Baladin Nora

Brewed by Le Baladin
Style: Traditional Ale
Piozzo, Italy

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard

Let’s start with the bottle. It sets up the whole experience with Nora. It’s a unique shape for a unique beer. The beer itself is exquisite, smooth and highly drinkable. So far I have tried Nora and Super and overall I am quite impressed with this brewery.

Straordinaria creazione di Teo Musso del Baladin, questa Nora mi incuriosisce fin da quando ne conosco il nome; finalmente, l’occasione si presenta: bottiglia divisa in due da Paola a Brescia, nel TeKu ovviamente. Versa colore dorato con buona schiuma candida; uno scrigno di spezie l’aroma e il sapore, una carezza dopo l’altra ai sensi che disinibiti si librano nella freschezza di un vagheggiato ritorno alla natura. Il vetro del bicchiere non si sente più, fra le labbra scorre soltanto questo delicato elisir d’oblio. Dopo, abbiamo letto Baudelaire; ma io avrei preferito Rimbaud.

On tap at the Bavarian Lodge in Lisle, IL Poured a moderate gold with a few orange highlights. Plenty of visible carbonation bubbles. The nose is full of spices, along with some citrus and a tiny bit of earthiness. Flavor takes it up another notch with loads of well-balanced spice and intricacies. Very complex. Mouthfeel is good with the right amount of carbonation. Excellent drinkability, as the brew is intense yet quite quaffable. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 03-15-2010

This beer is based on an ancient Egyptian recipe. What makes this beer so interesting, is the fact it is brewed with kamut, a grain used by ancient Egyptian brewers. It is then spiced with ginger, myrrh, and orange peel. Hops were not used in ancient Egyptian brewing, so only a small amount is used to preserve this beer, but you will find no hop character. Nora pours to an opaque and hazy, deep golden, to light orange color, with a thick and creamy white head, and a moderate amount of carbonation. The nose on this beer is very fragrant, with spicy aromas of fresh ginger and lemon. The palate on this beer is tart and "grainy" with good malt flavor, paired with a nice back drop orange/citrus flavor. The tart and citrus flavor of this beer makes it tangy, and very drinkable. Nora finishes with more good tart and grainy malt and citrus flavors, then ends with a touch of ginger spice, that leads back into a nice tangy citrus flavor that lingers. A very unique, flavorful, delicious, drinkable ale. This beer makes for a fantastic summer refresher, and a nice cold glass of this goes well on a hot and humid day. At 6.8% abv, Nora is the type of beer that is perfect as an aperitif, and would work well with a number of dishes. The brewery suggests that "Nora is perfect with oriental food like soya noodles, chop-suey and chicken with curry and rice. Nora is a fine accompaniment to fish and white spicy meats". Sounds right to me. Marketed in beautiful bowling pin like, 750ml brown bottles, Nora Ale retails for $7-$8 a bottle, in select US markets, and is well worth seeking out.

Bottle from Super Saver. Hazy dark brown pour with 2-finger off-white head. Aroma of floral spices, hopcitrus, some orange zest and tropical fruit. The flavor is floral and spicy, yeasty, with a lot of orange zest, some lemongrass, mango, coriander, and even clove hints. It gets very black and Bell peppery as it warms, while retaining a smooth, citrusy saisony feel to it.

Apple spice,bitter peach aroma.Opaque dark golden with white particles.Very soft fruity peach sweet sour flavors.Extremely smooth,practactly swims down your throat.

This beer almost defies classification. Good head that deflates quickly, rich if murky color, and HUGE chunks of yeast upon pouring. Not much lacing. Some say it is best with food, but I think the opposite: drink this by itself to get the full experience. Not much hop presence, if any. Aromas of rose water, nutmeg, and feminine musk. A bit like sniffing panties while drinking beer.

I saw this bottle for the first time today and was instantly taken with it. A beer I’ve never heard of, that looks ever-so intriquing? Let’s go for it! Reminds me in shape of bottle and label design of another Italian beer I’ve seen in Michael Jackson’s "Great Beer Guide" ("Isaac Birra Bianca") and a simple check on this site proves that they belong to the same family...so, I chill it and tackle it on returning home from work, and am I happy that I did! Appearance: a light amber hue, with numerous floaties flitting about, though they settle soon, under a thick, fine, fizzy white head. Aroma, deep and spicy, reminding me instantly of Duvel, and that’s a nice feather in the old cap-ola!, yeah, there’’s that crystalline, flowery, ethereal essence! Nice-ety, nice, nice! Utterly uplifting! Taste: smooth, airy, light, fruity (some citrus, peach) angelic...I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s some subtle complexity going on in this ale, and it probably originates from the spices, coriander, ginger, and more that I’m not keen enough to detect. Very sophisticated, very...well, "elite", shall we say, it is not for everyone, nor should it be...absolutely magical, this brew, spicy and sweet and totally happy ...flies on gossamer fairy wings through the senses, tossing flavor out ever-so-daintily, lightly, happily, yummily...Persistent with flavor, though it continues to be rather light, though utterly unique , soft and sublime...Sigh....shall I put it in one word?...Gorgeous... Nora, I adore ya! (P.S., I didn’t check the price until check-out time, and it was $11.99 for this 750ml bottle...awfully pricey, compared to others, but there really are no comparisons to this incredible brew, so this high tag may be deserved...