La Vache Folle - ESB
Microbrasserie Charlevoix

Clean copper color with a minimal haze. Impressive rocky head that recedes with a dome. Plentiful spots and streaks are left behind.

Semisweet caramel smell, very British. Very low hop smell. Creamy, lactose aroma.

The flavor is far less sweet than the smell. The hop really stands out here, particularly in the swallow and long aftertaste. Full bodied with an elevated carbonation level. The caramel malt flavor remains, but now it's subtle. The hop approaches harshness, but the overall effect is positive.

Strange beer from a French Quebecois microbrewery making an English style ESB? I went in skeptical. This entry says 6% but my can says 5.5%. Pours an interesting bright orange amber, quite hazy, with a two finger off-white head that lingers. Can't get very much at all on the nose. Very muted generic malt and hops, too faint to characterise. On the palate, toasty biscuit malt, none of that cheap cereal grain malt that you often get with New World beers, so they nailed that English aspect. The hops bitterness is appropriate, not overbearing, just right in fact, but the flavour profile is maybe a couple degrees off. Can't find any info on whether these are New World hops, but I do suspect it. Either way, the taste is pretty good, not bang on for the style, but not egregiously far off. When it comes to these traditional styles I do think the traditional ingredients and methods are what makes the style, but this particular beer is not an insult to ESBs. The carbonation is also a bit pricklier than good English ales tend to be. Overall it's a half decent attempt at the ESB style, and a drinkable beer in its own right.

 

 

 

Good, not very Amber, refreshing.

 

 

 

Pours crystaline bright orange amber with a rhinnish but persistant head and minimal lacing. Light aromas of bread and dried fruit. Flavour bready, caramel dried fruit. Lovely defined but not overpowering bitterness in the body.

 

 

 

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a high sided snifter glass.

Look is a lovely dark slightly hazy amber with a thin but full white head.

Aroma is of dry biscuit malt maybe a little molasses in there too.

Taste is rich and malty. I haven't had a true to style ESB in awhile but this certainly nails the British pub nostalgia of drinking.

Haven't found a better ESB yet. This beer is a must.

From lacasadelacerveza. In Ikea's pint glass. After dinner. More refreshing than usual in the style, maybe thanks to a slight and pleasant sourness. Left me wanting more.

 

 

 

This is my first time trying the style so my rating is not in comparison to other esb's Its just what I think about this beer.

Appearance - this beer pours a deep gold with brown hues, 3 fingers off white head that last awhile and lacing remains for even longer.

Aroma - Floral hops, buscuity malts, slight citrus and caramel.

Taste - totally follows the smell from hops to malts to citrus and caramel.

Mouth feel - Light-medium body etremely balanced slightly more bitter throughout, prickly carbonation sweet finish.

Overall - I very much enjoyed this beer, I hope to try more ESB's down the road.