Föroya Bjór Black Sheep
https://bjor.fo/ol-black-sheep/
Brewed by Föroya Bjór
Style: Dark lager
Klaksvík, Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands is a small cluster of rugged islands about 320 kilometres (200 mi) north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. It is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. With a population of roughly 50,000 people they dont get up to much this far North, apart from whale hunting and hiding in from the fierce Atlantic winds they often get.
Föroya Bjór, “The beer of the Faroes”, was established in 1888 by a Símun F. Hansen who learnt the skills of the trade in Denmark, and upon his return set up the brewery in Klaksvík. Apart from numerous beers and stouts the company also produces soft drinks, and sells most of their produce in the Faroe Islands, and to “neighbours” Iceland and Denmark.
Review: 33cl bottle of Föroya Bjór Black Sheep: 5.8% vol.
Bottle looks class. A very cool logo of an angry looking ram struck down by lightning, in an all black bottle. I hope they have these printed on tee shirts, as I’d buy one. Excellent and you know this is going to be fun even before you crack open the bottle. About as good a logo as you can get off a bottle. Comes in cans and bottles.
A dark lager from the Faroe Islands. Not often I get to sample anything from this archipelago, so I will try to enjoy this one.
On pour I get a brownish colour with a small whitish head. It looks ok for a black lager, won’t complain.
On the nose it is very fruity and I am also getting hints of coffee. Interesting.
First impressions on the pour is I am not getting a lot from the bottle, damn!
Otherwise I am getting the sweet caramel and the dark roasted malts.
Deep tasting that lingers in the mouth. Not a bad taste, nice enough to swivel on and enjoy. Quite tasty in fact. The bitterness is there but manageable.
Not bad, very good considering its from way up North in the faraway Faroe Islands, Very drinkable, liked it, will return in future.
The brewing giant from The Netherlands, Heineken have always had a helping hand in the creation of this iconic brand. They came up with the idea of a brewery this side of the world, but were initially thinking of Indonesia, as the nation was a Dutch colony, but were denied. Singapore was then chosen. Together with Fraser and Neave (F&N), Heineken launched Malayan Breweries in 1931, and a year later we got Tiger Beer. Today, Heineken owns 42% of the shares of Asia Pacific Breweries.
Can find it as 5% vol. in other regions of the world. Comes in a bottle, can or from the tap. Popular in Asia especially as it is the perfect beer to have as the sun goes down.
Tasted like a regular lager, no real complaints there. Perhaps a little creamy off taste but generally it was ok. Getting the malts and grains, and the fruits, with the hops on the low level.
Founded in 2002, by Gunnar Wiig and Kjetil Jikiun, Nøgne Ø is a Norwegian beer that has been kicking ass for a while now on the various online beer review sites.
This award winning beer, first brewed in 2010, had its recipe made up by an airline captain and part time homebrewer Jan Halvor Fjeld. Nøgne Ø’s head brewer at that time was also a pilot, hence the name, Two Captains! 
All a bit “urgh” to me, finding those hops are just impossible to enjoy, going down very slowly and with great difficulty. Too strong and bitter to truly appreciate or enjoy. One for the hardcore IPA heads to like, but not for me. And to be fair to them they do warn on their website that this isn’t for the faint hearted..
Windhoek Lager is a beer brewed by the Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), a Namibian brewery founded in 1920. Namibia is a country in southwest Africa of about 2.5 million people, in case you were curious, where the famous sprinter Frankie Fredericks was from, remember him? Windhoek is the country’s capital and the name given to the lager. 
Before its independence in 1990, the area was known first as German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika), then as South-West Africa, reflecting the colonial occupation by the Germans and the South Africans. That perhaps might explain why they have some colonial throwback to brewing German style beers in accordance with the old Reinheitsgebot, also known as the “German Beer Purity Law”. As a reminder, the law prohibits the use of any flavourings, preservatives, or colourants during the brewing process and allows only three traditional, natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, and water. Following the rules means a slower more nuanced quality produced brew as opposed to a mass produced beer doled out quickly in a matter of days by speeding up the process with additives and inferior ingredients.
Overall it is a solid look. Ok
Founded in 1912, by Amsicora Capra, Birra Ichnusa is brewed in Assemini, a town near Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, the beautiful mediterranean Italian island. It is named after the Latinized ancient name for Sardinia, Hyknusa.
Not much comes out of the small bottle for sure, the carbonation making the beer appear alive, buzzing around like mad.
Urgh, far too much with the hoppy aftertaste. Unfiltered, yes I know.
Founded in 1876, by James Speight, Charles Greenslade, and William Dawson on the South Island of New Zealand in the city of Dunedin. The Speight’s Brewery brew Speight’s Gold Medal Ale, a bit of a New Zealand institution. Popular amongst the working man and Scarfies (A Kiwi university student) for generations, offering up a unique taste of NZ beer.
They call this beer “The Taste of New Zealand”, ok well lets see. It is my first beer from the home of the Kiwi and the All Black. 
An interesting aroma, a kind of perfumy note on the nose, all nice and fruity. The smell is very nice. Also a bit like a stout aroma, with caramels and very toasty. Quite distinctive. 
Oppigårds Bryggeri is a microbrewery in the small Swedish town of Hedemora, Dalarna County. Björn Falkeström founded the brewery in 1996, with the The Oppigårds farm been in the family’s possession since 1735.
Bought in Aldi Switzerland. Interesting logo on the long necked bottle, orange background and label with a pic of an elephant, simple but stylish, their “tribute to India”
Typical IPA taste and flavour in the taste, the fruits and malts, and the hops are prominent but all nice and very manageable. 
The Vauclair Abbey was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1134 by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, located in the North of France. Supported financially by rich families, the abbey quickly prospered and was given several estates and farms, until the French Revolution in 1789, when it was finally demolished and sold as “national property”. Then World War one lead to further damage from artillery fire…..to where today only ruins remain. What remains of the site is an arboretum of apple and pear trees and a medicinal herb garden. 
The aroma is quite strong in this one, very hoppy smell, very piercing, and very sweet. Must be the dark roasted malts and the fruits. 
Not without problems it has to be said, as Heineken, or more like their Greek subsidiary, Athenian Brewery, were fined £25 million by the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), for abuse of the market by squeezing out competitors through exclusivity agreements and aggressive practices of domination, over a 15-year period. The company was found to be in breach of Greek and EU competition law. Macedonian Thrace Brewery who initiated the lawsuit are also seeking damages from the parent company, as a small Greek brewery they felt stepped on by the large multinational and its aggressive behaviour in distorting the local market. It is said that Athenian Brewery had used “exclusivity agreements” to force publicans to stock Heineken brands, and by offering wholesalers “significant economic motives” to promote their own specific brands while at the same time to refrain from introducing competing products. Well all is fair in love and war I guess!
Aroma is of sweet malts, but overall it is quite light on the nose. 
