Tag Archives: Neustadt Springs

Beers of the Week – Bruce County Premium Lager & Neustadt Lager

This article was originally written in August 2007 for the food & drink website Taste T.O., and republished here in October 2011 (but back-dated to match the original publication date) after Taste T.O. was shut down and taken offline.

Located in the quaint country village of Neustadt a couple of hours north-west of Toronto, Neustadt Springs is a brewery that flies under the radar for a lot of Ontario craft beer drinkers, especially in Toronto where local brands like Steam Whistle and Mill Street predominate. Located in the same historic building that housed the Crystal Springs Brewery from 1869 to 1916, Neustadt Springs was founded in 1997 by the husband and wife team of Andy and Val Stimpson, veterans of the brewing scene in the UK who moved to Ontario in 1995 and decided to start a brewery when they couldn’t find any beers here that they liked.

As with many of Ontario’s small town breweries, they’ve become an important and well-loved part of their local community. Their strong community ties are made evident via one of their beers, Bruce County Premium Lager (LCBO 679530, $11.95/6×341 mL), which promotes the area through the inclusion of a Bruce County tourism logo and website on the label. And the fact that it’s a pretty decent little beer doesn’t hurt either.

It has a nice golden colour which is a bit darker than you might expect from a 4.5% lager, with a good sized white head that doesn’t stick around. The aroma is predominantly malty with a sweet and toasty character, and the body is a bit thin, but suitable for the style. The flavour is mild but well balanced, with bready malt and herbal hops in their proper places, and the hops getting a bit bolder as it warms. Yeah, it’s a relatively simple and easy-drinking lager, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the beer is well crafted and holds a fair bit more character than a typical macrobrew.

The same can be said for the brewery’s flagship Neustadt Lager (LCBO 686360, $11.95/6×341 mL). In some ways, it’s quite similar to the Bruce County, but with a bit more colour, more aroma and more flavour. Also like the Bruce County, it’s not an envelope-pusher, but it doesn’t have to be. I like so-called “extreme beers” as much as the next guy, but well made and enjoyable golden lagers like these have their place as well, especially during the dog days of summer.

If you’d like to find out more about these and other Neustadt beers, you can meet the Stimpsons in their booth at Toronto’s Festival of Beer, taking place August 9th to 12th at Fort York. Plenty of their fellow members of the Ontario Craft Brewers will be on hand as well, so you’ll be able to get a taste of the dozens of craft beers being produced all across the province.