Superior Bathhouse Brewery: I Came for the Beer Bath, Stayed for the Corn Nuggets
A brewery inside a historic bathhouse already has a pretty good reason to visit. It has the history, the setting, and the whole I’m in Hot Springs and doing something I can’t do everywhere else thing going for it. But eventually, the food, beer, and service have to actually hold up.
For me, Superior Bathhouse Brewery mostly did.
The biggest surprise was probably the service. I’d give it a 10/10 without hesitation.
I went in for dinner and decided to fully commit to the experience with the $40 Beer Bath, which is a tasting of every beer currently on tap in 4-ounce pours. I paired that with the $10 “Bock Bock” fried chicken sandwich, a half Caesar salad, and the $10 Spicy Elote Corn Nuggets.
So, yes, I ate a lot. I also drank a lot of beer. And by the end of it, I had a pretty good idea of what I would actually order again.
The service was the best part
The first thing I noticed was the service.
My waitress was funny, witty, and genuinely helpful, which made the whole experience feel more personal than just sitting down, ordering food, and working my way through a beer list.
She also gave me some great suggestions, which was especially helpful with a tap list this big. When you're looking at 18 beers and trying to decide what might actually be worth your time, having someone who knows the menu and can make recommendations makes a huge difference.
Her personality made the experience more fun, too. Good service is one thing, but having a server who can joke with you, make good recommendations, and actually seem engaged with the table is something I remember.
Everything was prompt and friendly without feeling rushed. That is especially important when you order something like the Beer Bath because 18 different beers can become a lot very quickly.
The staff made the whole thing feel easy. I never felt like I needed to hurry through the tasting, and the food came out at a pace that worked well with it. I could try a beer, eat a little, move on to the next one, and actually pay attention to what I was drinking.
That is why I stand by the 10/10 service rating.
It wasn't just that everything came out on time. My waitress genuinely made the experience better.
The location itself also adds something. You’re sitting inside a historic bathhouse in Hot Springs, so it doesn't feel like just another brewery with a food menu attached. There’s still that casual brewery atmosphere, but the building gives the whole visit a sense of place. It feels like something you should actually do while you’re in Hot Springs rather than somewhere you happened to stop for a drink.
The “Bock Bock” chicken sandwich was a solid $10
For food, I ordered the chicken sandwich for $10. The sandwich was the “Bock Bock” fried chicken sandwich, served on a soft Hawaiian roll with lettuce and house-made Space Force beer pickles. I chose the half Caesar salad on the side.
The sandwich worked because it kept things simple. The fried chicken gave it the crunch and weight you want, while the Hawaiian roll added softness and a little sweetness. The lettuce kept it fresh, but the pickles were the part that made it feel tied to the brewery. House-made beer pickles are a small detail, yet they make the plate more memorable than a standard chicken sandwich.
The half Caesar salad was a good pick for the side. With a full beer flight and fried food on the table, I was glad I had something crisp and lighter next to the sandwich. A heavier side might have made the meal feel like too much, especially with all the tasting pours.
The sandwich was not trying to be fancy, and that was a good thing. For $10, it felt like a fair, satisfying dinner order. I would order it again, especially if I wanted something dependable before or during a long beer tasting.
The Spicy Elote Corn Nuggets were the snack order to share
I also ordered the Spicy Elote Corn Nuggets for $10.
And then I ordered them again.
That probably tells you more about them than anything else I could say.
I originally ordered them because I wanted something snackable to have with the Beer Bath, but they ended up being one of my favorite things I ate that night. They were crispy, flavorful, a little spicy, and incredibly easy to keep eating between beer samples.
I genuinely liked them enough to order a second order.
They worked especially well with the Beer Bath because they gave me something salty and flavorful to snack on while moving through all the different beers. With 18 pours ranging from lighter beers to IPAs, sours, and darker styles, having something like that on the table helped break up the tasting.
If I were going back, these would absolutely be ordered again. And considering I already ordered two orders in one visit, I think that pretty much settles how I feel about them.
The $40 Beer Bath is a full tour of the tap list
The Beer Bath was easily the biggest part of the experience. For $40, you get a 4-ounce pour of every beer on tap. When I went, that meant 18 beers. That is not a normal flight.
It is a project.
And I mean that in the best way.
If you’re going to do the Beer Bath, give yourself time. Eighteen beers is enough that they can start blending together if you rush through them. I rated most of them on a 1-to-5 scale, although one beer managed to break my scale entirely.
The lineup had a pretty wide range, too. There were cream ales, Irish reds, pickle sours, jalapeño ales, IPAs, wheat beers, a stout, a bock, a Märzen, blonde ales, a gose, and a farmhouse ale.
Some were absolutely my thing.
Some were very much not.
