Bishop's Best Bitter
Golden Lion Brewing Company / Pub & Brasserie le Lion D'Or

500 ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Thanks Mom for bringing this back from Sherbrooke.

Appearance - Clear rich dark golden color with honey brown hues. A finger plus of head rests on top and slowly fizzles down to a small soapy head, but that remains the entire duration of the beer. Curtain style lacing at the edges of the glass.

Smell - Lots of malt and grainy with a distinctly hoppy and earthy aroma as well.

Taste - Grains with a touch of fruit esters, then malty (I get a connotation to malt vinegar momentarily and that is followed up with assertive earthy bitterness, a bit too much in the way of hops for the style.

Mouthfeel - Clean and medium bodied, appropriately lighter than average carbonation and very dry finish.

Overall - A pretty decent ESB, although maybe too hoppy and too bitter for that style as it's reach towards English IPA territory with that level of hops. Still a decent brew that will strongly appeal to some. Noticeably better as it warmed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A:
Pours a clear copper with an airy off-white head that dissipates pretty rapidly leaving a thin but persistent film. Some retention and fairly decent lacing.

S:
Smells like a beer. Sour alcohol tinge with malty caramel notes making up the majority of the aromas. Kind of thin smelling and not very complex.

T:
Crisp and ever-so-slightly watery tasting. Earthy with medicinal hop notes.

M:
Thin and flat. Crisp and clean up front with rising hoppiness. Really abrupt finish.

O:
Pretty tasty. Way hoppier than I expected. To my tastes it is closer to a Pale Ale than an ESB, but whatever. Nice a drinkable. I think the hoppiness isn't overdone, but it is really bitter (like medicine). Would drink again. Would not expect it to taste like other ESBs I have had.

500mL bottle into a pint glass.

Gorgeous looking beer with a clear amber/reddish color and a large, super fluffy head. Good malt and bitter hop in the nose with an earthy and herbal character which is quite inviting. Flavors are composed of biscuity notes from the malt and herbal/piney notes from the hop. Flavors linger very well. Body is on the high side with a nice warming touch of alcohol to sustain the rest. Overall, very enjoyable and balanced. A good surprise from this brewery!

 

Bottle: Poured a light copper color ale with a solid off-white head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of cereal and dry bitter hops are dominating. Taste is a mix between some dry cereal note with light dry caramel and some dry and also astringent bitter hops with no floral or other characteristics. Body is about average with good carbonation. The use of a very dry malt base with some dry hops resulted in a somewhat one-dimensional beer with not much complexity.

 

500ml Bottle

Appearance – Mostly clear copper colour with an average size fizzy off white coloured head. There is an average amount of carbonation visible and there is a good amount of lacing. The head lasted for around 5 minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Malts, hops, caramel, citrus, earthiness

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts, caramel, and some light hops. There is a slight amount of grapefruit/orange and a roasted/toasted flavour. The beer finishes with a malty sweet aftertaste with quite a bit of bitterness that lingers.

Overall – As some other have said, this beer comes across as more of a IPA or PA. It's quite bittersweet so I'm not sure I could drink more that 1 bottle of this at a time.

Had this on tap at the brewpub. Pours a copper colour with big white head. Nice lacing around the pint glass. Smells of floral, citrus and earthy hops with a nice caramel backbone. Flavour packs a bitterness punch more than I was expecting for an ESB, with a nice sweetness balance. This was my favourite of the lineup at Golden Lion as it was the one I ordered again once I finished trying everything. Probably could be verging on a mild IPA or pale ale instead of a bitter.

500ml bottle into pint.

L- This really looks nice. Small bubbles rise at different speeds in a beautiful amber. Head is frothy like whipped egg whites. Also the same colour as egg whites. Good thick lacing.
S- Grapefruit. Orange juice (from concentrate). A bit of honey once it warms up.
T- Litchi and of course grapefruit but not as strong as the smell would lead you to believe. A bit of a metallic after-taste.
M- Mouthfeel is fine. Definitely not too watery but nothing impressive.
D- I would buy a case of this. And drink lots of it. And would love to have some of my non-BA friends try it.

Received this as part of a trade. I'm not sure it fits the style of an ESB.. the balance is off and any semblance of fruitiness is vacant.

It pours a dark copper color and the offwhite head recedes to a small ring of foam.

The smell is of bitter hops and some toasted malts.

The taste has a very small amount of sweetness but is dominated by bitterness. Not alot of complexity here or much to enjoy really.

Mouthfeel is average.. drinkability is below average for my tastes.

Pours a a nice thick head, sticking around a while. Some lacing going on.

Light smell, not much noticeable really.

Tastes light as most bitters do. Good amount of hops, almost like you would find in an IPA; some citrus; definitely bitter. I'm not really a fan of bitters but this one is alright!

Lightly carbonated, thin bodied (again, as usually found with bitters).

This tastes like it would be great super cold on a really hot day. I'm still not really a fan of bitters, I don't think I would buy this again but would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bitter. It's the best bitter I've had so far in my experiences with the style.

A: Perfectly translucent orange color with small but lasting off white head. Really looks like maple syrup.

S: Very nice malt sweetness backbone. Usual herbal type hops. Light smell.

T: Wow! I wasn't expecting that. Very very malty taste. Caramel and maple syrup are there. Hops are strong. Very herbal like in the smell. Much more intense than what I'm used to for the style. I've been surprised to fin a kind of coffee taste in this one, intesresting.... very balanced brew overall.

M: Perfect for this brew. Very creamy with a smooth mid carbonation with a medium high feel (which is much higher than most of the style).

D: Very drinkable. Low ABV, very well balanced.

bouteille brune de 500ml.

bière cuivrée passablement foncée, col très épais et durable, onctueux, il est blanc cassé. nez de houblon très agréable, un peu vert (houblon frais) belle bouche ronde, finale houblonnée très agréable, bonne amertume, équilibre parfait.

Much thanks to manaryp for bringing this back from Quebec.

A clear, deep, coppery amber hued bitter. A half finger light tan head formed on a fairly vigorous pour. Mildly and finely carbonated, and graced with thin yet full and intricate lacings.

Aromas of toast and whole grain crusty bread with a slight hint of toffee made for a very nice and somewhat complex malt aroma. This was followed by a very complimentary hop aroma (goldings?) with a predominantly leafy and earthy character.

Wow, this is yummy stuff. The whole grain crusty bread and toasty character forms a very tasty malt backbone, and hints of toffee and roasted nuts. Much like the nose, theres an impressive depth and complexity to this brew. Perfect amount of bittering hops reveal themselves midway through the taste and carry on lingering into the aftertaste. Leafy and earthy in character, but also carrying more complex flavours of bright virginia tobacco and cured leather.

Not quite a medium bodied brew. The rich and toasty malts finish refreshingly dry and have a wonderful counterpoint in the surprisingly complex and somewhat substantial hop bitterness which pleasantly lingers. Overall feel enhanced by a slight creaminess.

A refreshing yet complex brew, very tasty and certainly sessionable. Perhaps not the most approachable, but this is a great example of an easy drinking beer with great flavour and subtle complexity. Definitely recommended.