Northern Superior Lager
Northern Superior Brewing Co.

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From The Roundhouse Centre LCBO on Howard Ave. in nearby Windsor. Best before July 10/26. My 1st beer from the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario brewery. Exquisitely embraced by Sundae the cat...

What a beer this is!

Poured into a shaker pint glass; colour is of that of new loonie in circulation. Sticky glucose sugar head with tiny bubbles. Head thins out and leaves a light lacing. Aroma is where things get interesting ; Light malt aroma with strong notes of white grape wine. With a heroic gulp : it all light malt up front with bittering from un pronounced hops. It has a tart character as ripe as lemon juice mixed with tap water. Incredibly dry mouth feel - its hardly beer at all as it tastes like strong homemade wine. This tastes like the house beer you would get in the cheap pitcher from bar near a bus station.

Overall - this is cheap pitcher house beer in a six pack.
You have to drink it ice cold and really fast - as per the more it warms up some sickly sweet and sour notes come out as lemony as floor cleaner

So; would I buy again? YES!

You have to pair it with the type of comfort food you would get at a bus station in rural Northern or far West Ontario. Think meat pies paired with french fries and gravy with mixed vegetables smothered in homestyle gravy. Just pound this beer back with the meal and don't analyse it. Power slam this beer over a meal and let your mind wander back to some nostalgic bus travels you had.

355 mL can from a six pack purchased at Superstore; dated 04/12/2023 and served slightly chilled.

Pours foggy and effervescent, its pale yellow body capped with less than a finger of soapy white head; this disappears within ninety seconds or so, swiftly worn down to a frothy collar and sudsy cap. A few patches of messy lace are also scattered about in its wake - looks fine so far. It smells of white bread and grainy pale malts, with extremely faint suggestions of grassiness and citrus zest.

It's a serviceable pale lager - calling this 'hoppy' would be a real stretch, but compared to say, Molson Canadian or even Moosehead, it does have discernible hop flavours. I'm getting grainy pale malts, white bread and cereal sweetness initially, joined later on by hints of grassy, spicy hops. Very low bitterness, with a grainy, truncated aftertaste that quickly goes dry. Light in body, with moderate carbonation that feels crisp on the tongue, resulting in a crisp mouthfeel that goes down smooth. Great drinkability - I could knock back six of these on a Saturday night, in theory... not sure I'd actually be inclined to.

Final Grade: 3.53, a B grade. Northern Superior's is a decent regional craft lager, but it's certainly not a memorable one. I will give it credit for having a clean and completely inoffensive flavour profile, but in a sea of similar American pale lagers, that really doesn't help it stand out. The format is also a minor nuisance: singles/tallboys are always preferred, but this is a personal gripe that doesn't affect my opinion of the beer itself. I would take this over most any macro lager, but outside that scenario I'd consider this interchangeable with much of its Ontario craft lager competition.

Pours a light straw colour with a small head. Very carbonated. Taste is of biscuits and malts and not much in the hops dept. A bit of a tart taste. There are better lagers but there are also a lot of worse ones.
Dec 9 2022

 

A great tasting historical beer. You get a beer with a solid buzz and also a Smooth taste that is good every time.