Old One Eye
Insight Brewing

Appearance: Pours a mostly clear, pale golden color with a creamy, soft-white head. SRM of 7-8. (3.75)

Aroma: Very mild aromas of tart yeast upfront. Then light cereal grains & strudel. Light honey-nut cereal. A hint of flower and yeast. Maybe some vinegar bitterness and grape sourness as well. Sort of smells like a dry white wine. (3.25)

Flavor: Again more tart yeast upfront. Then dry cereal grains. Light honey strudel. Then a bitter and almost sour yeast quality that reminds me of white wine or champagne. There's really not a lot of flavor here. Finishes light with a mild sweetness. (3.50)

Feel: Lighter-bodied. Strong carbonation, but still less than I expected. Clean on the palate and leaves a hint of sourness. (3.75)

Compared to Surly's First Avenue 5/16/20: Pours a slightly darker and cloudier color. Milder aromas. More dry cereal, sour grape, and vinegar flavors. Less honey, lemon, flower. Much milder on the palate. Dryer with more of a bitter bite.

Compared to Kirin Ichiban 8/2/20: Pours a similar color. More tart grape and yeast on the aroma. Less malt and rubber.

Compared to Surly Heat Slayer 8/3/20: Pours a slightly darker color with less head. Stronger grape and yeast aroma. Less German cracker and lemon citrus. More tart and grape like from the Nordic yeast.

Overall: This one was less than I expected. Lots of grape and champagne flavors. Really not much flavor here, but it does get better as it warms as others have said. It's a pretty bland beer that gets better as it warms. Lots of grape flavored yeast. Cereal grains with hints of grape sourness and bitterness from the Nordic Yeast. Quite a strong champagne presence here. (Final Rating: 3.48)

16oz can with a date

Almost no head, just some foam that quickly dissipates to nothing. Smell is barley and medicinal hops. The taste follows, it's a hoppy blonde but the taste is very bitter and medicinal. Almost burnt rubber, but it's not that bad..

Drinkable stuff but far from my favorite blondes

 

 

Poured from a 16oz. can into a traditional beer mug. Cloudy, unfiltered honey-like appearance. Two-finger white head that dissipates at a moderate rate with very little lacing. The smell of yeast is right upfront. Kinda tastes like a slightly hoppy cream ale. The yeast flavor is definitely different in a good way. Bottom line: Very drinkable. I would love to try it on tap (thankfully, I live close to Minneapolis) with some spicy Asian food! I will definitely be picking this up again! :)

 

From a 16oz can:

Appearance: Clear gold, good head.

Smell: Smells like a malt liquor--fruity apple, pear, grape notes. Not what I was expecting.

Taste: Fruity, grape and apple, some grain, reminds me of wine but with beer-like feel. Pretty weird but not offensive.

Overall: Kveik yeast does some weird things, sometimes it tastes meaty, sometimes fruity. Most beers I've had with this yeast have been hoppy but this one definitely is not, so the yeast can be weird out in the open. Interesting to try but I doubt I'll get another 4 pack.

Poured a froathy head that disappeared to nothing and no lace. Smells of yeast, but has a lager smell too. Similar in taste. What makes it Norse? A Belgian lager? Overall it's not for me.

I would actually place this under the Belgian Blonde Ale heading, as this beer is very much about the yeast. Tastes like a more tropical Belgian Blonde actually. Flavorful and fairly easy to drink. Just a slight aftertaste is a hindrance.

This is a strange beer. Can definitely taste (and smell) the yeast, which at first smell (and taste) mistaken for cereal grains. Some mild tartness offset by the yeast and malt flavor - not bad, but let it warm up to let it put on the best show for you.