Red Thistle Ale
Golden Valley Brewery and Pub

This is one beer I remember and have had more than once. This ESB is less bitter than most of the ones I've had and enjoy the good malt taste and the right amount of hops. This is another beer that I've only had at festivals.

good to see an esb on tap anywhere these days, but this place is old school and is still rocking some stuff of what unfortunately feels like a bygone era, had a great time checking it out for the first time, and this is what its supposed to be, easy to drink, malt forward, thoroughly english, and versatile with food, im not here to call it epic, i think its solid but not amazing, but it hit the mark for me, and i gravitate towards these when i see them, which is all to rare now. medium amber pint at the source, rather clear, holding onto its off white head for a fair while. the nose is dusty and bready, caramelized to some extent but not outwardly sugary, and autumnal to me, things like acorn and chestnut come to mind, and the light oxidation is not out of place in the style. the flavor is similar, pretty light on the hops, just some bittering presence at the end, some richness to the malt which comes on like maple and toffee, hearth bread and deep earthiness too, and a little zizzle to the ferment, english yes but also not quite right, slight astringency comes in as it warms, but its only ever minor to me, and i like it having as much yeast character as it does. light almond and modest residual sugar at the end, fine carbonation, mellow pace, light bitterness on the swallow but good balance. overall not a masterful beer by any stretch, but it really hit the mark after a long day in the car, and i thought it was nice with their vegetable yellow curry! this place is underrated i think...

12oz bottle poured into pint glass
Consumption date: 07.13.09
Bottle date: not captured

 

 

on draft at the brewery, in pint glass

dark amber in color, white head. Hits the mark for the style - nice rich malty flavors but has some woody hop balance. medium bodied. flavorful but still easy drinking

 

Good colors for the appearance, holds reddish brown all over it, lacks head, lacks clarity, even acknowledging that it is a darker beer. Aroma had that wet, humid red malt thing going, I didn't like it.

Malty, not enough hops to be balanced, mild roasting, but not what it claims to be. Acidic. Bad red malt aftertaste. Way too hot of a beer, says 5.5%, drinks like 11.5%.

 

 

 

Price to abv to taste ratio is on point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22oz poured into a 16oz tumbler.

A: reddish amber with no head to speak of

S: none at cool temperature. in comparison to beers of same style "ESB," there was higher concentration of aromas

T: no hop bite, more mild flavored acids. somewhat grainy flavor.

M: too thick for an ESB. the wrong parts linger on the tongue for too long. also seems like the carbonation disappears pretty quick.

O: not very good. my parents brought this back when they went to visit my brother. just about everything else from oregon has been awesome. im sure they have good beers, but I was not a fan of the tannen bomb the first time I had it. i wouldnt recommend, but maybe it tastes good on draft. I'm sure a lot of hard work went into the beer, but hard work doesn't always equal success.