Is Church Lady Extra Special Bitter Dana Carvey’s favorite beer? I don’t know for sure, but I can tell you this: it’s definitely not mine. Neither, for that matter, is Revelry one of my favorite breweries. I went there and had two lackluster beers this summer. I did like their roof seating and bar, but the beers were the weakest of the three breweries I visited that night (Palmetto and Edmund's Oast being the other two). Inexplicably, Revelry was packed to the gills while the other two had sparser crowds.
I purchased a can of Church Lady Extra Special Bitter at Total Wine in Charleston, so this is the first packaged beer I have purchased from this brewery. I am very fond of ESB, which should be a little fuller in both body (more malt) and bitterness and hop aroma than a pale ale. How would Church Lady Extra Special Bitter stack up?
First, let’s see what Revelry says about the beer on the can:
We’re tossing one out for our brewing blokes across the pond with this extra special bitter! Amber, light-bodied, assertively bitter and full of English yeast character makes this beer a smashing example; isn’t that special?
Revelry Church Lady Extra Special Bitter has an alcohol content of 5% by volume. I bought a single, but the beer was running $10.99 for 4 pint cans.
Revelry Church Lady Extra Special Bitter pours to a hazy orange amber color with a medium sized head of creamy foam and a soft tea like herbal hoppiness in the nose. Taking a sip, there isn’t much going on in the palate, a faint bit of caramel, a light lemony citrus note, some soft tea like aromas and pretty much nothing in the finish.
Isn’t that special? Not really. I found Church Lady ESB to be bland, unexceptional, and not exciting at all. I want more malt here for sure, and more hops too. This is the third boring beer I have had from this brewery. Strike three, Revelry. You’re out.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled, canned
(D)=Draft