S. St. Jeb wrote:Noticed a new can in the LCBO today for Nickel Brook Equilibrium. It has previously been billed as an Extra Special Bitter. It's now called an English-Style Ale. I don't know if there is any change to the beer itself; I'm guessing not. Their website has not been updated with this change.
English-Style Ale doesn't tell you if it's a Brown or a Pale or whatever, so it's not a real classification when used as a name, not on RateBeer. Equilibrium is still an ESB which is just one type of English-Style Ale.
I bet it's just for easier marketing to Regular Store Buyers who might be scared of the word 'Bitter' even though it's not literally true. Same with calling an ale Brown Ale, some people might be terrified of colour and assume a mild brown session ale is overwhelming in taste.
To give Nickel Brook a tiny pass here I would just expect anything simply called 'English-Style Ale' to be in the range of more approachable session ales in terms of ABV strength and character. Fairly quaffable. Which I certainly think an ESB can be (you can have Bitter or Ordinary Bitter, Special Bitter, ESB and then we're broaching Pale Ale on the English Ale continuum though I might be less inclined to include Pales or certainly IPAs.)
Any English pub drinkers care to clarify? Would you order a 'Pint of Best" for ESB and 'Pint of Ale' for Ordinary Bitter?