Velvet Hand
Kane Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copper colored, thin head, fairly full-bodied for the style. Traditional ESB, authentic as I knew Kane would do. Smooth, light roast, very easy down the hatch.

**
04/20/19

can to snifter.

LOOK: copper color, big frothy creamy beige head, excellent retention. Very beautiful despite not being a jet black stout or a hazy juicy IPA.

AROMA: cereal, barley, rice. Nose disappoints.

TASTE: touch of caramel sweetness, countered with bitterness from the grains and some char. A little baking soda, plus a winey-grape character slips in and out of the finish.

FEEL: creamy with a sharp finish, medium body above average carbonation.

Kind of a mixed bag. Interesting brew. Can't remember the last time I had an ESB---probably was a Redhook circa 2000. Cancel that, my profile says I had a Redhook in 2012 and 6 others in the style since. I guess it just seems that long ago.

**

 

Pours a hazed copper-orange color with three fingers of rocky, tan foam head. It’s fairly quick to dissipate, and leaves soapy lacing.

Toasted malts in the aroma, along with some tea-like hops and a good whiff of carbonation.

Again, toasty/bready malt shows first in the taste. There’s just a kiss of sweetness to it, and it is soon more-than-balanced by some earthy, tea-like bitterness. There’s also a little nuttiness in the mix, a hint of dried fruit and touch of iron that’s evocative of a busted lip.

Nice thick mouthfeel with just carbonation to break through.

This beer has a lovely hue about it and the balance in the taste is just where I like it for an ESB. The carb-level seemed off enough to detract from the head retention and the initial aroma, although it works on the feel. I definitely enjoyed drinking it.

Look: The beer pours a translucent, murky, deep amber / apricot. Frothy, beige head with small and large bubbles all mixed together. After the initial pour it settles down to a finger, leaving some lacing in its wake, and then just a thin layer across the top. Streaks of lacing across the glass as I drink. No visible carbonation.

Smell: First aromatic is toast. Toasty and bready. Fresh hazelnut. Honey sweetness. All together the aroma reminds me of trail mix, or a cereal like Honey Bunches of Oats. Grainy, fruity and nutty. Apple and apricot sweetness. Earthy, vegetal and tea like hop aromas.

Taste: Very clean flavor profile. There’s a honey sweetness that carries throughout the beer. This flavor picks up as the beer warms. Fruity with notes of apple, dried apricot, white raisin. Fresh hazelnut again. Hints of vanilla.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with nice carbonation this pricks the palate. The beer finishes dry with an ever so slight apple skin/lemon pith bitterness.

Overall: This beer is excellent. Out of the fridge I’d let this sit out for 30 minutes before drinking it, as it gracefully opens up at about 50 degrees F. Kane really hit it pint of the park with their first ESB

Pouring from a 16 oz. can into a whiskey tumbler glass, this beer pours out resembling a sweet tea. A deep amber/dull copper color with a murky finish. One finger worth of tightly packed, eggshell colored bubbles sits as the crown.

The nose carries a caramel that is similar to the caramel used for dipping apples, however it’s got a toastiness to it. There also seems to be an almost honey sweetness to it as well before it melds into light fruit notes of apricot, apple, maybe candied orange? and even notes of very slight lemon peel. The orange I’m picking up is almost like an orange dessert of some kind the way it mixes with the sweetness. I also get reminded of a sweetened tea with some lemon sitting at the bottom. I would like some more pronunciation on these notes, as I feel like I’m having to take pretty deep breaths to find them but they are pleasant and delightful, nonetheless.

The taste proves those light fruit notes that the nose was throwing my way. It starts off with apricot and apple before morphing into the quick and slight candied orange and finishing with a lemon peel presence. Those light fruit notes sit on top of a balanced and sweet, toasted malt backbone with the likes of toasted caramel and honey showing. Picture a fresh brewed tea on a hot sunny day that you pour over a few lemon slices and then drizzle some warm honey in. There is some butter that shows up at the very end; but it’s not thick like some ESBs I’ve had, where it resembles movie theater popcorn butter, it’s more of just a morph of everything going on.

I would say the mouthfeel is heavy medium bodied; full bodied for the style. Even though the sweetness is balanced in the taste, it contributes greatly to a thickness in the body. It’s got a clean, smooth finish with no sign of any ABV.

Overall, this is a treat of a brew. It offers very respectable balance while showing different layers and complexities that all tangle together to make a winner for me.