Hill Farmstead Biere de Norma

Brewed (with help from our great friend Jean of Tired Hands!) on the day of my grandmother’s passing (Norma), this is an inspired Biere de Mars fermented entirely in oak and inoculated with our house spontaneous culture.

193 reviews

Greensboro, United States

Community reviews

3.7 2012 bottle. Aroma is berries, big oak, bready yeast, spice and very light caramel. Tastes very oaky with mild berries. Mild sourness and tart. Good.

3.7 Bouteille indiqué sous Vintage 2013, embouteillée en février 2014 et bue après 30 mois. Robe ambrée-orangée trouble surmonté d’un col de mousse dense, blanchâtre et assez persistant. Une fine dentelle s’accroche au parois du verre. Arômes de bois, beaucoup d’effluves vineuses et autres petits fruits sûrets, vinaigre balsamique, fleurs et levures sauvages. En bouche, beaucoup de petits fruits, bois, tanins de raisins, mélange d’acidités citrique et acétique. Finale de petits fruits sûrets, bois et jus de citron. Texture légèrement huileuse et sèche, corps mince. Très bien mais niveau d’acidité peut-être un peu trop élevé.

3.9 Sample @ Hill Farmstead Tap Takeover, Warpigs. As Norma. Clear amber body with no head. Soapy, tartness, oak, yeasty.

4.1 Draught @ [ Hill Farmsted Tape Take Over ] - Warpigs Brewpub, Flaesketorvet 24, DK-1711 Copenhagen, Denmark. [ As Hill Farmstead Norma ]. [ Vintage 2014 ]. Clear medium orange red color with virtually no head. Aroma is tart, berry, farmyard, wine, funky. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate acidic with a long duration, tart, berry, wood, wine, funky. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft to flat. [20160512]

4.1 On tap at Warpigs. Reddish golden with white head. Aroma is tart, fruit, lactic and slight acetic, caramel and wood. Taste is similar, complex and sour. Fruit and bready malt.

3.9 Draft @ Warpigs Brewpub, Copenhagen. Pours a hazy golden color with a small white head. Has a fruity malty weak sour yeasty oaky aroma. Fruity malty spicy yeasty sour oaky flavor. Has a fruity malty slightly tart spicy yeasty grassy finish.

3.9 Draught @ Hill Farmstead Day - Warpigs Brewpub, København Pours clear deep golden/amber with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, funk, caramel, fruity and some tartness. Taste is medium sweet and light to medium sour with a long slightly dry, tart, funky, caramel and fruity finish. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.

3.8 From tap at Warpigs, Copenhagen. Clear amber copper color with off white head. Malty and yeasty aroma, caramel, fruity, light funky, wood, vinous. Sweet and acidic taste. Light to medium oily body with soft carbonation.

3.8 Bottle: Poured a brown/reddish color ale with a small foamy head. Aroma of tart notes with light fruity undertones is pleasant. Taste is also a mix of tart notes with light fruity undertones and some light caramel notes with some oak notes also clearly identifiable. Body is about average with good carbonation. Not bad but I would say that the vinous and tart level is quite high for the style.

3.7 Draught, vintage 2014, at WarPigs Brewpub, Hill Farmstead Day. Clear amber-red coloured body. Bubbly ring to the rim of the surface. Fair lacing. Rich semi-tart aromas of brown malts and fruits. The taste profile follows suit with caramel, green apple skins, and semi-tart fruits. Prolonged malt-fruity ending with underlying tartness. Fine bodied. Lovely (shared with KimJohansen and Skinnyviking, Copenhagen 12.05.2016).

3.8 Tap @ Warpigs, 2014 vintage. Clear dark amber/brown with tiny head. Aroma is malt, fruit, sour, caramel, littl evinegar and wood. Flavour is malt, fruit, sour, caramel, little vinegar, medium dry, oak, wood and a little lemon.

3.7 Sample at Warpigs during the HF event. Tart smell with wood. Similar taste with some tanins. Light tart with oak. Dry finish.

4.1 Bottle @ Warpigs, Copenhagen. Pours slightly hazy golden orange with an offwhite head. Aorma of sourness, light malt, caramel, yeast, wood, tart fruity, grass, grapes. Flavor is rather sour, yeasty, malt, caramel, oak, hay, grass, tart fruit, green apples, green grapes. Medium body, average carbonation, dry and rather acidic finish. 120516

4.2 Tap @Warpigs. 2014 vintage. Amber color with little head and low-to-medium carbonation. Tastes almost like a sour brown but sweeter - tart, oak, sweet malt, funk, stone fruit, in all honesty probably too complex for me to describe. Very, very good but also a lot going on here.

