Honey Hole ESB
Spindletap Brewery

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From:
Spindletap Brewery
 
Texas, United States
Style:
Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
ABV:
7%
Score:
82
Avg:
3.58 | pDev: 13.69%
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
46
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 13, 2021
Added:
Dec 06, 2015
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  9
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by greenspointexas:
Photo of greenspointexas
Rated by greenspointexas from Texas

3.5/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Apr 10, 2016
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.43 by SViterileroux74 from Texas

Jan 13, 2021
Photo of imnodoctorbut
Reviewed by imnodoctorbut from Texas

3.56/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
can dated 1/31/20

pours a hazy golden orange body with excited white bubbly head that has low retention and doesn't leave much of anything behind as it settles

sweet honey on bready malt. faintest whiff of bitter earth hop

follows the nose - the sweet honey nearly suggests a fruit, but no direct fruit comes to mind. perhaps an overly sweet orange without its tang. fluffy malt acts as a plate, and the hop and honey act here harkens to tea with honey. butterscotch candy in there but not diacetyl tasting. more of the mellowness and sweetness of the candy.

moderately carbonated with a moderately light body. slightly watery with prickly carbo and a tea-bag bitter dry finish

overall:
this is the first time I've had this style and been sitting down long enough to review it. that being said, I am not sure this should have been my first, but I will not hold the experience against the style in the slightest. honestly, this was too sweet. there weren't enough other things going on to make it feel rewarding for the sweetness, and the bitter "sucking on a tea bag" doesn't happen until the finish. if you like hot tea with honey (along the lines of oolong) and wish it was in beer form, this may strike your fancy. it didn't quite strike mine, but I would drink it over a cheap conglomerate brand beer and would need quite a few to feel great about it.
Sep 29, 2020
 
Rated: 3.37 by Jodio from Texas

Jun 04, 2020
Photo of borsellj
Rated by borsellj from Texas

4.91/5  rDev +37.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
First ESB I’ve tried. First Spindletap I’ve tried. Damn good. Highly recommend. Need to try more Spindletap beers.
Apr 27, 2020
 
Rated: 3 by RiceOwls27 from Texas

Apr 06, 2020
 
Rated: 3.27 by jeschaefer from Texas

Jan 24, 2020
Photo of JerzDevl2000
Reviewed by JerzDevl2000 from New Jersey

3.38/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Picked this up a while ago when I was in the Lone Star State, as the date on the bottom of this beer read. Dated 2/1/18 with DRILL DEEP written above it, this didn't seem like any other ESB that I've had as the honey was here but it was hard to equate this with something that I've had from across the pond...

This had a deep orange blossom honey hue to it, which was a sign of things to come. Not a large head to this as it faded quickly and unevenly. Lots of honey and orange blossom honey sweetness here but darnit, where are the hops? Yeah, I know that this was old but they were impossible to pick out in the nose and the taste as this came across as something overly sweet, sticky, and full of malt that complemented that. Some prickly pear cactus emerged as this warmed up as this was quite naturalistic and outdoorsy but certainly nothing like what I anticipated. Some potpourri could also be detected as the malt was basic, but filling, and the hop bitterness only came through a bit in the aftertaste once the liquid finally went down; with only a bit of sediment left at the bottom of my pint glass.

That oily residue complemented everything else nicely but in the end, this beer was a misnomer more than anything else. There was enough alcohol in this to keep up with everything else but I had to look at the can and ask myself what went on here, as I couldn't quite figure it out. If you like honey and brews oddly reminiscent of something from the West Coast, then this was for you. Worth a go once just to satisfy the curiosity factor!
Sep 12, 2019
Photo of mikomendoza92
Reviewed by mikomendoza92 from Texas

4.29/5  rDev +19.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
A go to summer beer if you can handle the extra abv. Wonderful honey aroma brings out the best in the beer. Not alot of honey beers on the market so having one you can pick up in store beats driving to a brewery to pick one up.
Jul 10, 2019
 
Rated: 3.25 by bundy462 from Texas

Feb 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.79 by SMH_NWI from Texas

Feb 24, 2019
 
Rated: 3.67 by Jame515 from Texas

Jan 23, 2019
Photo of puck1225
Reviewed by puck1225 from Texas

3.71/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a can into a tulip glass. Slightly cloudy olden orange with a beautiful foamy head and good lacing. Slightly fruity smell and taste. A bit of tea and honey. Nicely malty and pleasant.
Dec 03, 2018
 
Rated: 3.65 by sd123 from Georgia

Nov 26, 2018
Photo of Kappakoosh
Rated by Kappakoosh from Texas

4/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
As far as ESB's go, this is pretty damn good.
Oct 17, 2018
Photo of JohnDon
Reviewed by JohnDon from Texas

3.87/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had on tap while at Spindletap. Was a great representation of an ESB. Look - Amber color. Taste - was malty and had some toastyness, finished with a sweet bitter. Feel - light mouthfeel. Overall Very Good.
Oct 13, 2018
 
Rated: 3.25 by Matt141 from Texas

Nov 26, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by etreesh from Wyoming

Nov 19, 2017
Photo of Premo88
Reviewed by Premo88 from Texas

3.68/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
12 oz. can poured into tight nonic
(9/8/17 born-on date printed on bottom of can)

L: gold-bronze, clear, small head of offwhite foam no more than 1/4-inch tall that dissipates quickly; keeps a thin but compete collar of beige foam

S: butterscotch, butter pecan ice cream with caramel sauce/hot caramel, peach, bread malt

T: peach, dried peaches, sweet ... tastes like there's honey in there; bread malt, sweet breads; earthy hop note in background

F: fantastic ... looks a bit flat but it's not, plenty carbonation to help it shuffle along nicely

O: it's a great beer, but is it a great ESB? no, it's too sweet from something, and I can't say for sure from what, possibly actual honey or maybe too much caramel malt or maybe too much malt takeover; whatever it is, it's sugary sweet at times. that being said, the can label *does say* "Honey" on it, and it does have a lot of the English pale ale fruity peach/bread malt flavor and at least a little earthy hop bitterness hanging around, so all in all, a big thumbs up for Spindletap's attempt at the British classic
Nov 12, 2017
 
Rated: 3.5 by Pro_Magnon from Texas

Jul 02, 2017
Honey Hole ESB from Spindletap Brewery
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 46 ratings