Bjørn's Red "Øl"
Pinchgut Brewing Company

Pours a rich red colour. Head is cream-coloured, some large bubbles in there, pretty average retention. Looks OK.

Smell is very sweet. Bready malt notes with a touch of pecan and vanilla, plus caramel and toffee on the back. Seems like a more complex sweetness so I don't hate it as much as I generally hate sweet smells.

Lots of vanilla on the palate. Toffee and caramel malt notes with a bit of body to it, but no texture. Finishes quite short, and could really use some beefing up for the back palate. Not terrible but definitely disappointing.

Alcohol is well-hidden, but flavour could definitely be amped up, a lot.

This is termed in the tasting notes a "Danish Imperial Red Stout"—I've tried to keep the style here consistent with Nøgne Ø's Red Horizon (classified as an American Strong), but this is somewhat arbitrary. Can't be flaking off new styles for every beer, though =) Tried on-tap at Melbourne's 2013 GABS festival.

Pours a clear amber hue (perhaps red in the right light), with some heft in the body and very fine carbonation. Head is yellowish and forms a solid ring around the glass. Lace forms in streaks. Looks pretty good.

On the nose, though, there's almost nothing but diacetyl (my notes read "diacetyl to fuck"). It's buttery, ropey and sickly without much else to it—if you do search beyond, there's perhaps a suggestion of boozy whisky characters and a hint of roast, but it's really hard to get past it.

Light entry on the palate with more of that buttery character to spoil the game. Middle is very sweet, malt with a chewy booziness to it that continues towards the back, leaving it very dry, phenolic and medicinal. Clinging booze and some bitter phenols stick around in the aftertaste. Feel is smooth, at least.

Overall, though, this was pretty unpleasant. It feels like something's gone wrong to me. It's either sickly with buttery sweetness or stingingly boozy without much point to it otherwise. Very poor indeed.