Review: Noam Lager Tastes as Good as It Looks

Instagram advertising can prove very deceptive. What looks good propped up in perfect light, beside attractive people, at Golden Hour, shot on grainy film, doesn’t necessarily seem so hot once you’ve forked out the money and it’s sitting in your kitchen. In the sneaker world, various shoes look incredible in their pre-release arty-advertising, only to learn that their colors and materials aren’t actually how they looked. They were subject to the “Kith filter,” as it’s been coined.And so, a beer heavily advertised on Instagram — as Noam is — would not only not indicate quality but might suggest that the company has put far more effort into shooting the beer than brewing it. But to say Noam has been a pleasant surprise is a dramatic understatement. Not only is it my favorite lager, it’s probably my favorite beer.To start, Noam is a classic, unfiltered lager — naturally finished with no stabilization or filtration — made according to German Purity Law, which requires that all ingredients are Bavarian. To be specific: it’s made with Smaragd hops from the Hallertau ingredients, in collaboration with traditional Munich brewery Paulaner, and for those without detailed knowledge of German lager, the flavor is beautiful.The trick here is that the mouthfeel is overall very light — smooth and refreshing, as a classic lager should be — and yet, despite this, it’s very flavor-forward, with a lot of character. It has a lovely grainy scent, a stronger-than-expected bready malt flavor up front, and finishes with a crisp, dry taste. The C02 flavor never becomes too excessive, either. Also, at 5.2% alcohol strength, it’s slightly higher than your classic pint and has a lovely color, with a pale gold, somewhat hazy body, and a clean white foam.Finally, there is the packaging, which is less important than the taste but sure makes it a nicer, more luxurious experience. Designed by famous fashion house Acne Studios, it’s a clear, thin bottle with heavy fluting and a simple, chic white label, and it’s a lot closer in design attention to a perfume bottle than a classic lager. Also, Noam offers free returns of empty bottles, which they will reuse.And despite the premium branding and style, the prices don’t truly reflect that and are more than fair for the quality, at $32.58 for a 12 pack, or roughly $2.72 per bottle, and that goes down to $2.06 per bottle if you buy the 48-bottle pack for $98.94. It’s more than worth that price for me — and I can say that because I just placed another order for them.

Review: Noam Lager Tastes as Good as It Looks

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