Crooked River Settlers Ale ESB
JW Dover Beer & Wine Makers Supplies / Black Box Brewing Co.

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours slightly hazy deep orange/copper color with a 1-2 finger dense off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, toast, biscuit, light nuttiness, herbal, grass, pepper, light citrus, light plum/apple, and herbal/yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, earthy hops, and light-moderate fruity yeast notes; with solid strength. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, toast, biscuit, light nuttiness, herbal, grass, pepper, light citrus, light plum/apple, and herbal/yeast earthiness. Good amount of earthy/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toast, biscuit, light nuttiness, herbal, grass, light citrus/pepper, light plum/apple, and herbal/yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness, complexity, and balance of dark/bready malt, earthy hops, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very smooth and moderately creamy/bready/sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very good ESB style. All around good robustness, complexity, and balance of dark/bready malt, earthy hops, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink. A nicely enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewed from notes;
Pours a cloudy bronze with very little head into Great Lakes pint glass. Smells of hops, sweet malt and a bit of citrus. Full bodied in the front, nice rich hop flavor without being too overwhelming finishing nice and clean with minimal aftertaste. Not nearly as aggressively carbonated as the Black Forest Lager and this offering actually tastes like the bottom quarter of a GL Dortmunder keg as it does have a bit of an alcohol heavy feel & taste. Good starter to a session, but not over the course of an evening.

 

 

No date. 12oz bottle poured into a standard pint glass. Pours a hazy burnt orange/amber, nice white head and very sticky lacing, nice looking brew. The aromas and flavors are pretty subtle and faint, but become alive as the beer warms up. There's alot caramel and toffee in this one. I'm also picking up a nice amount of orange. There's definitely a hop presence, but it's subtle. It isn't as floral as I'd like. Mouthfeel is nice, very creamy and right amount of carbonation. The body seems full, despite the low abv. I'm not even sure what the abv is, but I'd guess somewhere in the 5% range. This one obviously has English written all over it.

This really isn't a bad beer, it's well-crafted. But I've had better examples of ESB.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a pint glass. According to the label, this beer won a Silver Medal at the World Beer Championships, the World Beer Cup, and at the Great American Beer Festival. It does not state what year it accomplished all these feats.

Pours a slightly cloudy tannish-amber, lightening in color as you look toward the bottom of the glass. Head is rather minimal, starting at 1/4" and reducing to a thin lid.

Smells of toffee, yeast, malt, and caramel, with a hint of alcohol. Smell is rather subdued overall.

Begins with a tangy/bitterness, with a malty sweetness underlying it. Bitterness doesn't fade so much as dry out, leaving a mossy feeling behind. There's almost an acidic taste, as if a preservative was added that is overpowering the underlying beer.

Mouthfeel is light, with a mild bitterness that leaves the mouth dry.

While it started a it rough the beer recovered to finish as a half-way decent ESB. Still, none of the Crooked Rover offerings that I've had have been phenomenal, despite my fervent wish that they be so.