Baladin Nora Sour Edition

Formerly brewed at Le Baladin
Style: Sour Ale
Piozzo, Italy

This ale pours a light yellow gold color from a 750ml bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is citrusy, fruity, spicy and a touch tart. Medium bodied ale. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are spicy and floral. Spicy and a touch funky. Soft carbonation. Nice balance. The sourness is subtle and mostly in the background. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Pours a creamy tawny yellow color w/ a full, spritzy spatterd froth. Hangtime is good and settles to a nice full ring of lace and a silky canopy. Aromas of fresh squeezed grapefruit, salt, and creamy wild apples. Nice! Light nectar w/ an abundance of explosive effers on the palate. Keep your mouth closed. First off it’s not as sour as you might think. Just mildy as a matter of fact. The flavors are very delicate, some only shown on the finish. Upfront you get defined fresh grapefruit but only mildly. Other nunces quickly appear consisting of nectarine, peach, and pear all following a sort of rustic suit. The finish is bittered nicely w/ hints of creamy green apple. Like I just ate a granny smith or something. Drinks like Champagne.

Bottle thanks to bgburdman for sharing: Pours a cloudy gold with a white head. Aroma, doughy and tart with some fruity sour notes. Flavor, light yeasty notes, some tartness, and some fruits. Pretty nice, soft sour finish.

courtesy of Laurent Mousson; Edition 2006 - cloudy golden-orange colour with a little persistent foam; pineapple and grapefruit, yeasty , tart and sourish; medium malt body and a lot of carbonation; the finish is very fruity and effervescent with some residual sugars

Sampled from 750ml at the First Annual Stone Sour Fest, July 2007
Sits in my glass a hazy, gold color that is topped by the best draught head I have seen today; it actually covers the beer quite easily, but is composed of somewhat large bubbles and is a pale, off-white color. The aroma has a striking note that reminds me of black tea and hemp, though I am not quite sure why. This herbal character is mixed with a fruity note composed of starfruit, green apple and a nice, inviting, soft acidity.

The beer is fairly dry and only softly acidic. It is quite fruity, which does bring out a touch of sweetness. A flavor melange of plum, melon, chamomile and yes, even some hemp. I really can’t shake the tea notes, it is quite persistent, noticeable and something must have been added to produce this character; the hemp / chamomile flavors seem most apparent but there is definitely some other things going on as well. The beer has a light, foamy carbonation and is quite light bodied. When paired with Mike’s beer cheeses, the cheese brings out a note of melon-like fruitiness as well as down-playing the hemp note, while accenting the green tea note.

Actually food makes this beer much more tasty (it is very complimentary for this), which I have found to be generally true of sour beers in general (not that they need to be more tasty, as I already enjoy them quite a bit).

Sampled at Stone’s Sour Festival, July 2007. yellow with a solid white head. Aroma is very peppery, like right out of a grinder. Flavor strats with the spicness but finishes with a clean fruityness. A very interesting beer, compliment edby some of Stone’s spicy house chips, delivered by Greg Koch himself!

RBSG 2007 Grand Tasting. Hazy straw with a big white head. Lemony astringent saisonlike nose, lightly spicy. Dry, sour flavor that mirrors the nose, and adds a fruitiness to the mix. Odd, but interesting and tasty.

Big carbonation; yellow gold color. Saison like spice aroma and taste. Green grapes, flowers, straw and champaign like in palate. Had from bottle at Stone Sour fest. Very interesting and pleasant. The description I have says: 6/8% - sour edition of an Egyptian Ale recipe.