Skip to main content

ESB by Sea Change Brewing

Image
By


I recently found out this blog ranks highly in search engine results for craft beer reviews so it seems the onus is on me to revive it. To that end, I'm going to start adding new reviews and looking for another contributor or two.

Today I'm reviewing ESB by Sea Change, a local Edmonton brewery. I purchased this as part of six pack of singles I assembled myself at Sip Liquor Market, a great little beer-focused shop not far from my home.

Is this an authentic attempt at an ESB or English Special Bitter? Read on and find out.

Appearance: ESB comes in a 473mL can. The packaging features a custom illustration very much in line with Sea Change's highly consistent design language. Once poured, I can see that this beer is much darker than I expected. I anticipated copper or amber and what I got is brown. Visually it reminds me of a British brown ale more akin to Newcastle than a quintessential English bitter. Head retention was little to none and there was no lacing left on the glass.

Aroma: This beer is really giving me brown ale vibes. It smells nutty and slightly chocolatey to me.

Taste: Have I mentioned how much this beer reminds me of a brown ale yet? The flavour profile skews sweet and malty. The nut and chocolate notes on the nose carry through to the taste and the bitterness I associate with English bitters just isn't there. Don't get me wrong—I don't expect a hop bomb and I'm fully aware of the difference between ESB and IPA. But this beer just doesn't meet my overall expectations for an English Special Bitter. There's also slight metallic tang hidden here—it doesn't bother me, but it is definitely there.

Mouthfeel: British brewers take a lighter approach to carbonating bitters and this beer aligns well with that.

Overall: What is this beer trying to be? I don't consider myself too much of a style purist but when a brewery puts out something called ESB, I expect an ESB. This is not that. To be fair, it's not a bad beer. It is an easy drinker. If this were marketed as a brown ale, I'd probably rate it a full point higher.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Down the New Zealand Pilsner Rabbit Hole

By
There are many different beer styles but the majority are well-established and well-known to brewers. Their characteristics and the ingredients that comprise them are generally understood and accepted. That said, the craft beer explosion over the past decade or two has led to an evolution and expansion of traditional beer canon. New styles have emerged. Some have trended then waned—take white IPAs or India Pale Lagers for instance—while others seem to have completely redefined the brewing industry. (Yes, I'm talking about hazy or New England-style IPAs and pale ales.) New Zealand (NZ) Pilsner is a relatively new and seemingly only loosely defined style. Most articles on the style have been written in the past three years. Popular primarily in its country of origin and among homebrewers, its defining features seem to be that it is brewed mostly with Pilsner malt and NZ-grown hops. Much has been written about hops from NZ, especially Nelson Sauvin , a particularly standout vari...
Read more

Monocle Single Hop IPA with Nectaron by Four Winds

By
I really like single hop beers for their educational value—there’s no better way to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of different hops. Mikkeller, one of my favourite breweries of all time, had a wonderful series of single hop IPAs a decade or so ago that was instrumental to my understanding of classic North American hop varieties like Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe and many more. So I was happy to see that Four Winds has a newer series of single hop releases with more contemporary hops coming out under the name Monocle. This was my first sampling of this series. Aroma: Smells like yard and garden clippings—in a good way. I personally get that from a lot of modern IPAs with new hop varieties. Taste: Very strong stone fruit finish, like peach or apricot. Bit of dank and a touch of grain which I like. (Maybe some blueberry notes as it warms—gets a little more sour too.) Mouthfeel: Pretty nice. Doesn’t fully achieve the fluffy cloud-like feeling I associate with an ou...
Read more

Classic IPA by Nokomis Craft Ales

By
This is a quick review of Classic IPA by Nokomis Craft Ales from Nokomis, Saskatchewan. Appearance: Classic IPA comes in a traditional 335mL can featuring clean and simple graphic design. The beer pours a little hazy but has a nice copper colour with head that lasts throughout the glass and leaves thick lacing. Aroma: I smell resinous pine and a touch of candy. Taste: Citrus, pine and just the right amount of sweetness. This is a really well balanced. Mouthfeel: Carbonation is slightly less than medium. Body is slightly fuller than average. Perfect for the style. Overall: It's rare to find such a prototypical example of a West Coast IPA released by a brewery that was founded in the last 10 years. I really enjoyed this beer, which is the first I have tasted and reviewed by this brewery. Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Read more