Amundsen - Head & Shoulders

Amundsen Bryggeri is an Oslo-based brewery focused on producing craft beers of the highest quality for the non-conformists out there. Striving to innovate, be creative and create world-class beers from only the finest ingredients they can lay their hands on.

Award-winning writer, photographer, and broadcaster Matthew Curtis sums up their bonkers but very popular Dessert in a Can (DIC) series:

"I’ll freely admit the pastry stout phenomenon has passed me by. Call me old fashioned but my favourite beers are, in general, ones that taste like beer – like malt, hops, yeast and water. I enjoy it when brewers experiment with ingredients such as fruit, spices or coffee, but I often struggle with beers that taste more like pudding (hence the term “pastry stout” for those who might not have come across it before) than they do beer. I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth, though.

What I admire about this beer is that it makes no bones about what it is. It’s literally called “Dessert in a Can”. The label notes ask why would you bother going to the length of pairing a beer with dessert when you can simply drink a beer that tastes like it. Basically, Amundsen is saying this is the beer equivalent to Head & Shoulders. Why take two into the shower? etc.

While this beer wasn’t really my thing, I found myself discovering a soft spot for it as I enjoyed it late one Sunday evening. That might have had something to do with the face-warmingly large 11.5% ABV, undetectable behind the layers and layers of sweetness that this beer possesses. It pours like oil into the glass, rising to the rim and providing a perfect, oubliette dark silhouette in the glass. Ideal for sharing with your friends on your preferred social media platform.

Dessert in a Can’s aroma is a little like a fresh-out-the-oven crème brulée. To taste, it’s a little like drinking a homemade blend of condensed milk, maple syrup and treacle, with the sticky body coating your palate just like the aforementioned would. It’s a beer that makes no bones about what it is though, and the sweet of tooth would surely demolish a beer like this. For me, a chaser of bourbon provided the cut of alcohol I felt it needed to machete its way through all that cloying sugar, however.

It’s definitely a beer worth trying though, because is a really fun beer. You could say it puts the “fun” in “fundamental”.”

You can find more from beer writer Matthew Curtis as UK editor of Good Beer Hunting and on Twitter @totalcurtis.

We have lots of beers from Amundsen in stock, or if you are feeling curious,
why not try one of their tasting packs below:

Dessert In A Can
£28.50

1x Triple Berry Pavlova
1x Chocolate & Hazelnut Crêpe
1x Peanut Butter & Coconut Cookies
1x Mocha Fudge Cake
1x Mamma's Cherry Pie
1x Rocky Road Ice Cream

6 Pack - Buy Now

Barrel Aged Dessert In A Can £24.95

1x Tonka & Caramel Swirl Ice Cream
1x Chocolate Covered Salted Toffee Popcorn
1x Mammas Blueberry Pie
1x Coconut Choc Chip Cookie

4 Pack - Buy Now

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