Emersons Bookbinder Bitter

Brewed by Emersons Brewing Company
Style: Bitter
Dunedin, New Zealand

(On tap) Clear, warm, amber golden with an off-white head. Lightly nutty nose. Light-bodied yet still with a fairly solid malt base. Notes of caramel and nuts. Short, dry finish. A neat session Bitter. 240108

Draught at The Malthouse, Wellington. Clear pale brown. Light aroma of roasty malt. Very light bodied. The crisp bready malt profile nearly allows water to shine through. The hop rate is low, and so is the bitterness. Serving this beer with CO2 pressure probably doesn’t help it a lot. A cask serving could have lifted the delicate malt character above the fizz.

On tap. Copper coloured beer with a thin white head. Aroma is hoppy with goldings and somethings else citrusy and spicy. Orange and spices in the nose as well. Flavour seems to have a bit of diacetyl underneath a decently malty caramel and spice backbone.

not as interesting as other emersons beers. the nz saaz aroma is pretty strange, there's some caramel and butterscotch and perennials. decent bitter finish with pickled prune

I’ve had this recently on tap at Robbie Burns in Dunedin, and from the bottle with dinner last night. Clear bright oange-amber, off-white frothy head. Lots of fruit in the aroma, tropical fruit, orange. Caramel malt undertones. The palate has delicious aromatic fruity hops married in perfect balance to delicious vienna-style caramel malts. Medium bitterness. Light without being "weak" in any way, very flavourful and satisfying despite the surprisingly low ABV. Another terrific offering from Emerson’s!

Simply the finest beer I have tasted. I love the mix between the fruitiness (reminds me a little of blackberries) as you first taste and the bitterness of the aftertaste. I could drink it all night (and have done!).

I’ve had this one in New Zealand on my honeymoon. Visited the brewery too.
Bought it from the brewery in a big plastic bottle. Very drinkable bitter.

I found this on tap at The Malthouse in Wellington. It has a good copper colour and what looks like to be a low carbonation in the glass. The appearance generally in the glass is one that doesn’t make you go woohoo but more than anything this is more to do with the generosity of the barkeeps than the beer itself. The nose has a strong pine resin and some blackberries in the overall aroma. The stated 4% belies the mouthfeel and after a while the flavour is an agreeable beer. I am a bit confused with the combination of hops though, a bit like some restaurants tryig to serve a surf and turf, therefore not traditonal but neither a good combination either. In the long run the effervescence resurfaces to further bring this potentially good beer down to mediocrity.