Brewer's Den ESB
Sun Up Brewing Co.

This beer is a lightly hazy amber color that shows gold highlights around the edges. The head is a frothy, pale tan color. The aroma is a mix of sharp herbal hops and toasted grain up front. Upon deeper inspection, notes of citrusy orange, grapefruit and lychee become quite apparent in the nose as well. The aroma is nicely hop dominated; it has just enough malt to help accentuate the hop notes. The malt aromatics add just enough sweetness to play up the citrus notes.

The flavor is raw and hoppy, not to the levels of an IPA, but still aggressively so for an ESB. Sharp herbal hop notes mix with resinous notes of pine and even some mint. A lingering, yet fairly light, astringent bitterness closes out the finish of this beer. There is a light buttery note to this beer, which is mostly drown out by the hop character. The malt here plays a supporting role; a touch of biscuit like grain notes and perhaps a phantom of toffee notes peek out from underneath the hop character. Quite a nice beer, which will definitely appeal to the hop heads out there.