Despite the fact there are clear blue skies today I’m a little nervous I might get struck by lightening from an irritated Norse god after posting this review of beers from the acclaimed Norwegian Brewpub Ægir Bryggeri.

It’s not that any of the six beers so kindly sent to me by Ægir’s head brewer Evan Lewis were in any way bad (in fact there are a couple of great brews in there) – it’s just that the majority of them were more Midgard than Asgard for me.

First out of the box all the way from Flåm was Rallar Amber Ale (4.7% ABV). This is the beer I tried a while back but admittedly my bottle wasn’t as fresh as it could be. Rallar is brewed using six different kinds of malts and promises a light caramel centre. What I got this time was a beer that poured a slightly murky brown sugar colour (despite having been left to stand for several days) with a pleasant hazelnut malt nose and a mild taste of slightly burnt shortbread leading to a tea-like drying finish. OK, but it’s not far from my initial impression of this beer so I’m scoring it 2.5 out of 5.

Sumbel Porter (4.7% ABV) – Evan claims this is a perfect fireside beer to enjoy with coffee and chocolate desserts, with lots of roasted malt and residual sugar flavours. I actually got lot of black lager flavours with roasted, meaty smoky tastes trying to compensate for a weak nose. The spiky carbonation didn’t feel very porter-like but I do agree here with Evan that this beer is a solid match for coffee and chocolate desserts. Score? 2.5 out of 5.

Brime Red Lager (4.7%ABV) – Described as a refreshing summer beer with a malty body and a hint of light hop. I got a nice dark bronze coloured beer with a slightly off-white head and a gentle berry, hay and caramel nose (although I had to practically hyperventilate to get them). Mild flavours of caramel and a noticeable bitter finish. OK, but really not that unusual. I’m giving it 2.5 out of 5.

Boyla Blonde Ale (4.7% ABV) – described by Evan as slightly more ester fruity than the red lager. Again the nose on this beer was faint and hard to pin down. Subtle smells of citrus and some peach. In the mouth this beer is nicely carbonated with a thin layer of lemon, lime and elderberries leading to a medium dry finish that pumps up the refreshment factor. Better this one – 3 out of 5!

Ægir Tors Hammer (13.2% ABV) - I tasted this one live on BSTV with my father and stick to everything I said then. Toffee apples and a lightening bolt of booze just about sums up this very interesting US barleywine. 3.5 out of 5!

Ægir India Pale Ale (6.5% ABV) – described as an American west coast IPA with a big hop nose and spicy bitter finish. I’ve saved the best for last! A stunning citrus nose with a hint of almonds and the flesh of ripe oranges. This has west coast USA oozing out of it! Yeasty, peachy and incredibly well balanced beer. The extra alcohol may not make it saleable in the Norwegian supermarkets but it absolutely makes this beer. Head and shoulders above the rest of the bunch. A big beery 4 out of 5. I could drink this stuff all summer long!

Now before I go to Hel [sic] I should point out that many of these beers are brewed to hit the 4.7%ABV mark that enables them to be sold through the retail sector in Norway. In my opinion it was this absence of alcohol ‘thickness’ that made some of the beers appear a little thin and they lacked the more intense flavours needed to compensate for this.

In conclusion it is well worth publishing an email Evan sent me shortly after his bottles arrived:

“In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that things are going extremely well here in Flåm. So well, that we have gotten tired of exceeding our capacity and disappointing customers– constantly.

“Building a new and larger brewery is a few years off yet and Norwegians are thirsty for my beers. So we’ve started to produce most of our bottled beers at DeProef in Belgium– yes, the same one that brews for Mikkel. Best in the world for contract brewing. Of the beers we sent you, the Barleywine and Porter are Flåm beers, while the others are from the first brews at DeProef.

“They are slightly different then ours, and we’re tweaking from batch to batch to get closer. Unfortunately we didn’t have the latest and tweaked versions to send you, but things are going in the right direction”.

I’m not mentioning this as way of an explanation for some of my average marks, more as a message to you all to say that if these beers are only going to get better then you should move Valhalla and Hel to get hold of them.

(footnote: Just to make sure I’m putting my rubber-soled shoes on and staying indoors for the rest of the week……)

Yesterday on BeerSweden’s Facebook page I asked people to decide which beer should be the next reviewed here – the critcially acclaimed 1/2 idjit! imperial porter from Swedish micro Dugges in Gothenburg or a relatively unknown (and rather more difficult to get) amber ale produced by a Norwegian brewpub from Flåm that looks like it comes straight from the set of The Fellowship of the Ring.

The people voted (well about 5 of you actually) and asked for the Rallar – which meant I got to try my first ever beer from the Ægir Brewery, which has the distinction of being named Norway’s Brewpub of the Year in 2008.

The story behind this brewery’s name is wonderful. I’ll let their website explain:

”In Norse mythology, Ægir is described as a giant, the brother of Kári (Wind) and Logi (Fire) and the master of the ocean. Ægir’s hall is lit not by fire but instead by bright gold. Every year he invites the Norse gods to a great feast in his hall, Brime, where the beer and the food are magically transported to the guests and the drinking-horns fill themselves (editor’s note – got to get me one of those). According to Odin, Ægir brews the best ale. He has the world’s biggest brewing kettle, a mile deep, which Tor stole from the giant Hyme and gave to him. In Ægir’s hall the gods were never allowed to fight, and anyone making trouble was banished for all eternity (editor’s note – gulp…better be careful what I say then).”

All of Ægir’s beers are unpasteurised and unfiltered, which became pretty obviously the moment this beer hit my glass, pouring a murky chestnut brown with a noticeable yeast ‘throw’ as I reached the bottom of the bottle.

I wasn’t expecting a lot of hop character from this beer as amber ales tend to display a distinctively malty nature. Ægir uses no less than six different kinds of malts in Rallar. However I also wasn’t expecting the strong smells of yeasty bread dough it threw up. It was as though most of the freshness had already left this beer. It reminded me of the smell in the darkest parts of the woods in autumn, when mushrooms push through the wet fallen leaves and cover the roots of moss-covered trees.

To taste Rallar delivered a little more. The malts of course were there, giving the beer a nourishing, quite heavy feel with some brown syrup sweetness and faint chocolate. The hops were almost non-existent which made Rallar anything but refreshing.

Without wanting to incur the wrath of any gods I wasn’t that sold on Rallar Amber Ale. I understand that Norwegians are the butt of jokes here in Sweden very much like the Irish are to the English and the Canadians are to the Americans but Rallar Amber Ale could never be called a joke of a beer.

It’s completely missing a punchline.

(Editor’s note: 1/2 idjit next up!)