English Bay Pale Ale - Granville Island Brewery

Garin

Alberta (Canada)

3.45/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

It poured a lovely clear coppery brown color with a thin but creamy and lasting head.

Obvious malty nose with a good dose of caramel and a light hops. Maybe a bit low on the hops aroma. It loses some score for the style, strictly speaking.

The flavour is a light caramel malt up front with a definite (but not overbearing) hop bitterness in the end. The middle is a tad light and somewhat hollow. A light citrusy overall character builds over time.

The mouthfeel is light and refreshing, easy drinking. Just what I'd expect.

It's a bit more malty and less hoppy than I'd expect from a pale ale. I'm noticing that Granville Island does that with quite a few of its ales. I think that might be one reason I really like GI...

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2003 05:56:48 | More by Garin

GrimmReaper

British Columbia (Canada)

2.08/5  rDev -33.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Also came in the 12 pk variety,otherwise i would'nt of tryed it.
Pours a copper-amber color with a small tan bubbly head with little retention and minimal lacing.
The nose is of malts,lite toffee,mild coffee with a sweetness in the air in there somwhere.
Taste is a little sweet with molasses coming thru and the malts and some stale something in there that lingers with you all the way thru this beer.
Got a creamy mouth which is medium to full body but at the same time kinda watery.
Not really my kind,and that stale taste really hits hard once it warms...not to my liking.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2007 18:59:19 | More by GrimmReaper

TheLiterati

California

3.58/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Nice, deep coppery amber color, fluffy white head. Aroma was pleasant, though a bit light for this style, with essences of caramel and fruit.

Cool, smooth mouthfeel – taste was almost “buttery” – sweet and smooth, with a bubbly, almost sparkling texture, which was refreshing on the unseasonably warm day I visited.

Overall, a pleasant enough pale ale, though not the best I’ve had. Still, I’d say the consistency of this composition is a positive attribute that works in its favor.

Serving type: on-tap

10-17-2004 20:11:38 | More by TheLiterati

OskarL

Sweden

2.95/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Clear amber/orange with a big white head that settles into a half finger head and no lacing.

Smell - Bready malt and some fresh hops.

Taste - Bread, some caramel malt, very mild citric hops, some metal and a bit watery.

Mouthfeel - Light body with qood carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2010 00:38:13 | More by OskarL

BasementBer

Manitoba (Canada)

2.8/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Pale, yup. Overly carbonated, head retention is poor.

S: Sweet malts, slight dry hoppy aroma, floral if anything.

T: Malts. No hop nose or middle body.

M: smooth on the palate but generally agreeable because it doesnt have much going on for it other than simplicity.

D: Very drinkable, but you dont sit and ponder.

Serving type: can

07-03-2011 06:08:53 | More by BasementBer

49degrees

British Columbia (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev +16%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A mid-range English styled Pale Ale from one of the region's top selling craft brewer. Widely available in traditional 341ml (12oz) bottles and on draught. The English Bay Pale Ale is mild tasting, features a light golden color, and gives off a moderate amount of aroma after pouring. Head is pretty consistent as is the lacing of the glass afterward.

Extremely easy on the palette with both a smooth and mellow flavor with hints of carmel behind a draping of malt and limited hopiness.

While it lacks the real character that I'm searching for when tackling a Pale Ale, it works particularly well as a general ale for parties with friends and family.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2002 20:24:37 | More by 49degrees

patre_tim

China

3.08/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Copper, medium fine bubble carbonation, 2 fingers of slight beige creamy foamy head, clear filtered. Nice lacing.

S: Bananas, cream, stinky feet, malt. Slight apricot.

T: Apricot tea, peach tea, malt. Slightly acidic, but mostly watery. Very little bitterness near the end.

M: Light slightly bready body, medium low low carbonation.

