Red Maple
Northern Superior Brewing Co.

Appearance: Poured with a thumb of head that retained adequately and produced one solid ring of lace. Body is a dark red that looks brown when not light struck.

Smell: Toffee malt and plum, very typical Irish red. Not really picking up an maple or sweet notes to it. I wouldn't call it incredibly complex, and even with warming it didn't really come out.

Taste: There is toffee malt with mild plum and notes that turns to a more barley and whiskey malt that finishes with an earthy bitterness that is curb by a note I can best describe as maple robbed of all sweetness.

Mouthfeel: That final bitter note lingers a bit in the aftertaste, it does dissipate so long as you don't drink it too fast, but that's kind of an issue given the profile as I want to drink it a bit faster. Transitioning is solid, but the carbonation seems a bit too aggressive as oppose to creamy. I think the thinner than expected body may be part of the reason.

Drinkability: This is fairly easy to drink, this is a bit lighter than what I would call medium-heavy which isn't what I usually associate with Irish red. That makes it a bit lighter and easier on the system. The downside is the the weirdness in the aftertaste hamstrings it a bit.

Final Thoughts: A bit lighter of an Irish Red than I expected but still solid stuff. I think the biggest disappointment of this offering is for a beer called Northern Red Maple, there's just one touch of maple, and that's it. It's a perfectly good and serviceable lighter Irish Red but it's not knocking it out of the park.

Jan 9 2026