ESB
Swans Brewpub / Buckerfield Brewery

A - poured from a 650ml bottle into a tulip glass. It's clear copper with an off-white head. The head leaves large islands of lacing.

S - malt, light berry, strong esters

T - malt, fruit, turns hoppy before carbonation dissipation, then buttery and bitter hops that mellow

M - medium-light carbonation, medium body, viscous and a finish is dry on the throat yet oily on the tongue

D - the bitter finish of the hops is kept in check by the mouthfeel that keeps it from becoming astringent

 

Serving: On tap at Swans Brewpub, hand pulled, served in a 16 oz nonic pint glass.

Appearance: clear copper brown. Nice frothy head of off white foam; leaves decent lacing.

Smell: Malt nose with caramel and a bit of fruity yeast.

Taste: Round malt, caramel, slightly toasty, but not overly sweet (less than Swans' other ales). Some nuttiness, earth and yeast notes. Emerging herbal bitterness towards the end.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, creamy feel and gentle carbonation.

Overall: Fairly well balanced and drinkable - consistent with Swans' offering.

Enjoyed a full pint right on-site at the Swans. A brownish orange color, much like weak iced tea, sporting a nice creamy beige head that leaves a speckled lacing on the glass as it subsides. Sports a classic Goldings hop aroma, floral spice and apricot, along with bread-like caramel malts and lemon that lilt upwards but do not overpower. Classic English aroma and taste. Evokes orange marmalade and well-steeped black tea, mellow sweet molasses, lemon rind, walnut ... Classic earthy bitterness, citric fruit, nutty malts, and a super-smooth creamy mouthfeel accompanied by just the right degree of carbonation for the style (on the low end but shy of flat). Thin to moderate body and a dry finish. One can taste the hops but the whole article is pleasantly malty and everything fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. I haven't traveled to England to try the legit article yet, but I can only imagine this is comfortably in the ballpark.

Swan's Brewpub 'Buckerfield Bitter ESB' @5.0% , served from a 650 ml bottle purchased for $6.50

A-pour is gold from the bottle to clear amber in the glass with a decent size off white head leaving a frothy lace

S-very mellow smelling ESB , dissapointing

T-so mild for a local ESB , definate bitter finish

MF-ok carbonation , medium body , very dry on the palate

Ov-ok beer , I was expecting much more , or at least better for a local ESB

prost LampertLand

 

 

 

Served in 20 oz pint glass at Swans.

A: Pleasant, slightly-cloudy orange-gold hue, foamy, witha nice white head, big retention and smooth, clean lacing.

S: Almost Pine-sol..but in a good way! Lemon, lime a little hop, and a candy-esq sweet-ness. Then again, I hadn't eaten supper yet, so this may have been mere hallucination.

T: Pine, lemon, a little hop, with some pear and nut after. Like a nice Bartlett spinach salad, but boozier.

M: Creamy, low-carb, with a moderate retention. Somewhat avg.

O: A nice beer to be sure, certainly a thirst-quencher, and with that distinctive Swans character in spades.

Verbatim from notes 16JUL11

Pours a light brown with brilliant clarity. No head, no lace. A bit dark for the style. Nose first impression is of a connecticut wrapper on a cigar with high oils; otherwise wood, tobacco, some molasses. This is nice, but doesn't smell like an ESB. Tastes sweet and malty. This does not taste like an ESB, more like a brown. Thin and flat for the style with a semi dry finish. New recipe require for this one if it wants to be an ESB IMO.

Pourd deep copper colour with 1 finger white-ish head. Smell - malts mostly, some dryed banana flavor as well. Taste - really nice combination of malts and hops with slight bitterness. Very balansed beer, very smooth and refreshing. it's very drinkable too. Taste a lot more impressive than smell, very well done!

Swans in Vancouver finally. What I love about this beer is that it stays true to its English roots and has that UK hop flowery notes with the subtle complexity on the finish. A very pretty dark brown colour with a big head , the nose is hoppy and yeasty. The beer seemed really bitter at first but after a few sips a smooth caramel note appeared on the finish. Great beer and true to the style.

A: pours a deep copper orange with a healthy, 2 finger, rocky, off-white head that has good retention and leaves some nice sticky lacing. Lots of larges rising carbonation bubbles.

S: lots of northwest hops and sweet caramel malts. a bit of fresh baked bread too.

T: light, crisp hops up front switching to smooth caramel sweet malts in the middle and finishing quite abruply with a subtle bitter hop aftertaste.

M: medium to heavy bodied and very creamy, not overly carbonated and a creamy, dry finish.

D: this is a pretty good ESB. Nice hops, but the flavour could be a little better balanced and round. Still, an enjoyable beer that I would buy again. It's certainly quite drinkable. I look forward to more from Buckerfield's.

Swan's priced beer poured in copper colour with some foam, smelling of caramel and something chemical. Surprisingly the initial taste was of red berries, maybe blackcurrant. Then a bitterness turning dry at the end. I thought I could detect a hint of smokiness too. Maybe it was a bit too fruity for a bitter, closing in on an amber instead? Nevertheless it's a good brew.

Another quality brew from Victoria. Though this intially looks to be a classic ESB, the colouring actually has a very strong red tone to it with almost a gold finish. Looks almost like a red ale.

The smell comes of more like a standard bitter than an ESB. A bit on the malty side, with some yeasty hints to it. Bread, very faint citrus and pale malts hit the nose.

The taste is a bit more on the traditional side for the style. Good hop-malt balance with yeasty hints. The flavour is complemented and enhance by a good meal or something like a ploughman's lunch.

A good brew, but I find it not as drinkable on its own. This really is a beer to accompany a meal.

I sampled this at the Wild Saffron restaurant, adjacent to the brewery.

A: Copper/bronze, clear, no head.

S: Bready, caramel malt, hint of northwest hops.

T: Well balanced. Bready, caramel malt with NW hop flavour.

M: Lightly carbonated, light to moderate body.

D: Quite drinkable.