3.2/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 3
Flavor 3
Texture 4
Overall 3
An orange beer with a small white head. The aroma is sour and somewhat skunky or is it totalitarian, but with clear notes of cloudberries. The flavor is hoppy combined with notes of cloudberries on a slightly sour background. The body is thin.
Tried
on 12 Apr 2005
at 18:46
3.8/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 3
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 3
A light yellow beer with a white head. Both the aroma and the flavor are slightly sour from the use of brewing cereal - I don’t like brewing cereal.
Tried
on 01 Apr 2005
at 11:50
3.5/10
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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
5/10
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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
5/10
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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
6.6/10
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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
3.6/10
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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
3.6/10
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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
5.3/10
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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
5.8/10
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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