O: A real disappointing watery beer. Sort of like it, love the can and the fact its from Canada, but it is watery, tea like, and not flavourful.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 13:18:21 | More by patre_tim

greenengineer

Massachusetts

2.78/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.75

473 mL Can, in the hotel room, Toronto.
A - foamy head dissipates quickly, orange bronze color.
S - a little bit of malt sweetness
T - sweet, malty, a little watery, hits of pepper. sweetness not balanced by hops
M - a little watery, good fizz on the tongue.
O - Overall, I'm not impressed by the beer options here in Ontario. Drinkable compared to the fizzy yellow stuff, but nothing I would seek out.

Serving type: can

05-12-2013 17:35:37 | More by greenengineer

santa109

Quebec (Canada)

2.73/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Served at 45 degrees. Received as part of CanBIF4 courtesy of seldomseen.

A: Poured an amberish copper into a pint with about a finger of creme colored head. The heads diminishes quickly to a thick ring around the glass. This beer seems to be all show and no go.

S: Nothing spectacular, very mild in all departments. A bit of malt but even then it's very faint. There's an underlying sweetness that I can't put a word on.

T: A little bit of biscuit malts, again, very faint. The same general feeling of sweetness is present and as much as I'd like to find some traces of hops in there, I just can't.

M: On the thin side, very smooth with only a small amount of carbonation which gives it a bit of a creamy mouthfeel despite the thinness.

D: Generally, bland beers have great drinkability due to their resemblance to water but the weird sweetness of this one annoys me at each sip.

Overall, reminds me more of a bland amber than an APA. This one was a little disappointing.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2008 01:48:28 | More by santa109

niangelo

Alberta (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle with pretty Vancouver artwork. Poured a slighty cloudy orangesque coloured haze with a fluffy white top. Smells of malt, dryness.

A definite caramel flavour here - not usual for a pale ale, and an enjoyable surprise. This drink dries out at the finish and a touch of bitter, but an overall malt feel that's a bit much for a pale. Not too bad overall though.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2006 14:51:58 | More by niangelo

astout

British Columbia (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This used to be one of my go to beers before getting more heavily in to the craft scene. I had one for the first time in awhile last night that a buddy left at my house and remembered why i used to get it so often.

There's nothing really bad about this beer just relatively uninteresting, lightly hopped and decent dark malt make it easy to drink and inoffensive. More along the lines of an english pale i suppose than the APAs I've gotten used too but I can see where for someone going from BMC to this it would be a real notch up in the flavour and hop department.

I used to and can see myself again drinking this a fair amount, also it is pretty much everywhere in Vancouver so it's a virtual guarantee to be on tap next time I go to the bar to watch a Canucks game.

Serving type: bottle

09-24-2009 21:32:23 | More by astout

terryeckmeier

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Not what I was expecting at all little to no bitterness from what I can tell. Looks pretty but I was a little let down with this guy. I was all pumped for this big hoppy beer from the west coast and was a little let down. Maybe its one of those things where you get really excited and it just doesn't live up to the expectation you've built up in your head.

Serving type: can

03-09-2009 21:44:53 | More by terryeckmeier

IdeaSpeeder

Ontario (Canada)

2.94/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Serving Type - 473ml can poured into a nonic pint glass.

Appearance - Pours an redish brown colour. A white head that disappears quickly, leaving behind some light lacing.

Smell - Very sweet smelling. Some vanilla notes, combined with some caramel and toffee.

Taste - As expected from the nose, this brew is very sweet. Almost too sweet for my tastes. A big vanilla kick and more caramel. There may be some very light spiced - pepper maybe. Little to no hop bitterness, surprising for an english pale ale.

Mouthfeel - Medium to heavy body. The beer is almost 'sticky' - it sticks to the inside of my lips. So much sweetness. Carbonation is low - virtually non-existent. Unremarkable finish.

Overal - 3/5.

