Lil' Johnny's ESB
Capitol City Brewing Company

OG 12 P. The body is a clear, deep copper bordering on chestnut with a reddish cast and orange and bronze highlights. Its short off-white head drops readily, but it maintains a creamy collar and leaves some splotchy streaks of lace. The nose is fairly basic but nice, combining a deep caramel maltiness and some grassy hops; and it's just lightly crisp in the mouth. The flavor reveals a clean, berry-like fruitiness and caramel/toffee malt astride a bold bitterness; all of which seem to simply fade away in a short, dry finish. Quite drinkable! And quite authentic. An honest-to-goodness British-style ESB without the elevated maltiness of so many other American versions and a no-holds-barred bitterness. Impressive.