Longship Lager
Norsemen Brewing Co.

20oz pint at the Tap Room bar adjacent to the Inn.

This beer appears a clear, bright medium golden yellow colour, with one finger of tightly foamy, and pleasantly creamy off-white head, which leaves some rather attractive spooky wood copse lace around the glass as things slowly sink away.

It smells of bready, doughy, and biscuity pale malt, very mild citrus tones, a slight flinty minerality, and laid-back earthy, leafy noble hops. The taste is more grainy, doughy, and lightly crackery pale malt, a bit of apple pie, some softer orange and lemon citrus rind bitters, and well-rendered earthy, leafy hops.

The carbonation is a bit tight up front, but slowly lets out the garrotte along the way, the body a decent medium weight, and mostly smooth, with a small suggestion of airy creaminess. It finishes off-dry, the complex bready malt doing well to persist, along with a nice muddled orchard fruitiness.

A perfectly none-too-complicated, malty pale lager, created in a tiny brewpub in a Nordic-themed hotel on the Alberta prairie. Huh. I would put this among the finer lagers produced in the province, it's only real lacking seems to be availability - this cavernous pub doesn't exactly possess the ability to grow legs and come visit we beer fans in the big city.