ESM 1.0
Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company

500ml glass at the brewpub in Ritchie Market YEG. An 'extra pale ale', as far as I can ascertain from the knowledgeable and affable barkeep.

This beer appears a slightly hazy, medium golden amber colour, with two skinny fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and sort of creamy off-white head, which leaves some connected mesa profile lace around the glass as it gently subsides.

It smells of grainy and bready caramel malt, tropical fruit notes (pineapple, guava, and kiwi), some tame hard water flintiness, mild domestic citrus rind, and more leafy, floral, and piney green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy caramel malt, a lesser biscuity toffee thing, more exotic fruitiness which mirrors that of the nose, a hint of plain estery yeast, and more earthy, weedy, and estery floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its structurally supportive frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and mostly smooth, full stop. It finishes off-dry, the ample malt keeping the lingering hop hipsters duly at bay.

Overall, this is a rather well-made Americanized pale ale, one that does very little to convince me of any IPA tendencies, but keeps the flavourful, instead of bitter essences duly in the forefront. Very drinkable, and dare I say crushable!