Norman
NoordSter in Balen, Antwerp, Belgium 🇧🇪
Brewed at/by: Brouwerij Anders!Belgian Style - Blonde / Pale / Amber Regular
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Score
6.41
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Een donkerblond bier van hoge gisting met 4 moutsoorten en 5 hopsoorten. Deze 5 hopvariëteiten zorgen voor een heerlijk aroma van fruitige hop. De smaak evolueert van zacht zoet met een lichte hopbitter naar een stevige hopbitterheid in de afdronk.
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7/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Nov 2020
at 18:57
5/10
33cl bottle. A clear deep golden beer with a off white head. Aroma of moderate sweet and strong pale malt, some fruits and yeast. Taste of sweet grainy malt, cereals, honey, some yeast.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jan 2020
at 19:19
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Another NoordSter beer made at Anders, apparently in existence for quite some years now, brewed with four malts (label fails to mention which ones) and five hop varieties (dito - sigh). Steinie bottle from Willems. Opens with a hissing sound, but no gushing. Creamy off-white, mousy, medium thick, non-lacing but altogether stable head, initially near-clear, pale orange-hued peach blonde beer, more misty and a tad deeper orange with sediment. Aroma of very strong isoamylacetate (banana-flavored bubblegum), 'crème anglaise' or meringue, ripe pear, sweetbread, textile dust and polyester floormat, bread crust, very old paper, cooked turnip, dusty old coriander seed and a lot of it, much subtler notes of brown soap (probably just the coriander again), flour, young 'jenever', baking soda, dried out orange peel. Fruity onset, very 'Belgian' as expected with a ton of ripe banana and hints of peach, pineapple and a dash of overripe pear, generally very sweet with a lot of lingering, honeyish 'white candi syrup' sweetness hovering over a sharply carbonated and very minerally, sweetbready and cereally body; the later stage adds a whole lot of unpleasantly dusty, albeit not overly soapy coriander combined with a late and fairly gentle floral hoppiness providing bitterness that remains too mild and incapable of balancing out the residual sweetness. Straw- and old paper-like aspect as well, along with a glow of warming, young 'jenever'-ish alcohol that should not at all be this noticeable in a 7% ABV beer. Ends sweet, bubblegummy and overcoriandered. I'm not sure what the aim was here, never met these NoordSter guys in person, but what I got here, is a generic Belgian style blonde aiming at a large and undereducated audience - which I probably stopped belonging to at the turn of the century. Technically okay, but way too sweet, too bubblegummy and too soapy to be enjoyable to the more discerning palate, though within a commercial Belgian context, I can see this work on a very local level. Even within the vast world of Belgian 6- and 7-ish ABV, sweet and ridiculously accessible blondes, this is completely forgettable from a broader perspective, that much is clear. Where are those four malts and five hops?? Well-brewed, though, as said, the only thing keeping this at around 3/5 for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Dec 2018
at 01:12
6/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jul 2017
at 16:55
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 6.5
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Clear medium golden colour, small frothy white head, mostly diminishing, lacing. Aroma pale malts, caramel, fruity, candy sugar. Taste is light heavy sweet and light bitter, fruity, some alcohol, peppery, with average duration. Aftertaste is sweetbitter; medium body, oily texture, average carbonation, bit boozy but okay.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Feb 2016
at 13:26
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 9
Pours clear blonde, small to OK white head. Smell is malty, with a sweet undertone. Taste is bitter, intense, ful and sharp, grainy ( sweet, again I get a note of honey-like sweetness ) . Agreeable mouthfeel, and a decent carbo. Enjoyable !
Tried
on 01 Nov 2015
at 14:44
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle shared. Pours very hazy golden with a white head. Aroma of yeast, citrus, fruit and light malt. Flavour is moderate sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with light carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Aug 2014
at 10:22
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6
33cl bottle courtesy of and shared with Kermis. Thin creamy white head. Very hazy blond pour. Ok. Nothing special
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Aug 2014
at 10:20
6/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle from tderoeck, many thanks! GUSHER ALERT! Orange amber colour, white foam. Lots of yeast particles. Floral aroma. Sweet, light bitter aftertaste, medium carbonation. Medium balance.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 May 2014
at 00:46
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle @ home shared with Dutchdrebus. Hazy cloudy yellowish color, full sized white head. Smell and taste malts, lightly fruity, slightly orangepeel, lightly yeasty. Medium body and carbonation. Quite nice, nothing wrong with this beer, a decent Belgian Ale.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Nov 2013
at 13:19