Jolly Abbott
Granville Island Brewery

 

 

 

650mL bomber poured into a Chimay chalice. Deep amber color with a thin tan head. Aroma of fruits and yeast. Sweet taste of plums, molasses, and some spice. The alcohol is quite noticeable. Overall this is a pretty good dubbel-style beer from Granville Island, probably the best offering I've tried from them so far.

Bomber poured into a wine glass, got this at the Whistler liquor store. Pale brownish amber with a small off-white head that leaves lite lace. Really nice artwork on the label.

Smell is pretty sweet, nice fruity esters with a bite of spice, light phenols.

Taste is spicier, some clean alcohol, a bit of dark fruit, sugary, not too bad, nor terribly exciting either. But for Canadian beer, it's a welcome change, eh?

Mouthfeel is on the sticky, thicker side. A bit still, decent digestibility though.

Drinkability is ok, a decent little abbey style ale. I'm probably enjoying it more then I would at home due to the dearth of decent beer in BC.

Bottle: Poured a light amber color ale with average size foamy head with good retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of light candi sugar with some light toffee malt. Taste is pretty straightforward with some light candi sugar and caramel/toffee malt and a grainy aftertaste. Body is very thin for the style with some OK carbonation and some alcohol ester. Definitely lacking some fruity ester and some yeast character.

Every time that I go to Vancouver, I seem to wind up at the Granville Island Market, and of course, can't help but drag my host(s) into the brewery as we amble by it. This time, I reflected on the fact that it's been a number of years since their products were available on Alberta store shelves, so I though that was a decent (ok, at least to me) excuse to check them out again. The only thing that seemed new, this being a December visit, were their winter ale, and this, available for take-away in bombers, my favorite way to travel, beer-wise.

This beer pours a deep burnt orange, slightly hazy, with lots of soap-bubbly off white head, that leaves shower curtain lacing around the glass as it recedes. The aroma is dates, overripe bananas, and yeast. The taste is bready, yeasty, with some ripe dark fruit esters, and quite warm from the alcohol. Any hopping is only noticeable as a slight bittering at the front. The carbonation is mild, and at the finish, there's subtle sweet yeasty fruit. This is an approachable strong ale in the Belgian style, but all I could think was, this is like a weaker-flavoured Unibroue offering. Not exactly complex for the style, but very drinkable, nice for a night of staying home and staying out of the ridiculous sub-zero temperatures.

A: Reddish-brown, off-white head, thin ring of retention, slight leg/lace.

S: Huge dark fruit & candied fruit aroma, jube-jube like fruitiness, pomegranate, rind, nice spicing, very fruit-cake-like, alcohol certainly noticeable.

T: Dark fruit, candied fruit & alcohol are up front. Good spicing, slightly bready, toffee, orange rind, balanced bitterness.

M: Moderate body & carbonation, slight residual sweetness leaves an off-dry finish.

D: It's a nice sipper.

GI nailed this one for a Xmas beer as it is spicy and full bodied. Essentially a dubbel with spices this tastes like old fruit,yeast and all spice. Not too sweet and made for the cellar I see this as a worthy follow up to the Merry Monks Double Bock from last year. Seems like BC is getting a rep for good Belgian style beers.