Old Mill Elora Irish Ale

Brewed by Trafalgar Brewing
Style: Irish Ale
Oakville, Canada

Bomber from LCBO, noted expiry is May of this year. Medium density pour and very moderate carbonation with a ruddy brown coat that is clear and deep. Nice aroma of roasted malt and caramel - malt has pleasant wildness. Taste repeat of aroma with the malty farm character caramel and a hint of hops. Very pleasant ale. Good feel and finish, balanced, showing no flaws. *** SLIGHT RE-RATE ** the 341 ml bottle from the OCB PACK NUMBER TWO is pouring almost a gusher head and has a more acidic aroma and taste. It’s halfway to a flemish sour like Petrus Oud Bruin - slight unintentional bacterial infection here, and while this bottle is interesting others may be worse so the brewer clearly has no control of what they are doing and rely on luck, Minus 4 overall, minus 1 each aroma and flavor.

This may well be the best offering from this unfortunate brewery, though that’s not saying a lot. Some buttery malts and a bit of fresh hops. No brewing flaws in mine, but maybe the bottle was very new. Still, thin mouthfeel, as this brewery insists on for some reason.

Sour malty smell. No head, very little carbonation. Colour is deep red/copper. Taste has hint of caramel. No carbonation.

341mL bottle from my OCB mixed pack from the LCBO. Weird format to see a Trafalgar product in. I was pretty hesitant about this one, given my previous experiences with the horrors of this brewery. What I got was something startling. Pours a deep and dark amber with a large beige head. The aroma is actually NOT of vinegar and awefulness, but real malts! And a hint of hops too! Flavour is surprisingly rich, and there’s a great malty core to it that reminds me of actual GOOD beer, not the crap that usually comes out of Trafalgar. I can’t believe it’s not infected! Maybe the smaller bottle format is the key they need to not completely destroying everything they make? I really can’t believe I’m rating a Trafalgar beer above a 1.

Bottle. Deep copper with an average foamy mocha head with poor to average retention with average lacing. Aroma is a bit sour, not much here, slightly metalic with some malt and caramel. Flavor is toasted malt, tart with herbal hops with a slightly bitter finsih. Medium body.

341 ml bottle from the OCB mixed pack - pours a deep copper red with a good two-finger tan head that lasts for awhile and leaves some fairly nice lacing. Aroma nicely grainy, and a chalky/milk chocolatey essence is present as well. Flavour fairly non-descript, but well-balanced. more cocoa shows up in the medium bitter finish. Not remarkable, but better than most Trafalgar beers I’ve had. The fact that it’s not infected is a small victory in and of itself.

This irish ale poured a dark red colour with a too big, foamy, off white head. Way overcarbonated. Almost unpourable. To the nose there are scents of old wine and alcohol. Slight hard cider scent. Flavours of vinegar and carbonated water. Terrible! What a waste of money. First drain pour for a while. Lost complete faith in Elora B C. Good chance I won’t buy any more.

341ml bottle. This is amber brown colour in the glass with a two inch, foaming, doughy head. The aroma is very herbal, grassy with something like dandelion. The mouthfeel is medium in body, a bit creamy. I taste brown bread and caramel in the malt with more grassy, herbal hops, some water.