Serving type: can

05-07-2013 04:09:31 | More by IdeaSpeeder

cfalovo97

Ontario (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had this for the first time a few weeks ago (First of any Granville beer). I found it on tap at a local bar and was pleasantly surprised. Poured nice with a copper color, with a sweet cirtusy taste. Well balanced. The bartender said they were trying hard to get some other Granville products in as this one was being well recieved by those who tried it

Serving type: on-tap

11-23-2012 01:24:11 | More by cfalovo97

ghisty

New Brunswick (Canada)

3.31/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

appearance: pours somewhat foamy, and a deeper orange than i expected for the style,
being an ale i expected some color but this was a little deeper than i figured for.

smell: had a smooth malty smell. big notes of toasted grain. not overpowering. nice nose.

taste: crisp, and not hoppy really at all, almost zero dryness factor, an ale by definition
i was impressed by this beer. goes down nicely , reminded me of labatt blue but with double the malt and less corn. tasted like an ale should taste, but didnt linger around
which makes drinking more of it easy. the food pairings for this (as stated on the box) are grilled meat (which is pretty vague). but it mentions a carmel flavour, which i failed to find as anything worth mention. that charectaristic would be subtle, at best.

mouthfeel:
not sharp at all, still somewhat carbbed, compared to a more classic ale style.
but sort of slick and smooth , with a small zip of the malt and the grain mixing.

overall:
i didnt know what to expect, and having bought a 6pack, i was hoping it was decent.
this doesnt exactly seem to be a PALE ale as they state ..it seems more to me like a slightly creamy amber..but without the typical hops of most ambers.
and heavy on the malts and grains. i was initially impressed by this beer, but the more i drank of it the more it became just a slightly above average craft beer .
I dont have anything really bad to say, because it is good. but it leaves a little bit to the imagination, but that can make for an awesome session brew.
if ale is your thing, and you like it west coast local. give it a shot.
not something id buy frequently, but i can see a specific type of beer fan loving it.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2013 22:54:55 | More by ghisty

sAws

3.23/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pale amber colour with a little bit of head but very little lacing. Smell is average and taste is good. Nothing really sticks out just a good pale ale. Mouthfeel is thin and after taste is smooth. Decent beer but not great as it could use a little more flavour.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2012 16:12:58 | More by sAws

Seanont

Ontario (Canada)

3.83/5  rDev +22.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served on tap in a GP pint glass has a nice copper color with two fingers of head.

Smooth Light tasting with good flavor with a hint of Carmel during the smell test.

Carmel malts and hops on my first taste with a roasted after taste.

Tasted perfect along side my burger and overall a very nice drinking experience.

Serving type: on-tap

12-19-2011 16:34:48 | More by Seanont

imasickboy

Pennsylvania

2.08/5  rDev -33.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Thanks to woodychandler for the tasting.

Poured a semi-dark amber color, with little head. Smelled a wee bit malty, but with another aroma that I just couldn't place. Several days later, I can still smell it, but still cannot describe it. Thin in the mouth, with a taste matching the unknown aroma. Seemed watery, with little flavor other than the mystery one. I wish I had more to say about this beer, but the fact is, I can't describe it, and I really didn't like it.

Serving type: can

09-13-2007 01:06:45 | More by imasickboy

Gtheroux

Alberta (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev +15%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pour was great with it's copper look and nice head, but little lacing..

I've drank alot of Granville island beers and they use a certain malt or hop that give a sweet smell and taste... There are caramel or toffee flavors?? ... It's really present in there winter ale... Love the sweetness.

Taste is one of a kind, therefore it's gets above aveage rating here... Sweet malts that I can't taste anywhere else outside of granville.. With little to no hop flavor for a pale ale... I can't help but sometimes just crave the sweetness this beer has to offer.

To much carbonation for a sweet beer..

Easy to drink when reading beer reviews, a book, playing xbox, ect... There is no need to sit down and search for complexitys.. Great easy to drink beer

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2011 21:23:03 | More by Gtheroux