Fresh Hop ESB - Granville Island Brewery

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

2.83/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

From a 650 ml brown bottle. Pours out a clear, deep coppery hue with lazy carbonation, however with a tall, tight frothy off-white head that slowly settle.

Clean toasty, biscuity grains on the nose, with mild spicy, leafy, perfumey hops. Faint hint of marmalade in the background.

Toasty, biscuity malt up front in the flavour, yet with some sour grains too. Dry earthy and leafy hops round out the finish, and linger further into the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is the lighter end of medium-bodied, creamy smooth texture that adds a boost to the perception of fullness, and moderate carbonation.

Not an enjoyable example of the style. Not sure if the slight off flavour is the result of a bottling issue, from the hops, or even missing a protein rest. Overall a very mild offering for the style although it is still well-balanced all things considered. Would benefit with some tweaking if brewed again. That said, still happy to see GI limited edition beers making their way to Alberta shelves, even if small quantities.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2011 21:38:24 | More by IronDjinn

buddyvelt

Michigan

4/5  rDev +19%

02-05-2012 00:53:04 | More by buddyvelt

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.1/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

650ml bottle. Nice to see these GI limited releases making their way to Alberta.

This beer pours a clear, medium golden copper hue, with one finger of foamy eggshell white head, which readily disappears, leaving a low drooping wash of lace around the glass. It smells of sweet biscuity grain, and floral, vaguely tangy, hops. The taste is plain caramel malt, a bit of mild sourness, a slight metallic edge, and middling leafy, earthy hops. The carbonation is moderate, and a bit airy, the body medium-light in weight, and adequately smooth. It finishes off-dry, the grainy, somewhat sweet malt barely confronted by a now established weak-ass bitter hoppiness.

Yeah, not an ESB, no crisp biscuit malt, no restrained (but only so much) bitter noble hops. The marketing hocus-pocus aside (oh, and the 'Fresh Hops'? Fahgeddaboudit.), what we have here is a just slightly skewed, run of the mill bitter. Special, eh? The jokes just write themselves.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2011 06:57:13 | More by biboergosum

BDTyre

British Columbia (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Not bad, but a think ESB is a marketing phrase or a misnomer, as this is pretty tame and I think is more like a standard bitter. The appearance is good - orangey copper with a nice white head, but everything else is somewhat subdued. Mellow malty smell, with a wierd, almost rubbery character to it. Not sure if this is due to the hops, but certainly the fresh, wet plant smell is.

Creamy, smooth malty taste with a bit of sharp, spicy hop character. The flavours are well blended, but very soft and don't jump out. Maybe this would be a best bitter.

Mouthfeel is a bit off here - not very carbonated. Actually, this drinks almost like its from the cask but for some reason I really think this should be a bit more carbonated.

A good beer, but it just needs a bit of fine tuning.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2010 02:53:51 | More by BDTyre