugghús
Style: Premium Lager
Selfoss, Iceland

Serve in Lager glass

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Bottle at The Laundromat Cafe, Reykjavík. Pours a dark yellow with a medium white head that faded quickly. Aroma was faint with fruit And maybe some caramel. Both a light sweet and bitter flavour with an abrupt finish. Not bad but a little underwhelming. Thin body with very little carbonation.

Draft at the Micro Bar This was described as an ESB. It was more lika a lager. The color was a hazy deep blond color with a head that quickly dissapated. There was not much of an aroma maybe some malt. The beer did have a light body with average carbonation. The ending did have some lingering bitterness and maybe this is why the bartender said it was like an ESB.

Some Icelanders brought some of this to the bartender, who generously shared it with me later on (huge thanks!). Poured a dark golden body with a white head. Sweaty herbal dry hoppy nose. Sweaty hoppiness continues in the taste, light maltiness, kinda soapy. Eh, a bit messy too, but interesting for a lager. This brewery makes some great stuff though!

330ml bottle. Golden, with a white head. Pretty standard lager, albeit a bit fruity and ale-ish.

355 ml bottle. Pours a clear, slightly coppery amber with a short lasting white head. Aroma is caramel and fruits. Flavor is earth cherries, some earth, hazelnuts. Somewhat fruity. Finish is earthy, some acid and herbal notes. Not very pronounced....And a touch of fruit lingers on. Light body, weak carbonation. Pretty good, for a style I usually do not go for.

As I don’t speak/read Icelandic I was a bit at lost with this beer’s style. Hoppy aromatic pilsner or a session IPA? You obviously don’t need to know a beer style to appreciate it, but it helps when doing some tasting. It loses points for fast dissipating head and weak (albeit good) aroma. Taste and aftertaste fade quicker than I’d like them to. However because of these characteristics you could drink it as a good session beer

Clear amber colour, white head. Malty aroma, light hops, some cheese notes. Light bitter, light sweet flavour. Sweet, light bitter finish.
6-3-6-3-14: 3.2
(Draught @ Micro Bar, Reykjavik, Iceland)

Tasting, few days later, from bottle
Better and more interesting than from tap. Hoppier aroma, more floral. Malty, bigger flavour. Became a regular favourite while in Iceland.
7-3-7-4-15: 3.6
(Bottle @ Puffin Hotel, Vik, Iceland)

pours orange amber with very little carbonation and rapidly dissipating offwhite head. smells very malty with some lingering funk. flavor is sharp: nuts, wheat, citrus with slight hop bitterness in the aftertaste. lasting bitter finish. the tolkienetic caligraphy dutifully inscribed on the front label clearly informs us that we owe the dwarves for its inception.

In short: A bland juicy citrusy golden beer
How: Bottle 500ml. Consumed more than 6 months before expiration date, split two-way
The look: Clear golden-amber body topped by a very small beige head
In long: Nose has light citrusy esters and a strange smelly dank aroma, bordering stinky feet. Taste has moderately toasted cereals with a bit of hay & wheat character, some juicy citrus fruits, a tiny bit of caramel. Body is juicy and not very lively. Of course when buying a beer like this in North-America I know it has suffered from the long boat ride, but I found this one so boring that I have a hard time believing this can be interesting even when very fresh. And it puzzles me that Iceland is able to make and export beer all over the world despite obviously not having developed a real human language yet, no but seriously…

330ml bottle, many thanks to Elisabeth and Stefan for sharing. Deep, amber body, dissipating white head, spotty lacing. Almond and semi-sweet malts to the nose. Taste of caramel malts supported by herbal hops with a touch of almond. Bittersweet finish. Prima lager (Back to school session, Tromsø 20.08.2012).