South Shore Nut Brown Ale Review

Name: South Shore Nut Brown Ale
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 5.25%

It's been a while since I've taken a look at anything from South Shore Brewery. My first impression of the brewery with their blonde ale was not what I would call favorable, but a few weeks ago I had today's beer on tap at Sir Ben's and was impressed with how it tasted. So I took it upon myself to seek this out in bottle form to do a proper review.

The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin white head. Lacing is pretty moderate but I'm not picking up on any visible carbonation.

The nose is chocolate malt and roasted barley forward. I'm also picking up on some floral hoppiness and some toffee maltiness as well.

The flavor is chocolate and toffee malt forward with a mild floral hoppiness and some light roastiness on the back end of the flavor. As for the aftertaste, it's a blend of bitter hops and roasted barley. The palate is moderate in terms of weight and the carbonation is also fairly moderate.

Overall it's a pretty good brown ale. It's by no means a complex beer but it's a good tasting beer. I'm not sure how widely available this is, but it's worth trying out if you ever see it.

South Shore Nut Brown Ale - 8/10

South Shore Northern Lights Ale Review

Name: South Shore Northern Lights Ale
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 4.3%

Despite Duluth being pretty much the central hub of beer along the shores of Lake Superior, many seem to forget that Northern Wisconsin has it's share of breweries as well. With the exception of Thirsty Pagan located over in Superior, Northern Wisconsin's brewery scene doesn't really get any recognition here in Duluth. South Shore Brewery based out of Ashland, WI is pretty much the only brewery located in Northwestern Wisconsin. The other breweries in the northern part of the state are closer to Rhinelander or situated along Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Today I will be looking at South Shore's Northern Lights Ale, which is their Blonde Ale and the one I most commonly see on the shelves.

Northern Lights pours a hazy yellow color with a surprisingly fizzy head yet no carbonation to speak of that's visible.

Barley, pale malts and yeasts with an encompassing grassiness make up the aroma. There are also some hints of wheat in the nose as well, but it only becomes apparent once it warms up.

The flavor has a surprisingly sweet pale malt and wheat profile, backed up by yeasts and barley. The earthiness that was present in the nose isn't as strong here but it's noticeable. There's also some strange adjunct grainy notes to the taste.

The body is pretty lightweight but the carbonation, contrary to it's seemingly dead appearance, is rather moderate for what it is.

I can't say that Northern Lights Ale blew me away because it certainly didn't. The flavor has a strange and unnecessary adjunct taste to it and could forgo the earthiness; If you remove those, this would've been a great blonde ale but it's an okay blonde ale for right now.

South Shore Northern Lights Ale - 6.5/10