Tupelo Honey ESB
Payette Brewing

Draft at the brewery. Nice rich amber color, small soft off-white head. Aroma is malty, caramel, toasty. Taste brings a light bitter edge to the malts. Still light on the palate

this was awesome beer, another cool seemingly perfect fall beer from these guys, who had a lot of them this year, two cool oktoberfests, two solid wet hopped brews, and now this, a honey based esb thats nice and nutty and malty and full of old world character, but unique as the style goes because of the honey addition. sometimes i dont think payette gets enough credit for their innovation, some of the taproom beers are really pretty cool, and i was stoked to see this on our recent trip over to the brewery. it looks and starts like a normal esb type, rusty orange color, frothy headed from the tap, with a toasted grain character immediately evident and a little english ale yeast coming through. the honey though really makes it distinct, some concentrated dry floral aspect, a tea-like botanical layer, and just a bit of sweetness left both in the aroma and the flavor. its never any sweeter than a normal esb ever is in the middle, its just drawn out a bit toward the finish, the flavor of the honey seems oddly autumnal too, like chestnut and dried grassy sides to it, maybe a pinch of orange or something citrusy as well. english type bittering hops balance up the finish, high carbonation and soft english yeast make this refreshing, drinkable, and well rounded, and overall i was impressed with this, both as an esb base beer, and as a creative twist on it that still allows it to fit what i look for in the style. really well done, they should go bigger with this one next year and put it out in cans!