Haandbryggeriet Pale Ale

Brewed by Haandbryggeriet (Norway)
Style: American Pale Ale
Drammen, Norway

Smallish offwhite head. Slightly hazy brownish red body with some carbonation. Strong tropical fruity hop aroma with chocolatey, roasty malty background. Sharpish dry fruity hop taste with the same roasty malt background. Body is a bit thin and watery, perhaps unavoidable with only 4.5% alcohol, but leaves the hops a bit high and dry--that is, unbalanced. Dry, smoky burnt malt aftertaste. Very nice! One of the best beers you can buy in Norwegian shops (outside the wine monopoly). (0.5l bottle from Ica Gourmet, Aker Brygge, Oslo. Batch #99, oct ’07. Previous rating, of an infected bottle from batch #67, came out at 2.0.)

500 ml bottle, batch # 67. Huge, mostly lasting orange tanned head. Cloudy orange/light brown body. Delicious aromas of citrus and roasted malts. Notes of dark dried fruits, coffee, cookies and yeast. Very flavorfull. Taste is mainly dry malts combined with a good amount of some very nice and matching hops. Healthy body. Everlasting bitterness in the finish. Nice all over, thanks to Haandbryggeriet... this is top end for an ale accessable in Norway.

500 ml bottle. Cloudy orange dark amber colour. Throws a really tall off-white head as there seems to be a lot of carbonation in the bottle. Crisp citrusy and a little bready hop and yeast aroma. Strong delicious hop flavours balanced by a rich maltiness. Medium-bodied. There’s a lot of flavour here for a beer this low in alcohol. Not too sharp bitternes, but it is quite prominent. A lot of the cloudiness seem to be suspended yeast and the flavours confirm just that. Long lasting lingering of hops in the finish. Nice pale ale, but suffers a bit from the yeast flavours. That said this is definitely one of the best beers to sold in supermarkets in this country.

Lovely smell of flowers as I pour, and lots of aromatic hops from the first sip. This is the best supermarket strength beer brewed in Norway! Like a premium English ale, with all the aroma squeezed from the ingredients. Pine/resin, tobacco, grass. If you like hops, this is a winner.

Bottle (Batch nr. 61) at home. Unclear murkey amber - offwhite head. Wood, malty, grass, dry grass, chokolate, caramel, light soapy, light piney. Ok - not overwhelming !!

Bottle bought at the Matstreif 2007 festival in Oslo. Cloudy, orangey amber with a big yellowish head. Complex hops aroma: citrus, apples and even a hint of grass. There even some sweet maltiness in the nose. Flavours are really very bitter with notes of earth and fruit. Medium bodied. An interesting new ale , absolutely American in style.

Bottle at KØ07. Sweet, fruity hop aroma. The mouthfeel is a little thin, but the flavour is nice, good sweet, fruity hop flavour.

(Bottle 50 cl) Slightly hazy, amber golden with a small, off-white head. Fresh, citrusy aroma. Fairly light in body with a subdued caramel malt base before the citrusy hoppiness takes over also leaving a solid bitterness. A decent APA. 130507