3.8 Pours clear dark amber with minimal head Aromas of acidic grapes, tart grapes, green apples hints of burned caramel Taste has tart notes of red fruits, burned caramel, oak, wood

4.3 11.10.2014, 0,75l bottle sampled @ �l & Br�d Hill Farmstead dinner: Nice creamy longlasting head. Aroma is mild sour-ish fruity, oak, grass, hay, yeast, weeds, dried fruits, very mild vinegar, peach. Taste sour-ish dry, sorrel, oak, hay, grass, bark, flowers, wood, weeds, heather, minerals, hints of thinner. Medium to longlasting bitterness, dry oaky mouthfeel. Very nice. 12.05.2016, tap @ Warpigs: 8-4-8-4-16=4,0 Small slightly bubbly mediumlasting head. Aroma is mild sour-ish grassy, soda powder, grass, mild vinegar, sour fruits, oak, flowers, yeast, butterscotch, sorrel. Taste is slightly sour-ish dry, soda powder, oak, sorrel, weeds, flowers, grass, citrus acid, fruit salt, mild vinegar, butterscotch, minerals, bark. Medium bitterness, slightly sour-ish dry mouthfeel. Nice.

3.8 Tap warpigs. Pours hazy amber with a white head. Aroma of tart, peachy, grape, tropical, sweet, light grain, fruity, light wood. Taste is rather oakt, tarty, light sour fruity.

3.9 On tap at Warpigs. Amber with a small white head. Aroma of plum and peach with a hint of vinegar. Tart, fruity flavour with oak and a hint of honey

4.1 Tap @ Warpigs, tap take over. Vintage 2014. Clear deep amber with a small white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, wood and light funky. Flavor is quite sweet and light acidic. Dry and light acidic finish. 120516

3.6 750ml. Thanks again to Chris for sharing. Rich brown, red-tinged stringy gray head. Red malty, sour-tart, clean tart juice. Malty cranberry. Sparkling. Pretty tasty but a bit confusing.

4.1 February 26, 2016. Bottle, vintage 2014, shared by scarl, thanks! Slight hazy pale amber with a small off-white head. Aroma is slight toffee, ripe fruits, plum, lime zest, lemon juice, grape skins Taste is light tart and fruity. Finish is slight sweet with some toffee notes, oak, fruity, plum, sour berries. Light to medium bodied, soft to average carbonation.

3.9 A: Brown/red colour with a thin white lacing. N: Brett, kumquat T: Caramel, grapefruit zest, hint of cherry O: Quite bitter with a nice tartness. Pretty nice!

4.1 Bottle pour at tasting, thanks for sharing this Chris. Awesome beer to try thank you. Peach color pour. Sour aroma sweet taste. Awesome beer to try.

3.5 2013 bottle, thanks to Reynolds314. Ruddy orange brown pour. Dusty; tart; some oxidation; light caramel. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly? Expectations are odd like that) tart and tannic through the finish. Suggests to me that there was once more sweetness to this, but time has dried it out (or maybe that’s bullshit -- who am I to say what time has done to a beer I’ve never had except for this one bottle generously traded to me). Medium- body, slick texture.

4.2 Waxed bottle poured. Huge thanks to Chris for sharing this gem of a style I know little about. Next thing I know I am enjoying the highest rated beer in the style. Reddish orange pour with a patchy head. Sour fruit aroma. Flavor is sour orange and cranberry juice, lingering berry. How this isn’t a sour, and a bier de garde, is beyond my knowledge, but the beer is fantastic. Sourness rating 7/10. Most excellent.

3.9 Flavor: Moderately tart cherry, light vinegar, yeast and mineral to start. Then roasted grain and a hint of nuttiness in the middle and then light bitter lemon pith. Comment: Well balanced, understated and well-made.

3.7 Cool herbal nose some basement dank yeast notes. Tangy also. Hazy orange Amber thin head lace etc. super tangy some orange lemon basement funk chewy character nice mouth feel. Nice beer.

4.0 750 ml. shared bottle. Pours a cloudy reddish orange with a small white head. Aroma of fruit, wood, and funk. Taste is tart fruit, berries, malt, wood, and funk. Delicious.

4.1 Brown reddish colour, oaky, lactic, vinous aroma. High on acidity, subtle and complex. Fantastic

4.1 750 mL bottle poured into a snifter. Batch 2. Finally reviewing this after having it multiple times. Originally reviewed 10/20/2013. Very dark outside as I drink. Appears to have a nice khaki head. Murky light brownish body. Acidic nose. Malty. Lots of oak. All three aromas blend together seamlessly. Mild tart flavor. Malty. Slight citrus tang. Very oaky. Oak pulls together the flavors in the finish. Medium body. Well carbonated. Mild sourness. A beer that is greater than the sum of its parts. Simple flavors put together very well.