Tropical Norway

Norwegian beer is a little thin on the ground around here at the moment, so today I'm raising a glass to the randomness of Marks & Spencer's selection, whence came this first pair.

First up is Dag, a pale ale from Ægir. It flopped out of the wide-mouthed can forming a tall stack of foam which faded quickly. I think the pour may have knocked a lot of the fizz out of it as it's barely sparkling. From the rose-gold colour I was expecting a significant malt contribution in the flavour but it does live up to its "sitrus" billing, with a spritzy blend of mandarin, satsuma and lemon. The bitterness is restrained and the hops get busy with fruit instead, plus an off-kilter herbs-and-coconut effect. Served colder than I had it, this would be a great refresher, and though not malt forward in taste it has plenty of texture for a mere 4% ABV. A solid effort, overall.

Amundsen is a new brewer to me, the offer a very unNordic passionfruit pale ale called Lorita. Again with the pull-off can lid, and again with the low carbonation. This one is a pale and hazy pineapple yellow and the passionfruit gets most of its business done in the aroma: all fresh and juicy. That takes an unexpected about-face when it comes to tasting: more cordial than fresh fruit, and with a wide streak of dankly bitter hops. The contrasting flavours took a bit of getting used to, but I came round to them eventually. I think I was expecting a total fruitbomb -- as passionfruit usually delivers -- whereas it's actually balanced and properly complex. There's a lasting finish of tangy and fresh citrus hops. While I'm generally disapproving of the adding of fruit syrups to pale ales, if you absolutely must, this isn't a bad example of how to balance it.

Away from M&S, I have another tropical-tasting Norwegian beer in my notes so I may as well wedge it in here. Lervig's Liquid Sex Robot showed up on tap in UnderDog a while back and, despite the puerile branding ("double dry-humped"; "orgasm in a can") is a very decent IPA. It's a bright and hazy orange colour, 7.9% ABV, and quite old-world sweet to begin: I got orange cordial and boiled candy on the first sugary sips. Yet, cleverly, it doesn't feel too heavy and there's no building, cloying, weight. Instead, the late stages bring a fresh and spritzy hit of mango and mandarin which balance the intensity and make for some remarkably easy drinking. Perhaps a little too easy for a full-strength double IPA, though: it's less of a complex and chewy palate-pounder than most and I can't help thinking that maybe all that alcohol is just for show and doesn't really bring anything useful to the taste.

The fruited pale ale is the best of the set? Norway is crazy.