Old Mill Elora ESB (Special Bitter)
Trafalgar Ales and Meads in Oakville, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦
Other Regular|
Score
5.96
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6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
uh oh...........trafalgar beer. Well i come in expecting the worse. Nice amber pour, a good looking ESB pour. A nice nose of english hops, and a touch of malt. Hmm, wow, this doesnt taste like pond water! This is actually a decent beer, some nice hopping, but i would prefer more malt. tasty beer, but i would consider it a well hopped golden ale than an ESB.
Tried
on 27 Feb 2025
at 09:36
6.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bouteille 650ml, sous le nom "Elora Special Bitter". De couleur ambrée-dorée et claire. Nez de houblon floral aux notes herbeuses (herbes fraîches), malté de grains sucrés et légèrement caramélisés, léger de pain et de fruits (agrumes sucrées, notes d’abricots et de mangues) avec des notes de noix. Moyenne-mince en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et une texture aux petites notes huileuses. Moyen goût fruité (agrumes, notes de mangues, traces d’abricots) accompagné de traces de noix lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute rapidement une amertume de houblon floral, herbeux (foin et notes d’herbes mouillées) et aux notes citriques (une amertume présente jusqu’en fin de gorgée), un goût de caramel doux, de pain, léger de biscuits et avec des traces de sucre blanc puis en finale l’amertume de houblon revient en force et se fait légèrement asséchante. Post-goût moyen-long et un peu sec, moyennement amer de houblon herbeux, floral, très légèrement citrique et aux petite notes terreuses.
Tried
on 12 Sep 2011
at 20:17
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
This company loves to confuse people. One day it’s Trafalgar, one day it’s back to Old Mill (and both names are on the label). This one I am rating is 5% ABV, but is the new designed label. It says now... "Elora Special Bitter". The other one I reviewed a few weeks back (from my cellar), is 4.7% ABV and said "Elora ESB". So, I probably reversed both brew review (but I put them in the right ABV ones). I hope it make sense to you. This new version pours a clear golden-amber colour with hardly no head. Mild lacing is still formed and little coat tops the brew. Hardly any carbonation as well. The nose is fruity with some caramel and bready malt. A little sticky, but quite refreshing. Great tasting with lots of flavours. Caramel, fruits, bread, piney hops (but not too much) and toffee in the aftertaste. And all of that and quite fresh. A great ESB !
Tried
on 26 Jan 2011
at 15:14
4.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
Bottle, 5.0%. Strange fruity aroma. Orange amber colour. Very small white head. The flavour is also strangely fruity, has a slightly rough bitterness. Seems a little oxidised. Slightly slimy mouthfeel, low carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Aug 2010
at 15:03
4.8/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4
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.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Jul 2008
at 09:09
5.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5
A golden ale with a thick off white head. Aroma of peppery malts, spent grains and light hops. In mouth, a washed out malt with some residual herbaceous hops, very British and restrained. Early signs of yeast and infection, sourish. Bottle from LCBO Kingston, Oct. 2007.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Oct 2007
at 20:23
5.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 6
This ale pours a dark orange with a rocky white head that disappears quickly. The scents are pretty generic. Sweet smelling malts with with a citrus scent far into the background. First sip is watery and under-carbonated. There is a small bitterness there but nothing to speak of. The bitter stays for a while but all in all kind of boring.
Tried
on 29 Nov 2004
at 20:24
4.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4
Hazy amber coloured body with tons of small bubbles rising from the bottom and a dense slightly off-white head. Aroma of english hops, caramel, honey, tart apples and slight malt. Light-bodied; Tart, sweet fruit flavours up front with hardly any hops and malt following up behind. Aftertaste a bit bland, some malt present, but basically a tart feeling. Overall, not good-definitely not a bitter-but WIERD! I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from the LCBO on Queen’s Quay in Toronto, Ontario on 10-July-2004 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Oct 2004
at 23:07
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Fresh-tasting. Rich maltiness and underlying woody hops.....................
Tried
on 30 Nov 2000
at 23:08