Extra Special Bitter (ESB)
The People's Pint

22oz bottle purchased from a People's Pint tasting at Bauer Wines in Boston. Pour is a slightly hazy copper with little carbonation or head. Very nice aroma of floral hops. Taste is wonderful - hoppy but well-balanced. Very pleasant. I preferred the ESB over the IPA at the tasting.

 

 

Had at the PP on 7/31/09, although it was called Hope Street Bitter on the board. Served in a standard pint. Amber in color, translucent clarity and a dense, frothy, two inch off-white head that formed thick concentric semi-circles of lace as the brew was consumed. Nose revealed some fruity esters and a hint of aromatic bittering hops on a malt backbone. Bittering hops comes out upfront in the flavor profile, with the malt character forming the backdrop. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy and consistency fell between light- and medium-bodied, but closer to the light side of the spectrum. In terms of drinkability, I have to say that this is an excellent brew - I'm not typically a fan of the style, but this was solid - tasty and easy drinking.

Pours a dark red color with floaties (!) and a one-finger head into my glass.

Aroma is full of sweet malt and light hop bitterness in the nose. Smells normal for the style.

Taste is full of hop bitterness upfront with a decent amount of sweet malt as well underneath. Despite the floaties, it tastes like it should.

Mouthfeel is full of lingering hops and malt. Pretty normal for the style.

Always hard to describe ESBs but this beer is quite drinkable and seems where it should be.

The initial pour starts with soda-like large bubbles, but minute bubbles come up from the bottom and replace the big ones as they pop. The settled head is only a single layer thick. The lace is minimal. The color of the brew is solid brown and hazy--light glows through the glass.

Chocolate and caramel aromas; light floral hop in the background. Somewhat earthy.

Think: Highly hopped brown ale. Great balance. Powerful darker malts (crystal and chocolate?) are strong but still offset by the bitter hop. Not a delicate beer--full flavored and full bodied. The aftertaste is a long lasting hop pellet.

The People's Pint delivers a brew here that is very indicative of the style. It pours a Rusty Brown Amber with a very slight head with some evidence of carbonation bubbles even after sitting still for a bit. The aroma is of "2 x 4" as my buddy put it. I also detect a smoky maltiness. This is a refreshing and balanced type of beer and would be nice in the summer. The taste delivers a quick hop kick with smooth malt and then hops again for a very crisp finish. The brew is a bit watery but very drinkable. A nice offering.

The beer is true to form, and it is a pretty characteristic ESB. It is fairly low carbonation, a bit cloudy dark copper amber color with not much head at all. This beer tastes like it might not be the freshest out of the bottle. The label on the bottle only went up to 2008, which is a tell tale sign that the beer is probably past its peak. Nevertheless, this beer has a nice floral hop aroma, biscuity malts, and maybe some dryish or nutty aromas.

The taste is slightly syrupy or sticky, but overall pretty watery for an ESB. The beer is nicely balanced. It has an earthy quality to it, some creamy hints, some acerbic hop bite, a good deal of florals, and maybe a touch of buttery and earthy diacetyl. The beer is quite flat, almost like cask conditioned in a bottle. The hop is leafy, bittering, and slightly biting. This is a bit watery, a bit flat, and probably past its prime. I would hope to try this again when I can be assured that the beer is fresher.

22 fl oz brown bottle; served in a nonic.
'Brewed on' date not notched.

Hazy, auburn-highlighted copper in color. Creamy, porous white head with stable retention. Walls of condensed and spotted lacing.

Sweet, bready malt aroma; a touch of rounded diacetyl. Faint floral hops without a hint of mustiness. Lightly toasted hazlenut.

Full, biscuity malt with a welcomed buttery quality. A dry, nutty quality that works well with the bready, semi-sweet toasted malts. Spicy, floral hops fill the middle giving a nice bite and cutting the sweetness. Buttered biscuit with a burnt hop aftertaste.

Medium bodied; smooth, full for the style. Patches of film in spots, but mostly creamy.

A full-flavored, balanced ESB. Very few flaws in flavor. Congrats to the People's Pint for such a well-crafted offering. What a treat this one would be on cask.

22 oz. bomber

This is a hazy, murky brown-tinted amber color, mellow carboantion with a substantial tan colored head. Dissiaptes pretty quick but leaves plenty of foamy smoothness left over.

It's a rich, earthy-chocolate scented malt, kinda spicey with mild cinnemon notes.

If a brew is lacking in complexity it's next best quality needs to be superb balance; I think this one deliver's exactly that. Mellow chocolate with a fine earthy spiciness and herbal hop. a green veggie flavor flows in from the hops as well.

This is a mellow, light to medium feel, pretty much right on style-wise.

It's an easy drinker.

This offering from the People's Pint pours a rusty brown orange leaving a thick tan head. The aroma is anise, spicy hops, buttery caramel, vanilla herbs. The taste starts with a traditional hoppy bite from mild English hops that move to a caramel sweetness with a slight tartness followed by a musty aroma that finishes a bit watery, dry, brisk hops of grapefruit and citrus rinds. Overall a nice ESB, nothing to get too excited about though.

