Norseman
Bush Pilot Brewing Company

NorsemanNorseman
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From:
Bush Pilot Brewing Company
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
Eisbock
ABV:
14.5%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.89 | pDev: 3.86%
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
16
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 12, 2016
Added:
Jul 11, 2014
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  3
Given that the release date of our beer coincides with the 80th anniversary of Norseman’s design, we thought that a special “birthday” treat was in order. After some six months of research, calling and dealing with logistics, customs, and wayward wires of funds we finally acquired eight absolutely amazing Armagnac barrels aged between 19 and 23 years from the south of France.

Our Norseman is fully barrel aged and will be available in limited quantities in late 2014. In the meantime, try to learn more about the Noorduyn Norseman - it is a captivating and compelling story of talent, skill, perseverance and resourcefulness. A gem in the fabric of Canadian history.
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Ratings by liamt07:
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Rated by liamt07 from Canada (ON)

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

Nov 14, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of biegaman
Reviewed by biegaman from Canada (ON)

3.71/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Norseman is a beer of many things but 'clear' is not among them. It's one of those interesting beers that looks completely iced over yet simultaneously exhibits a fiery orange glow, especially when held to the light. The fact it's completely flat isn't a surprise given there wasn't even a 'hiss' upon prying off the cap.

I opened this bottle craving the rich and sticky, hoping for something the likes of Kulmbacher Reichelbrau Eisbock or Eggenberg Urbock Dunkel Eisbock. We're in the right ballpark. This malty bouquet has similar qualities of fruit nectar, toffee and fortified wine. One thing's for sure: this thing means business.

More specifically, it exudes notes of peach and apricot, dates and figs, caramel and honey. There's also a significantly boozy brandy flavour lining everything, obviously imparted by the Armagnac barrels in which this was aged for an unspecific amount of time. That white grape spirit taste is too strong for my liking.

Speaking of, initial reports indicated a beer that was too hot to handle - understandable at 14.5% alcohol - so I opted to leave mine alone for awhile. Now, a shade past the January 2016 'best before' date, approximately a year and a half since hitting shelves, it's fairly mellow but still shows its strength.

Some beers are only good for cooling down on hot summer days - this one will warm you up on even the coldest winter nights (and with a -30 wind chill tonight is certainly that). Gooey maltiness sees to it that there's no harshness, but one is nonetheless aware of the potency. Keep away from open flames.

It should be no surprise that a group of Canadians - along with some help from a Norwegian friend at Nøgne Ø - came up with a beer so suited to ungodly cold weather. Personally, I could take or leave (preference on 'leave') that grape-y, boozy, brandy element imparted by the Armagnac barrels but Norseman was nonetheless an interesting experiment and pretty good Eisbock.
Feb 12, 2016
Photo of taxandbeerguy
Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)

4.03/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
750 ml bottle served just above fridge temperature into an Innis & Gunn glass. Best before January 2016. Aged about one year.

Appearance - pours a dark amber coloured beer with orange and honey brown coloured highlights. Virtually no head and rather cloudy initially.

Smell - molasses and treacle, fig, raisin and butter tart aromas combine for a full and well rounded aroma. A little booze is detectable initially, which isn't surprising given the 14.5% ABV.

Taste - molasses and dark fruit again, figs, raisins and treacle with a buttery characteristic again. A little on the boozy side but again acceptable given the alcohol level.

Mouthfeel - smooth and buttery with very low carbonation and a drying finish.

Overall - a very well crafted limited release eisbock, certainly a beer that begs to be shared given the ABV and bottle size. Glad to see limited production beers in less recognized styles making an appearance in the local market. Probably worth a shot if it's even possible to find it still.
Jan 03, 2016
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.67/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
750ml bottle. Looking into the roots of this offering is a bit concerning and mildly confusing (wait - Nickel Brook is capable of making an Eisbock, even with the consultation of Nøgne Ø?), but I'm ok with the idea of aged big brews (best before of January 2016) suddenly showing up on my (local bottleshop's) doorstep.

This beer pours a hazy, dark apricot amber colour, with one skinny-ass finger of weakly puffy, loosely foamy, and mostly wispy dirty white head, which leaves a bit of sea plume lace around the glass as things very, very slowly abate.

It smells of sweet, very phenolic (I actually threw up a bit in the back of my throat after taking an inadvisably deep whiff of this), um 'beer' - gritty, bready caramel malt, yeast with a serious attitude problem, concentrated pear and apple fruity notes, over-attenuated white wine, a further dark raisin fruitiness, and a sense of cheap brandy. The taste is sweet, grainy and bready caramel/toffee malt, sauced-up nougat, reduced white wine lees, soaked sultana raisins, a muddled savoury spiciness - maybe some cinnamon, maybe some nutmeg - poached pears, apple pie, a weird Flor-like ephemeral nuttiness, and yeah, more of that increasingly restrained (or my palate is just numb) dessert wine-like boozy-booze.

