Nobilis
Stella Artois

corked 750ml sparkling wine bottle ;

Decants a light gold lager with a large white cap that reduces quickly, fair lacing, heavily carbonated.

Aromas are pleasant; grainy, a bit sweet, some fruity tones (apple pear) and grassy hop twang.

A bit thin malts break down a bit too soon to reveal a watery alcoholic character and a sweetish/dray finish with an alcohol burn.

Not all that well put together and certainly not my type of lager.

Pours sparkling gold capped with a white rocky foam. Quite a grainy nose with this one. There are also fruity malts in low numbers, subtle hops and a bit of wet paper. Tastes of sweet grains, honey, some fruity malts, light hops and grass. As it warms the booze comes through, and it is not all that nice. Better than regular Stella by a small margin.

Bright, sparkling clear golden beer. Big white head full of snap. Looks pretty good and as you good gives up quite attractive lace.

Looks are the best feature of this beer, because after that its quite common. Nothing offensive about it, competently made, quite effervescent. Sweet and malty, hops subdued or non-existent.

Plain, but passable. Looks nice.

Appearance - Gold, 2 fingers of head which reduced.

Smell - Sweet and alcoholic, fairly strong.

Taste - Sweet, quite a unique taste. Then again, I am not really familiar with strong lagers.

Mouthfeel - Very good carbonation, good texture.

Drinkability - Quite drinkable, despite being more wife-basherish than regular Stella.

Overall - I really quite liked this beer. Though I wish we could change the name at the top of this page. Noblis, bah.

Appearance - 4.0
Poured two fingers of creamy, foamy white head that settled at one finger. The body is a beautiful, clear gold and looks to be highly carbonated.

Smell - 3.5
An interesting sweet aroma that is not dissimilar to many Belgian Pale Ales. Aromas of pale malt, pear and alcohol.

Taste - 3.0
Clearly related to the original Stella Artois but sweeter, maltier and more alcoholic. Too much alcohol flavour for my liking.

Mouthfeel - 4.0
Nice fine, lively carbonation feels light and creamy in the mouth, if a little watery.

Drinkability - 3.5
This isn't hard to drink, but not really interesting enough to come back to (especially for the price).

OVERALL - 3.45
This seems to have been getting a real slating from some reviewers, but I don't think it is a bad beer at all. I think they have done a decent job of making a premium beer that is still recognisable as Stella (which in some ways is its weakness). I would drink this again, but not at the price ($15 for 750mL) that I had to pay for it.

Poured out a sparkly straw yellow, with a decent head, which then dissipitated into nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only way to see there was lacing in the glass, was to tilt the liquid slightly and see the foam cascade down. Bizarre.

Lot's of sweet malt in the aroma. Almost currant like aroma, with strong caramel malts, and zingy lemon citrus. Not what you would expect at all.

Bleh. Just sweet Stella malt, and nothing more. It tastes like a slightly stronger version of Stella, and that's about it. It is drinkable, but that is it. Not something I would buy again.

You can feel the tingly carbonation which it talks about the back of the bottle. It is quite heavier then the ol' wife basher, but it still has that watery characteristic you get with the cheap lagers.

Best before 07.09.08.... probably pushing it..
Champagne-style packaging.... always sucks me in.
I read that these were only available through the Inbev-driven Belgian Beer Cafes in Australia. But found this in Vintage Cellars, so don't believe the hype....

a) Clear, golden yellow. Inch thick, coarse sudsy head which sinks away. Some good bubbling
s) Malt & rubbing alcohol ....grainy notes
t) A big-malt Euro lager, shameless and in your face. Hints of hops, perhaps minty or piney. Actually.... diluted bourbon...
m) Slight warmth, but basically inconsistent palate, and adding no virtue
d) I'll finish it, for sure. But what the f*** is this ? Ramp up the booze, shove it in a champagne bottle, and ask for big bucks.

As implied earlier, if I had drunk a Beam on ice, and returned an hour later to drink the melted ice, I'd get something like this...

Had no idea that this was out or in circulation up until now. Comes in a 750 ml green magnum-shaped bottle, caged and corked.

Pours out a medium bodied gold hue, lots of carbonation, crowned by a tall billowy white head that retains quite well, which settles to a spongy cap. Spongy sticky lacing is left behind as the glass is emptied.

The aroma is mostly sweet and husky grains, slight metallic notes, pretty much akin to regular Stella. Yet as it warms it takes on a waft of veggies.

The flavour has a bit more oomph than regular Stella, although it doesn't really do it any favours. The alcohol is duly present with this 7.2% abv offering, but the malt profile as a result is akin to a low quality Polish or other Eastern European Euro strong lager offering. Actually, to go in a more north-western direction, Holsten comes to mind. It's pretty much a grainy malt liquor ride from beginning to end, with a few dips of sweet corn along the way. Mild veggie aftertaste.

The mouthfeel starts out decent, smooth and velvety, but then turns somewhat rough and tumble in the middle, especially with a hand from the flavour, and no doubt the unchecked extra abv%.

Really, I'm under the impression that this is just a fancy bottle of high test or malt liquor with a cork in it, and at 3 times the cost. As over-hyped and over-priced as it is, I don't mind a Stella every once in a while for a quenching lager, especially in the hot months after a long day at work behind a welding helmet. Yet I'm almost trying to choke this stuff down only halfway through the bottle. Nothing more than a marketing gimmick in my opinion, high-priced and low-quality at that.

Crystal clear, light gold colour with a fluffy, billowing head of bright white foam. Decent head retention with sticky, chunky lacing. The aroma was mostly hops, floral and sulfury, quite intense, with a mild maltiness in the background. Low bitterness with malt and fruit notes, more floral hops and a bit of alcohol. More sweetness developed as it warmed. Medium/light bodied with ample carbonation, not quite crisp, but fair texture. Hoppier than expected, but I've had much better strong euro lagers.

Bottle: Poured a light golden yellow color ale with a big bubbly pure white head with average retention but no lacing; very champagne like in appearance. Aroma of light sweet malt notes is very weak overall. Taste is a dominated by sweet notes with load of bubbles; again very Champaign-like. While I don’t think this is earth shattering I didn’t find it as bad as some of the previous reviews.

An offering so far only available in Ontario - we are the guinea pig? A champagne bottle and (cheap) champagne-like consistency and taste. Light yellow and good head and lacing (indicating fresh). Neutral to cheesy aroma. A malty like off-bitterness, a bit more interesting than regular Stella Artois.