Old Mill Elora ESB

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

341ml bottle
5.0% ABV (as written on the bottle)
Milton LCBO Outlet #1 (Milton, Ontario, Canada)
December 9, 2011
The beer poured a translucent red colour with a thin white head. The aroma was caramel malt, citrusy hops, and some funk. The mouthfeel was medium bodied with medium carbonation. The flavour was skunky malt, acidic sour notes notes, and weak bitter hops.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bomber bottle from the LCBO, cellared for a year. Pours a golden-orange colour with lots of little bubbles for carbonation. Huge off-white head that is fluffy with maximum retention and full of lace. Good aromas of the fuggles hop with some notes of nutty and caramel malts. A nice balance again in the flavours, with the caramel malt and the hop. A mild bitterness is present all the way through and into the aftertaste. Notes of nuts, light fruits (oranges, apples) A shock for a brew from Trafalgar... beautiful looking, no infection, very well-balanced all-over. Probably the best beer brewed by this brewer and an excellent overall ESB.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

Re-rating the newly packaged "special bitter" product. 650 mil bomber. Hard pour yields a light amber beer with a slightly off white 2 finger cap....reduced quickly. Light, fine- bubbled carbonation. Light aromas of sweet carmel malts and some golding hops. Light bodied, malty caramelly-sweet without cloying, buttery mouth feel... finishes harsh as acidic bittering takes over. ...not bad for a Canadian ESB. Probably the best traditional ale effort from this brewer but the hop boil is still too long and this stuff still gives me heart burn.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

Bottle: Poured a light hazy brown color ale with a small bubbly head with no retention and no lacing. Aroma of dry lightly bitter English hops is the only discernable characteristic. Taste is also dominated by light English dry hops with no discernable malt profile. It might be due to low carbonation but this beer appears to be stale. This was definitely not true to the style or anywhere close to being interesting.