ESB
Mountain Toad Brewing

Had it on draft a few times. Poured from a crowler into a pint glass at the time of reviewing.

L: Amber to copper colored and somewhat opaque. Decent head retention.

S: Smells malty, not a whole lot going on for me.

T: Malt-forward with a medium strong hops punch at the end. Bitter aftertaste. The malt profile is quite complex, but not to a point that detracts from its easy drinkability, and the hops presence is very well balanced. In my opinion, it could really use a touch of acidity at the end; it tastes a bit unbalanced in that regard to me. Other than that, I have no criticisms of the taste. It's delicious.

F: Medium body, creamy, slightly sticky.

O: An excellent brew. Very highly recommended.

their esb apparently stands for empire strikes back, good one guys. its a nice glass of beer though, classically styled and just a little deeper and richer on the grain side than i know the old english ones to be, which i really like. it also has a fairly sturdy hop finish to it, almost pushing it into the english pale category for me, some pine there at the end really balancing the richness of the grain. its a smooth and fuller bodied brew, without as much residual malt sweetness as i usually expect in these, and with a familiar but delicate english yeast complexion as well. i think this beer needs food, its versatile, but in my experience it was greatly enhanced by (and also greatly enhanced) rich fatty pork. this was on tap at rebel, and i was slurping on this when the pig head came to the table. it really is the perfect beer for that sort of thing, hoppy enough to cut some fat, dry enough to not also be decadent in any way, and substantial enough from the grain to hold up to the meat. the dinner made me like the beer better than i probably would have without it, but this is quality esb, and there just arent enough of these around!