Here is how my Beer Bath tasted in order:
# | Beer | Style and ABV | My rating |
1 | Sweet Nectar of the Gods | Cream Ale, 5% | 5/5 |
2 | Killer | Irish Red, 5.1% | 4/5 |
3 | Big Dill | Pickle Sour, 4.6% | 3/5 |
4 | Spicy Ride | Jalapeño Ale, 5.5% | 5/5 |
5 | NorthWoods | West Coast-style IPA, 5.6% | 10/10 |
6 | Spring Training | Blonde Ale, 5.5% | 1/5 |
7 | Space Force | Hazy IPA, 7.75% | 5/5 |
8 | Foul Play | Oatmeal Stout, 5% | 0/5 |
9 | Chaude Fontaine Gold Ale | Gold Ale, 9% | 3/5 |
10 | Goat Rock | Bock, 5.5% | 0/5 |
11 | Full Moon | Belgian Wheat, 7% | 3/5 |
12 | Whittington Wheat | Hefeweizen, 7% | 3/5 |
13 | Oktubafestbier | Märzen, 5.5% | 5/5 |
14 | The Beez Kneez | Honey Basil Blonde, 4.9% | 4/5 |
15 | Super Sesh | Light IPA, 3.7% | 5/5 |
16 | Desoto’s Folly | Golden Stout, 6.8% | 0/5 |
17 | Easy Come Easy Gose | Gose, 4.6% | 0/5 |
18 | Bet the Farm | Farmhouse Ale, 5.5% | 2/5 |
The Beer Bath is definitely something you want to pace yourself through. Even with only four ounces of each beer, 18 pours add up quickly.
I would not order this expecting to knock it out quickly and move on with your day. It’s much better when you actually take your time with it, especially if you have food to go along with it.
My top three beers were clear by the end
After tasting through the whole lineup, my final ranking was 5, 7, 1. That means my top three were NorthWoods, Space Force, and Sweet Nectar of the Gods.
1. NorthWoods
NorthWoods was the clear winner.
It’s a West Coast-style IPA at 5.6%, and it was the only beer that got a 10/10 from me.
That should probably tell you everything you need to know.
It was crisp, punchy, and memorable. With 18 beers in front of me, the ones I liked needed to actually stand out. NorthWoods did.
If I went back tomorrow and could only order one full pint from this tasting, this would be it.
2. Space Force
Coming in second was Space Force, a 7.75% Hazy IPA.
It also showed up in my meal in the form of the Space Force beer pickles on the chicken sandwich, which I thought was a fun little connection.
As a beer, I gave it a 5/5.
What I liked most was that it still stood out later in the tasting. By the time you get several beers in, some of them start losing their identity. Space Force didn't really have that problem.
I would definitely try it again outside of a giant tasting.
3. Sweet Nectar of the Gods
My third-place beer was Sweet Nectar of the Gods, a 5% cream ale.
Cream ale isn't necessarily the style I would expect to beat out IPAs, sours, and stronger beers, but this one started the tasting off really well.
I gave it a 5/5 because it was clean, balanced, and easy to drink.
Usually, the first beer in a tasting gets forgotten once you’ve worked your way through everything else. Somehow, this one stayed in my top three.
That says something.
A few other beers also deserve a mention. Spicy Ride, the jalapeño ale, got a 5/5 from me. Pepper beers can go very wrong very quickly, but this one worked.
Oktubafestbier and Super Sesh also earned 5/5 ratings and were two of the stronger beers in the lineup. Then there were the beers that absolutely did not work for me.
Foul Play, Goat Rock, Desoto’s Folly, and Easy Come Easy Gose all received a 0/5.
That doesn't mean they're objectively bad beers. It means that, for my taste, they missed by a lot.
The middle of the lineup had a mix of Big Dill, Chaude Fontaine Gold Ale, Full Moon, Whittington Wheat, The Beez Kneez, and Bet the Farm. Some were interesting. Some were fine. Some were simply styles I wouldn't go out of my way to order again. Honestly, that's part of what makes the Beer Bath worthwhile. You find out pretty quickly what you actually like.
The final verdict
Overall, I thought Superior Bathhouse Brewery was worth the stop.
The service was easily the strongest part of the experience, earning a 10/10 from me. My waitress was funny, witty, made great suggestions, and genuinely made the visit more enjoyable.
The chicken sandwich was a solid $10 meal, but the Spicy Elote Corn Nuggets ended up stealing some of the spotlight. I liked them enough to order two orders, which might be the clearest recommendation I can give.
But the Beer Bath is the main event.
At $40, I think it makes the most sense for someone who genuinely wants to try the full tap list and has the time to sit with it. This isn't a quick four-beer flight that you finish before moving on. Eighteen beers is a commitment.
And that's kind of the fun of it.
My top three were:
NorthWoods
Space Force
Sweet Nectar of the Gods
If I went back, NorthWoods would be my first full pint. After that, I’d probably decide between another IPA and Sweet Nectar of the Gods depending on what I was in the mood for.
For food, I’d happily order the chicken sandwich again, but the Spicy Elote Corn Nuggets are officially on the “I know I’m ordering these before I even sit down” list.
At the end of the day, Superior Bathhouse Brewery is more than a novelty stop because it's inside a historic bathhouse. The building might be what gets your attention, but the service, the Beer Bath, a great waitress, and a handful of genuinely good beers are what make it worth sticking around.
Just give yourself time, and if you order the Spicy Elote Corn Nuggets, don't say I didn't warn you.
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