Across The Nation Restored Hop(e)
Central City Brewers + Distillers

Amber with lots of carbonation, and topped with 2 fingers of beige head.

Smells really malty, of caramel and toffee.

Tastes malty, of toffee and caramel, finishing with a long, dull bitterness.

Light body, with lots of carbonation.

Got with the Across the Nation pack, drinking in Muskoka, April 9th, 2018. Decent ESB, my first brew from New Brunswick.

Bottle from the lcbo for around $2

Appearance: Produce a finger of head that produced minor lacing but didn't really stick around. The body is a slightly cloudy amber with some low but steady carbonation.

Smell: Not really catching very much on the nose, even after ample warming. A light malt, maybe some plum and some spruce like hops.

Taste: A bit of a sleeping giant as it starts with a nice caramel malt starts and then turns to a more grainy bread like taste with touches of apple, plum and pear with a slight dry tinge as it then turns to a mix of floral and earthy hops to clean up.

Mouthfeel: Points get deducted for the lack of head, and the hop note lingers and builds in the aftertaste which is disappointing. Transitioning is good and the carbonation is fairly balanced, also tends to favour the end of the beer.

Drinkability: Surprisingly light bodied for a beer posting an ABV above 5.6%. Settles down nicely and despite it's faults was easy to drink. The dryness though hamstrings it a bit too much to call it refreshing though.

Final Thoughts: All in all, a serviceable bitter which seems to hit most of the big notes, but seems to fumble through the smaller ones. I see this pairing very well with liver and onions or liver and bacon for some reason. It strikes me as a nice pub drinker, when you intention is to eat and have a mean at the pub and not have a pint with the boys or get wrecked.

 

review #6 from the mix pack
Pours a lovely amber color with a 1 inch white head. Some nice lacing persists.
I have over cooled it and wait til it warms up a bit.
Well It's hard to wait so here we go... Very nice ESB. Nice British hops, lovely malts good carbonation easy to drink and complex enough to please any beer nerd!

Orange Amber with modest head. Malt nose, lighter body. Thin, fizzy finish. Picaroons regular ESB is significantly better (a better bitter?)

330 mL bottle from the LCBO; one of six included in their "Across the Nation Collaboration (East)" mixed pack. Dated Mar 30 2017 and served well chilled.

Pours a clear, brassy amber colour, topped with nearly a finger of frothy off white-tinged head. It lasts for only a few minutes, steadily consumed by erosion until finally replaced with a modest-sized collar of creamy foam and a respectable coat of fine, even lace. Notes of toffee, toasted nuts and doughy, biscuity pale malt sweetness comprise much of the aroma, with earthy, tea-leafy English hops filling out the remainder; faint hints of orange and overripe pear.

A very solid little bitter that I enjoyed right from the first sip. Clean pale malt flavour abounds, with notes of bready malt, toasted wheat and mild toffee sweetness coming through initially, as well as a few orchard fruit esters. The back end is legitimately bitter - not to the extent of an IPA or anything like that, yet its leafy, floral, grassy hop flavours are somewhat more pronounced than most of the British ESBs I've sampled previously (and the 50 IBUs claimed on the back label would seem to support that assertion). Finishes with an earthy bitterness and some minerality, both of which persist into the aftertaste. Medium in body, with relatively low carbonation that meekly agitates the palate, resulting in a soft, smooth, kind of slick texture. Fantastically easy to drink, and theoretically sessionable, although I suppose the 5.6% might catch up to you eventually.

Final Grade: 4.04, an A-. I've heard the Picaroons name mentioned many times over the years - always in the context of 'Maritime craft brewers to keep an eye out for' - but this collaborative effort is the first chance I've had to try anything associated with this esteemed NB craft brewer. Leave it to the New Brunswick brewer to pick the most quintessentially English type of beer there is... a bit predictable, maybe, but Restored Hop(e) absolutely does the ESB style justice, and is at least as good as the majority of the British-made bitters that you can find in Ontario. Good stuff; I'd say this is one of the top two brews in the Eastern Canada mixed pack, if not the best overall.

 

This collaboration with Picaroons from New Brunswick. Served cold into a pint glass. Review from notes.

Appearance - Clear, ruby colored beer. Moderate finger of off-white head and ok retention.

Smell - Clean with some earthy notes and orchard fruit in the background. Reminds me a lot of Hobgoblin from Wychwood Brewery in the UK (but a little better).

Taste - Close to the nose. Mildly bitter, but not overly so with plenty of malt and orchard fruits backing.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, good carbonation and very smooth. Very good texture.

Overall - Another worthy addition to the collab pack, Restored Hop(e) is one I would be interested in enjoying again as English Bitters this good aren't commonplace in my neck of the woods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle: Poured a clear light brown color ale with a medium size foamy head with light retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of light dry caramel malt with some soft floral hops notes. Taste is a mix of light dry caramel malt with some subtle floral hops notes. Body is average for style with good carbonation. Enjoyable but not really spectacular.