Tin Whistle Rattlesnake ESB

Formerly brewed at Tin Whistle Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Penticton, Canada

This poured a cloudy but well-carbonated coppery orange colour, with a smallish, foamy white head. Not much nose with this one, maybe a little hop but it was hard to detect. Taste was pretty good, lots of hopped bitterness, one of the best ESB’s I’ve had in some time. Mouthfeel was not spectacular but I’d drink this again anytime.

This is my first crack at the Tin Whistle brand and it was ok. The brew poured a browny yellow very little head in my glass but lots in Beerchronics, I got hosed I guess but its his beer so I won’t complain. The sent was hard to detect but what could be detected was of freshly cut wet wood and lemon. The taste was very bitter but since I was drinking a bitter go figure. I noticed a lemony malt at the back of my tung taking some edge away from the bitterness. As the beer warmed it got more mellow and less intense, went down smooth. Five minuets after finishing the brew my lips still taste bitter, oh well on to the next one.

***review from April 19, 2006***
Nice dark apricot colour and big Viagra induced head with really nice sticky lace...er...lacing. Something Twilight Zone like happened in my glass when the beer started cascading and oscillating dark diamonds which moved upwards to the top of the glass - freaking amazing - had to be the glass and lighting set up or an acid flashback - go with the latter. Crisp hoppy aroma with a bit of sweetness noted. Sweet lemon (background) and light malts complimented the excellent tasty bitter hops very well - not at all watery. Killer mouth feel. Nice and bitter! Excellent beer.

650ml brown bottle. Light orange tone, small but stable white head. Aroma is faintly malty, slight floral notes with a hint of butterscotch. Flavour is quite malty, toasted malts, slight caramel notes. Citrus-y (light grapefruit) hop presence in the finish. Medium body with light carbonation.

Slightly hazy orange amber, biscuity sweet aroma, slightly fruity. Mostly malty palate, with a medium bitter finish. I liked it and thought it was a decent attempt at the style.

It always makes me feel badly when friends try so hard to find beer I haven’t sampled and then the beer turns out to be bad. This was one. This cloudy copper brew with its thick white head had some nice notes of malt and hops in the nose but was mainly marred by a note of sour, astringency that carried over to the taste. Acidic and unpleasant.

650 ml bomber. Nice amber colour under a thick tight white head. Aroma is quite fruity and malty. Dark plum and black cherry fruits mix with sweet toasted malts and a whiff of alcohol. Flavour shows a bit of toffee, brown sugar, and maybe a touch of diacetyl in the mouth. Not really all that hoppy or bitter, but still drinkable.

Light bronze with a slight haze. Bready, crackerlike aroma. The flavour is quite toasty malt character with woody, cheesy (ossau-iraty) notes. Not really an ESB due to lack of hops but a pretty tasty beer, like an English strong with a minerally finish. (Also, should be noted this is quite a bit different from the last time we saw this one in bottles, back in the late ’90s)