The carbonation is quite played out and hard to discern in its now benign frothiness, the body a solid medium-heavy weight for the style (like I've had so many previous examples with which to compare it), and smooth, sure, just like a shot of your favourite 'doesn't hurt going down, only coming back up' liquor. It finishes sweet, but in that musty, dusty, and strangely obfuscating Old Ale or English barleywine manner.

Well, I don't know from whence this brew came, in terms of its (lack of) age statement, but as I've noted here, the booze is duly present, but after that initial torrid meeting, things level out agreeably enough, especially given the heightened ABV. Hard to recommend, but for the inside our collective borders coin involved here, the payout is nothing less than substantial.
Dec 23, 2015
Photo of TheSevenDuffs
Reviewed by TheSevenDuffs from Canada (ON)

3.9/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
A - Poured an opaque medium bright orange colour with a thin layer of eggshell coloured head.

S - Extremely sweet aroma of grape, raisin, bread and brandy with an alcohol presence.

T - Very sweet overall with an alcohol burn that provides some balance. Grape, brandy and bread are the big flavour components.

M - Full body, light carbonation.
Aug 26, 2015
Photo of DaveBar
Reviewed by DaveBar from Canada (ON)

3.77/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Purchased at the LCBO for around the $13.00 mark or so. Served at 4deg C in a tulip glass

A- Opens well and pours a 1/4" high white head that is gone within two minutes. Dark gold and unfiltered

S- Lots of malt here. Oodles of heat

T- Sweet and malty. Lots of heat. Some good spice like cinnamon and clove.

M- Sticky and a rich bomb

O- Pretty good. Not a lot of BA here although it claims to be

Food Pairing

This pretty good brew paired well with...... Roast chicken

Enjoy
Jul 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.91 by JMBSH from Colorado

Jun 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.96 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Jun 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4.1 by SadMachine from New Jersey

Apr 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.94 by DaPan from Canada (ON)

Apr 05, 2015
 
Rated: 3.96 by RedAleMan from Canada (ON)

Dec 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.8 by MJ63 from Canada (ON)

Nov 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by MarkyMOD from Colorado

Nov 03, 2014
 
Rated: 3.8 by Wajohnst from Canada (ON)

Nov 01, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by yancot from Canada (ON)

Oct 24, 2014
Photo of pootz
Reviewed by pootz from Canada (ON)

3.88/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
Bottle – 750ml Dark green champagne bottle – crown capped- kept from light in a container tube

Ambience – cool summer night, consumed by a roaring campfire with a meal of fresh caught steelhead, cooked on a cedar board served with basmati rice and capers and fresh fiddlehead greens.

Serving temp: spent about 30 Min. on ice in the cooler – approx. – 45deg. F Serving container thick glass tumbler (chilled)

Color and appearance – Pours a dark murky chestnut color with a moderate off white cap which fades quickly to a clinging surface lace (not surprising for a high gravity brew)

Aroma - Complex – changes and gets more pungent as it warms but the core elements are – figs, port, Rich roasty grains – like toasted pumpernickel with cocoa, wet oak, light smokiness, just a hint of yeast funk, some fusel tones . You get different amalgams of these aromas as it warms - Complex but clean.

Character – Rich, full bodied, verging on silken mouth feel but it gets a tad hot in the finish from alcohol, solid malt spine. Flavour profile – A big hit of roasty malts and dark fruits up front, lightly sweet, hops provide some spice and balance although malt and dark fruit esters carry the profile here...mid palate you get complex flavour impressions - muscatel, raisin bread, pipe tobacco, filberts, Madera, woody tones....long rich, warming finish.

Overall Impression- This is a well designed dark ice process big lager (eisbock). Very judicious selection of hops and malts along with care and control in the brewing, aging and ice process has yielded a really unique vinous-like bock. If you didn’t know what you were drinking you’d swear it was a rich fortified wine of immense gustatory sensation. I love Bock, I drink a lot of it, but it pales in comparison to this. I have had a lot of high gravity doppel bocks but this is a new experience – very much like one of the intense beers Brew Dog were experimenting with but easier drinking. If there is a drawback, it is that the alcohol is a tad evident now for some palates, but a few month/years in the cellar will certainly improve this eisbock. I will be buying a few bottles to cellar because I’m deeply curious to see what bottle aging will produce – if they last that long.
Jul 11, 2014
Norseman from Bush Pilot Brewing Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 16 ratings