Session Ale-Extra Special Bitter
Samuel Adams (Boston Beer Company)

 

12 oz. bottle poured into a willibecher

A- Dark gold, with nice clarity. Light dense head is just off white. Nice retention.

S- Light delicate floral and earthy hop notes. Malt also nice and delicate, toasty.

T- Again, delicate toast and floral flavors. Faint spice in the background.

M- Light body with a nice crisp finish. Light dull bitterness lingers until the next sip.

O- Like I've written before, delicate. Nice, light, and subtle. Enjoyable.

From notes taken 02/09/17:

Semi-clear gold, would be butterscotch but for clarity. Some flaky haze to it almost undetected due to similar color. Lemon white foamy head of great retention. Jack Frost lacing. Nose of grain, zest, biscuit, light caramel or honey, mild citrus. After a while drinking it, smells more bread than anything, but that could be my saturated palate interfering. Strong with biscuits or crackers throughout, perfectly balanced with caramel malt tartness, lemon zest. Herbal tea, honey, lemongrass, and a small amount of assorted peppercorn in retro-olfaction. Lighter medium-bodied ale and sloshy with abundant, fine, dense and active carbonation, simmering down to a slightly tingly cream by the swallow.

To have missed this for over a year (which is as long as I have been reviewing beers), it seems as if I have been neglecting the master marketeer of the craft beer movement. (This is only my 16th from Sam.) So, I will launch right in.

This is a decent ESB: true to style and, also, true to the mainstream part of Sam's business strategy: make good beers, but close to the original. (Extreme is too small a market.)
Sam's ESB Session looks like the real deal. Light gold and lace coating the glass. It is undistinguished in smell. It'\s taste is malty and balanced by just enough hops to prevent sweetness. And its after-taste remains strong (true to style, but not my liking as I had to clean my palate before eating dinner.) But then, it is just a session... and it is doing its job.

 

Pours a clear deep gold, producing 2+ fingers of somewhat lasting, foamy, white head that leaves thin ring, strings& motes of lacing. Aroma is caramel, floral, earth & faint spice. Taste is light toast, caramel, earth & a faint woodiness encased in a bitterness that rides smoothly into the crisp, dry & unclean finish but develops a roaring robustness in the long lasting aftertaste. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with moderate carbonation, wet, spicy with a light prickliness & an astringent bitterness that won't go away.

 

 

 

Poured 12 oz bottle into snifter glass. 5% abv

Appearance- Pours a hazy burnt orange with a lofty white head.

Smell- Lemon, grassy, citrusy

Taste- Toasted cracker with hints of caramel. Bit of a smoky quality yet still has some citric grapefruit sweetness, but minimal. Bits of lemon in there as well. Has a dry bitter finish with hints of pepper on the finish.

Mouthfeel- Medium in body with lively carbonation.

Overall- A satisfying easy drinking beer that has pararells with ipas, yet has the lighter body. A good mix up and worth a try. Good take on this hard to come by style.

 

 

 

 

 

A - Clear golden orange body, with a moderate white head, with lots of lacing.

S - Lots of tea notes, steeped but not overdone, with a slight honey and floral note.

T - Following the nose, with a bit of lemon and tea suggesting instant iced tea, but surprising favorably, and floral notes into the middle, a more bitter close of over-steeped black tea.

M - A hint of drying on the close, but very light overall.

O - As the name suggests, sessionable, but with a bit more oomph than the standard ESB.