Farm Table: E.S.B.
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

 

 

 

Tallboy can from the LCBO; canned Oct 26 2018 and served slightly chilled. Reviewed from notes.

Pours a clear copper-bronze colour, with one finger of foamy, off-white head gathered atop. It fizzles off within two or three minutes' time, leaving behind a thin collar and a few scattered swaths of lace. On the nose, I'm getting toasted biscuits and bready, caramelized malt sweetness, as well as some roasted grain - a largely malt-dominated aroma, but with some semblance of earthy, leafy hop character submerged within. Vaguely nutty and fruity, too, but I can't get any more specific than that.

A pretty standard extra special bitter; maybe a little sweeter than I'd prefer, but not to the point where it really becomes an issue. It tastes of toffee/caramel sweetness, biscuity toasted malts and roasted grain, with hints of fig and nuttiness coming through mid-sip. Some leafy, earthy, somewhat floral hops round out the finish nicely, lingering into a bittersweet aftertaste that includes some of Beau's' familiar house character. Medium-light in body, with moderately low carbonation that gently prickles the tongue; feels smooth and just a little slick in the mouth. Quite drinkable, but I think after two servings of this in a night I'd be ready to move on to something new.

Final Grade: 3.85, a B+. Beau's Farm Table E.S.B. is a pretty solid bitter, but I don't know if I'd place it on par with my favourite equivalents from the UK (e.g. Fuller's, Bombardier, or even Hobgoblin). My main issue is that the malts massively outweigh the hop contributions, and balance is simply paramount in this style, so I can't really let that fact slide. Even still, it's far from intolerable - I finished my glass with ease and enjoyed the experience. Worth a try at least, and something I might consider picking up again.

Pours clear ruddy amber with a patchy, chunky head. Butterscotch, woody, herbal hops and, field berries and roasty chocolate malt in the nose. Roasted, doughy malts upfront with a lemony, herbal hop profile in the taste. Fruity esters in abundance in the back. The mouthfeel is full bodied with light carbonation - approaching cask like for a can. Medium bitterness, malt sweetness and an edge of eucalyptus in the long finish.

A good ESB - very malt focused but complex and drinkable. Worth a try.

I really enjoyed this one

Jan 14 2019

 

Look is a ruby gold with a two finger head that breaks slowly leaving moderate lacing and small cap and collar.

Smell is malty, bready and caramel. They work nicely. There is also a familiar smell that I would have to assume is the Beau's yeast.

Taste is malty and bitter as it should be, however there is that yeast that detracts from this style of beer.

Feel is medium bodied with good carbonation. Finish is bitter and dry.

Beau's is hardly my favorite brewer,but they do do some things well. I do not believe this is their best by far.

Pours relatively clear, orange amber. Not much collar or effervesance here. nose weak of caramel. malty finish with just enough bitter. tastes well with little aftertaste. Not a bad find.

600ml bottle, part of their winter mixed pack still available here in Alberta.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium bronzed amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly tan head, which leaves a few instances of coral reef atoll lace around the glass as it lazily sinks out of sight.

It smells of lightly roasted, bready and doughy caramel malt, a further generic graininess, some bruised apple and pear fleshiness, and rather plain earthy, musty, and floral noble hop bitters. The taste is semi-sweet, grainy and bready caramel malt, a weakly biscuity toffee essence, muddled dark orchard fruity notes, a minor oily nuttiness, some damp minerality, and more leafy, earthy, and musky floral green hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite low-key in its dialed-back frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and mostly smooth, with just a hint of char maybe exacting a small tithe here. It finishes off-dry, the fruit and malt characters not seeing much in the way of any lingering bitterness.

Overall - this is a serviceable enough version of the style, with a tenuous balance achieved by the (could be more) biscuity malt and (could be less) laid-back hops. At any rate, drinkable, yeah, but nothing that I would go out of my way to procure again.

 

 

 

 

600 ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Parts of the Beau's annual winter pack. Cost comes out to about $6 CDN per bottle. Batch 6724. Bottled November 2, 2017.

Appearance - Pours a clear dark amber colored beer with a nice finger and change of off-white head. Good clarity, carbonation and head retention.

Smell - Light fruit aromas, with plenty of malt base in behind for balance. Some caramel and general graininess shine through.

Taste - Follows the nose, with some dark fruit and predominately grain, with middling bitterness. Some earthy hops mixed in for good measure.

Mouthfeel - Smooth, reasonably light bodied and quite drinkable.

Overall - A very solid ESB. Not super exciting, but very well made and accompanied deep dish pizza quite nicely.

 

Serving: Bottle
Date: Nov-2-2017


A:
Pours a crystal clear ruddy amber with two fingers of fluffy tan head that dissipates. Okay retention; speckled lacing. (4)

S:
Caramel, grain, toast and lightly floral. (4)

T:
Follows the nose with more toasty malt and a woodsy hop bite coming out. (4)

M:
Light body with active carbonation, super drinkable with a crisp finish. (4)

O:
A well-made, uber-drinkable ESB.
This is a malty, sessions beer with a nice hop bite and a multi-dimensional malt presence. Like most of their beers this one is solid and begs to be drunk. Very nice. (4)