ALTBier
Lone Tree Brewing Company

 

December 30th, 2015 - Lone Tree's alter is a calm, but brown brew with a thin wafer of a head, somewhere in that spectrum of female waterfowl plumage. Brown and cream and gray, all at the same time. The nose is light with that distinctive thin "ESB" scent on the nose, mild and quiet. The flavor is also placid, a still lake at 5:30am, with the gentlest swishes of natural, ripe strawberries. It's almost perky as ESB goes, lacking the foot-dragging taste of some brews in the style. The medium-light palate helps here, giving enough carbonation to keep the taste buoyant all the way to a pleasant aftertaste. This is sweet as ESBs in my tasting portfolio goes, but I like the variation. It brings out a little vivacity and cuts down on the muddiness that some ESBs feature.