Neustadt Springs Bruce County Premium

Bought 6 of these unlabelled from the brewery last year when it was on taste trials...l and had some at the hotel in Wiarton during the summer and recently after snowmobiling. I liked the draft version better...could be my imagination but I think it was better lagered...hard to tell as this beer is so subtle. Definately a good session beer with quality ingredients...you can tell that with just a sniff....smells of subtle bready malts and light herbal aroma hopping...pours a clear yellow straw color with a one finger white cap that leaves a lace as it goes down. Mildly effervescent. Starts mellow and subdued then smooths out where the bready-nutty malts mingle with the subtle hops... finish is clean but a bit thin leaving a mild bisquit after tast. This is a unique beer in it’s subtleness, do we need a lager tamed like this?...very mild and drinkable....great to quaff on the patio of a cottage country inn...which is where most of the sales are that keep this brewer at capacity brewing this beer in the warm months.

Pours with some crazy bubbly white head. Dissipates quickly, but wow. Unexpected. Slightly hazy and yellow. Sweet a little hoppy, wheaty and a bit of corn meal. Tastes like a wit, wheaty, grassy with a hint of citrus. Surprisingly complex.

Slow carbonation, hazy and cloudy, pale yellow gold body. Scent: apples, grass, noble hops. Surprisingly bitter, fresh and tart, very little aftertaste, some citrus and musk. As with a lot of Neustadt products, has a watery body. However, good lacing and great for the pale lager category. Kind of numbing, for some reason. This is the second "Bruce" beer I rated today. No, I wasn’t at a gay bar.

RE-RATE: Wow, this beer has improved a helluvalot since the first (and last) time I tried it 3 years ago. Pours a nice golden colour with a good sized white head that doesn’t stick around. Aroma is predominantly malty with a sweet and toasty character. Body is thin, but OK for the style. Flavour is mild but well balanced, with bready malt and herbal hops in their proper places, the hops getting bolder as it warms. It’s still a mainstream, easy drinking lager, but it’s a very well made one that’s miles better than the watery, fizzy yellow stuff it used to be.

ORIGINAL RATING (June, 2004): Very pale yellow colour. Minimal aroma, with a fleeting whiff of malt. Body starts crisp, but finishes watery. Flavour is barely there, with the faintest hints of malt and hops. A generally useless beer, and a real disappointment since Neustadt’s flagship lager is actually pretty decent. [3/1/4/2/7]

I went to the brewery last Saturday. I asked him if he was going to come out with anything new. And as soon as I said that an unlabled bottle was opened and a sample poured for me just as I was finishing my sentance. It isn't available outside of the brewery yet, its only available in 12s and the only label they have is a green tag attached to the neck with an elastic band. Very quaint. The owner was very nice and was very helpful in directing me to more beer. Everyone I gave this beer to liked it and really enjoyed it. They including myself found it refreshing and not overbaringly loaded with sights sounds and smells. Clean crisp pale yellow colour. Nice head. Mild and mute in flavour which suited my mood perfectly that day. So it went down quite well. Although people will probaly trash this beer for having anything of distinction going towards it. I appreciated that when I had it. I will have this again.