22 oz. bottle, unfiltered and conditioned, with no freshness date. Target and Goldings used for bittering and finishing, with East Kent Goldings in the dry-hop. Reddish copper hue, with low carbonation and two fingers of almost creamy, tan head. Lightly sweet aroma with notes of orange and kumquat. Malty sweet on the palate, with citric hops that impart a medium bitterness, but there is a slight oxidized element in the aftertaste. Crisp and tingly body, quite dry, with a nice hoppy finish. OK I guess... would be much better without the plastic/cardboard oxidation.

Served from the 22 oz bottle. Great appearance of murky amber-brown, thick head with eventual lacing. Very sharp aromas of malt, grassy florals, hops and fruit; wicked, wicked good. All the other dimensions to this drink were a bit mediocre, but still pretty enjoyable. The taste was bitter along with other positives such as its yeasty taste and malt flavors. The bitter aftertaste lagged behind a bit in your mouth even. The mouthfeel did help balance things a bit with its medium body, allowing the flavors to be subdued. It is bitter, so if you are obviously searching for an ESB, this is a good choice.

Had on cask at the brewpub. Kent and Goldings hops were promising. Light amber colour. Low carbonation of course but also quite understated hops. Sessionable, average cask ESB. On the light bodied side.
Was better though very bitter in the bottle. Darker colour. Not so drinkable. My score averages the two,

Freebie bottle courtesy of cburian, thanks again!

Pours a slightly hazy amber color, with a decent tall white head.

Aromas seem funky and wrong. Dusty, musty, sour, tart, and way off. I hope this didn't get ruined by spending some time in a truck in the Norcal heat.

Flavors aren't nearly as bad as the smell. But when I take a sip, those smells creep up my nose. There is a slightly dusty taste, a bit of a sun tea like malty flavor, and a bit of a mineral hop finish.

Mouthfeel is pretty good. Feels full enough, and fairly well rounded in the mouth.

Drinkability isn't all that great. I can't get over the smell. I would give this beer another chance with the possibility that my bottle went bad. But if this smelled and tasted the same on the second go around, I would definitely pass.

From a 22 oz bottle.

Pours a deep orangish-red color. Brownish head that goes away rather quickly. It's hazy and deep. Dark and more thick than a regular ESB.

Has a roasted pale ale scent. Like a pale, but burnt. There is also a hint of deep berry smell. There is some minor mustiness but I'll chalk that up to storage rather than the craft of the beer. Does smell a bit like a basement, though, I have to admit.

Pale malt taste with a toasted/dry ending. Slight taste of bitter hops. Much more burnt roasted taste that I would have expected. Also some dark berry which balances some of the roasted and bitter flavors.

The finish is dry and actually a little ashy. A bite comes at the end, and one that's not altogether welcome. Overall it's not a bad brew. It's a bit stiff and somewhat dry. Surely a darker ESB.

22oz bomber. Hazy orange amber. Thin, wispy layer of head supported by a large bubbled collar. Mellow, malty aroma. Doughy and biscuity, with lightly herbal hopping and a dash of pear. Surprisingly hoppy flavor, the finish quite assertive with earthy, herbal english hops. Malt retains balance, biscuity, chocolatey and nutty, with a rather dry texture. Feels a bit thinner than I'd like, without that sweetish coating on the palate that the best english ESBs give. More of an ordinary bitter, but good nonetheless.

Picked up a bomber at Julio's Liquors in Westborough, MA.

A: Flat copper color with a thin off white head. Cloudy from bottle conditioning.

S: Fruity esters dominate aroma. Flowery hop aromas also evident. Mild malt aromas very limited.

T: Hop bitterness is strong throughout - particularly noticeable and a tad harsh on back end. Bitter and wet finish. Malt flavor is also present but could be better balanced.

MF: Medium-full body. Moderate mouth tingling carbonation. Slight alcohol warmth.

D: A good session beer that hits almost all the marks in style. Would have liked malt characteristics to be more prominent and better balanced with hop flavors.

Appearance: pours a cloudy dark amber color with a short one finger head that fell immediately. A spot or two of lacing develops.

Smell: nice fruit sweetness and some floral bitterness are easily detected.

Taste: a bit bready with caramel and ripe red fruit sweetness. Decent bitterness gives it some spunk, but all in all its a pretty straightforward beer.

Mouthfeel: smooth from start to finish. Medium bodied. The aftertaste is quite brief as the caramel and fruit sweetness lingers for a few seconds.

Drinkability: decent session beer. Worth picking this up if you want an above average ESB.

Purchased at Bauer's in Boston. Pours a creamy head while dark amber in color. Smells of faintly of hops but I can't place the hop variety. Tastes fairly bitter but the malt is more present. Mouthfeel is smooth and this is very drinkable. Probably would be a good session beer. Solid ESB.

Cheers.