Morning Star
Town Hall Brewery

A Double ESB, huh? Sounds interesting. Let's crack this growler open! Solid amber color, huge cascading head that fell slowly, dense and rocky, sticky lacing. Smell is full of toasty malts, sweet, inviting, much like fresh baked bread. A hint of bitterness is detected in the back end of the nose plus a hint of caramelized sugar. Taste is very nice. It's the perfect example of a beer tasting like it smells. Liquid bread is the best adjective, sweet at first, turns bitter toward the middle, perfect amount of earthy noble hops, a hint of berry fruitiness, and a long lasting dry finish. Medium-full bodied, average carbonation. Whoever said Dopplebocks are liquid bread need to give this one a try and rethink that statement. So much bready goodness mingles nicely with the toasty malts and earthy, noble hop bitterness. Another A+ from Town Hall. This brewery never ceases to amaze me.

Fresh Growler: Bold bronzed orange color, fairly clear with some slow and subtle bubbles within. Medium capping of off-white, firmly set foam sits atop for a stint before leaving lots of broken stringy sheeting lace and a slim skim.

Aroma is mostly of a berry-like sweetness, clean and malty with a tender, bready, doughyness, and bread crusts. Very slight floral hop notes in deeper wiffs.

Solid taster with a firm and steady application of sweet berry tinted bread. Slenderly crispened, doughy with an edge of toasted grains and floral hop notes and a very slim warming tone ends up at the end with the lightest of dryness in its hops.

Feel is fairly full and warming. Soothing, bready sweetness backed with a warming length, dryness, and a firm stature the whole way through.

It's quick to take hold and fills you up quick. As a "Double" ESB, as labeled at the pub, it definately speaks to that with its bolder tone and body, but isn't as sessionable due to that. Still, one solid brew to be drinking when Spring hasn't quite sprung.