Northern Light
Quidi Vidi Brewery

 

Bottle courtesy of BeerMountie- Thanks Tony- Very pale straw yellow pour, sporting a good sized, think and foamy bleached white head. Faint aromas of grass and mild hops, with some grain. Sweet grainy flavours are there, and don't do much, but do not offend. Thin body, watery finish. That said, it's a pretty good light beer. Glad I got to try this one. Thanks again Tony!

Pours a clear straw gold with a sudsy head (in my case, initially about 2.5 cm, then slowly shrinking to the white ring). Smells a bit of cut grass and celery, and an initial whiff of banana that seems to disappear and get replaced later by a bit of sweetgum. The mouthfeel is crisp and well carbonated (a nice spicy touch for the tongue). The taste is light hops and a mellow bitter finish, light bit of sweet malt (none of that Quidi Vidi signature malt like in 1892), and a mellow bitter aftertaste. Everything about it politely says: "Nice.... mellow...."

This is clearly a light beer created by Quidi Vidi to compete with the strangehold of Molson and Labatt in Newfoundland, whether this means Newfoundland's old brands (like Black Horse) or the marketing nationalism of Canadian (which Quidi Vidi combats with its own marketing nationalism in the image of Newfoundland on its beer--remember, Newfoundland used to be an indepedent country before it joined Canada). In that regard, this is a better beer than the macros offer. It's successful. But at the same time, it's still just a decent entry beer for people who are suspicious of difference. Nice and mellow, but just not interesting.

Clear golden colour as it poured out but there was virtually no head. The head was about 3mm high and after the first mouthful it disappeared except for a very small white ring around the edge. A very slight smell of hops at the beginning then pretty much nothing. (Maybe I have a cold or something.) Its drinkable but the taste is just too thin for my liking. A very strange beer. Nothing offensive about this beer but nothing exciting either. Still, a good light beer for those who do not like beer.