Aass Bryggeri

Commercial Brewery in Drammen, Buskerud, Norway 🇳🇴
Associated Venue: Aass Bryggeri

Established in 1834

Contact
Ole Steens gate 10, Drammen, 3015, Norway
Description
Norway's oldest Brewery.

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3.5
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3

Not an easy beer to rate. The reason for this is not the complexity, it’s the opposite. Basically nothing is wrong, this beer is easy drinkable with a fresh taste - and no more. This beer is made to be a neutral pils. Personally I don’t see the point of drinking a beer like this at all. I could agree there is a bit of a fruity aroma, but that’s all.

Tried on 21 Mar 2005 at 08:07


5
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

(330 ml bottle.) Women are the target group for this new beer, and women also took part in choosing the cloudberry flavour profile. Golden colour, moderate to low head. Artificial smelling cloudberry and raspberry aroma. Flavour is a standard "neutral" lager, with some artificial cloudberry and raspberry flavour added. Nice try, but this is nothing to seek out.

Tried from Bottle on 17 Nov 2004 at 18:00


5
Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

Bottled. Yellow colour, no head. Herbal spicy aroma. The interesting spices, the same a s in aquavit, on top a very average beer. A little sweet with vague malt character and a bitterness that only derives from herbal spices.

Tried from Bottle on 28 Oct 2004 at 08:54


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

(330 ml bottle). This beer is contract brewed by Aass by the initiative of Mr. Arvid Ystad. I had a nice conversation with him about the background of his initiative. He also sent me a memo about the use of herbs in Norwegian traditional brewing. However, this beer is not an ale like traditional Norwegian farmbrew, it is based on a standard Aass pale lager with juniper berries, caraway/cumin and tarragon (estragon) added in the brewing process. These are herbs recognizable by modern Norwegians from the flavouring of aquavit, and Mr. Ystad emphasizes that they were already well known in Norway from the art of brewing, when aquavit was invented at a much later stage. Balders Brygg (named after Odin’s son Balder, Norse mythology) looks like a standard pale lager with a moderate head, but the aroma and flavour are much better due to the herbs used. The tarragon and caraway (to some degree reminiscent of aniseed) dominate both aroma and flavour, while the juniper berries are more subdued. Mr. Ystad himself thinks that the tarragon is more dominant than he intended, I would also like the juniper berries to stand out more than they do. But these herbs can't hide the fact that the basis of this beer is a pale lager with a rather thin mouthfeel. Props to Mr. Ystad for his initiative, but Aass Bryggeri should clearly have taken a leap forward and made an ALE with these herbs. As it is, Balders Brygg is at least a nice change of pace from the standard pilseners / pale lagers that dominate the Norwegian beer scene.

Tried from Bottle on 14 Sep 2004 at 06:39


3.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 1 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3.5

Bottled. Pale golden, rich head. Aroma of menthe and raisin. Sweet and soft with some grassy hops. I’ve had worse N/A beers.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Aug 2004 at 03:33


3.6
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3.5

Canned. Pale golden, rich head. Perfumy nose. Sweet, and rounded, lighly grassy. Slightly salty finish.

Tried from Can on 10 Aug 2004 at 03:32


5.3
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Bottled. Golden colour, average head. Sweet and soft, lightly grassy. No extravaganzas on the 170th birthday it seems.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Aug 2004 at 03:30


5.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

Bottled. Golden colour. Appley nose. Sweet and softly malty. Honeyish. The malt character is really rich for a Norwegian beer. Low biterness.

Tried from Bottle on 10 Aug 2004 at 03:27


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

Canned (4.5%). Golden colour, rich head. Lightly grassy. Pleasant crisp light maltiness. Medium bitterness. A quality lager.

Tried from Can on 12 Jul 2004 at 09:31


4.3
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4

Bottled. Golden colour, rich head. Aroma of grass and raisin. Sweet with clean mouthfeel and drier, grassy finish.

Tried from Bottle on 12 Jul 2004 at 09:29