Union Square ESB
Townshend Brewery

Tried on-tap at GABS 2014 in Melbourne.

Pours a clean, orange colour, very hazy in the glass with some solid weight behind it. Head is off-white and firms a firm crest with a little froth to it. Lacing forms in solid, proper streaking lace. Carbonation is fine. Looks pretty great.

Nose is definitely English in construction. Herbal hoppiness comes through along with a bit of neutral, grainy malt. Slight menthol characters are noticeable after a while. Really not bad at all.

Smooth clean entry on the palate laying down a wonderful malt structure through the centre of the palate. The hops are noticeable on the back, giving a solid bitterness and the true sense of an English bitter. Light linger hop characters stick in the aftertaste. Feel is fairly good—on cask I can imagine this would be exceptional.

Overall, this is really solid stuff from Townshend, who manage to really glide under the radar at every event I've had them at. The fact that a beer like this could be such a standout at a huge event like GABS is testament to its quality.

Brewed for GABS Festival 2014 in Melbourne. Tried there on tap.

Pours a brown colour, fairly clear with dense beige foam on top. Retaining a medium-sized crown. Awesome look for the style, maybe a bit dark.

Touch of spicy toffee malt on the nose. Fairly English with a decent Maris Otter character. Touch of pepper to go with slightly sweet toffee nots. Great.

Taste is grainy upfront with a touch of bitter nut. Lots of toffee throughout the palate with a peppery kick, reminiscent of rye. Malty, complex with brazil nut and loads of nice balanced English malts. Very pleasant.

Feels full but goes down fairly smoothly.

Cracking ESB. Lots of pleasant English ale notes, nice complexity. I feel like Townshend have been a real lynchpin of the festival the past three years: unpretentious but dependable English ales. This one they've absolutely nailed.

(This finished up as one of my top 5 of the whole festival)