Better Than Pants Best Bitter
Man Skirt Brewing

Gotta give full props to an American craft who makes the effort to mimic a Euro style beer and have it come out "authentic". Nice job by Man Skirt Brewing. My first from Man Skirt. The beer pours amber with a pillowy dense white head. This is an English Best Bitter style beer, but "Bitter" should not be taken to heart. It's mild as traditional English ales are, with bread and biscuit malt flavor the primary takeaway. Just beautifully true to the style.

 

 

 

Poured from undated 12 oz. can into pint glass. It pours a pretty orange-amber color with a thin, milk-white head that dissipated quickly leaving minimal lacing. The nose features sweet malt, biscuit, and a whiff of toffee. It has a classic, English bitter taste: mostly biscuit, sweet malt, roasty peat, nuts, and a hint of toffee. It finishes with a touch of bitterness. The sweetness increases as the glass warms. It has a moderately creamy mouth feel with pleasant carbonation, and with an ABV of only 4% one can drink his/her fill. Overall, there aren't many area brewers who produce an English Bitter and Man Skirt has done a creditable job. I'm grateful this style is available locally. It's a little like comfort food.

Decent, but seems a bit unbalanced.

On-tap @ Man Skirt Brewing in Hackettstown, NJ.

Amber in color and slightly hazy with a small white head that quickly diminishes down to almost nothing. Not much of a looker in the glass but the aroma quickly changes things around. Bread and caramel with just a touch of toasted malt to round it out. Good combo of bready malt and fruitiness in the flavor. The caramel drops to the background, doing a nice job of preventing the beer from ever becoming sweet or cloying. Its medium-light body keeps it easy to drink throughout. Went down very smooth with a very light lingering bitterness. Very nice session ale.

 

Pours amber with a thin white head. Smell is bready, like an university building. Taste is biscuits with mild bitterness. Feel is decent, no issues here. Overall a very nice English Bitter.

 

 

 

 

 

DATE: April 1, 2016... OCCASION: game night with the Johnsons--Munchkin violence awaits... GLASSWARE: 16 oz. pint... APPEARANCE: medium-amber body... subtle effervescence... the head is off-white and swiftly settling into a singular bead of ring (it should be noted that this growler is less than a day old)... slight tracings while sipping... AROMA: toasted bread ushers in some nutty malts that evoke a hardwood bar and brass rails... little to suggest hops, with the dankness of Columbus or Summit hovering... PALATE: light-to medium-bodied, with soft impressions on the teeth and smoothness at the throat... little effervescence... tremendously drinkable at 4% ABV... Rich and I split the growler without losing our edge... TASTE: biscuity and malty without offensiveness.... the "judicious use" of hops doesn't allow for much hoppy impact beyond a dankness that supports the bready malts... OVERALL: I am all in for cheering on the locals, and this ESB strikes at the genre accurately--albeit, without distinguishing features that set it apart from others in the genre...