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Phoenixx Double ESB
Real Ale Brewing Company
- From:
- Real Ale Brewing Company
- Texas, United States
- Style:
- Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
- ABV:
- 7.2%
- Score:
- 85
- Avg:
- 3.76 | pDev: 11.97%
- Reviews:
- 129
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Mar 21, 2019
- Added:
- Dec 31, 2005
- Wants:
- 7
- Gots:
- 47
"Double ESB", Rotating/Seasonal
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Lagerquestrian:
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by LarryTXVeteran from Texas
4.44/5 rDev +18.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.44/5 rDev +18.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
First off, this ESB is NOT retired, but it is only available seasonally. It is currently for sale at Kroger in Texas. I bought some yesterday. With that said, this is an excellent tasting brew for those who appreciate English Strong Bitter brews. The look is a deep amber and the taste is a very earthy bitter beer, It also has a slightly toasted biscuit aroma
I am not sure what the IBU is but at least 50, it is up there, with a great mouthfeel. Not overly carbonated, which is how I like my brews. Nice looking creamy head floating on a deep amber beer. Some nice red highlights to the beer when held to the light. Poured initially with a thick head, as the head disappeared it left a pretty hefty amount of lacing on the glass.
I am going to the brewery this weekend in the hill country to find out more about this wonderful ESB. One thing I noticed is that at least to me, it is best served at around 55° F. YMMV. If you live in Texas, Kroger currently is selling 6-packs of it for under $10 USD. Worth a try.
Mar 21, 2019I am not sure what the IBU is but at least 50, it is up there, with a great mouthfeel. Not overly carbonated, which is how I like my brews. Nice looking creamy head floating on a deep amber beer. Some nice red highlights to the beer when held to the light. Poured initially with a thick head, as the head disappeared it left a pretty hefty amount of lacing on the glass.
I am going to the brewery this weekend in the hill country to find out more about this wonderful ESB. One thing I noticed is that at least to me, it is best served at around 55° F. YMMV. If you live in Texas, Kroger currently is selling 6-packs of it for under $10 USD. Worth a try.
Reviewed by mjurney from Texas
4.48/5 rDev +19.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.48/5 rDev +19.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Appearance:
Deep copper color, a little chill haze. Good amount of carbonation. Thick off-white head.
Aroma:
Caramel, toffee, semi-dark roasted, spicy hops.
Taste/Finish/Body:
Caramel, toffee, semi-dark roast, hint of nutty. Hop bitterness is medium, spicy/piney, maybe a little citrusy. Finish is bitter-crisp. Medium bodied, crisp, easy drinking.
Overall:
It's an outstanding ESB!
Jan 20, 2016Deep copper color, a little chill haze. Good amount of carbonation. Thick off-white head.
Aroma:
Caramel, toffee, semi-dark roasted, spicy hops.
Taste/Finish/Body:
Caramel, toffee, semi-dark roast, hint of nutty. Hop bitterness is medium, spicy/piney, maybe a little citrusy. Finish is bitter-crisp. Medium bodied, crisp, easy drinking.
Overall:
It's an outstanding ESB!
Reviewed by Myotus from Texas
4.08/5 rDev +8.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4.25
4.08/5 rDev +8.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4.25
Poured at 47°F from a 12oz bottle (best before date 07Jun16) into a pint glass. Consumed on 29Dec15).
LOOK: Pours with two fingers worth of thick, off-white foam that dissipates into a half fingers worth after 2 minutes. A large amount of thick lacing is left behind from the head dissipation. Copper in color. Medium and small sized rising bubbles are present in moderate quantities. Lacing is large in quantity and both thick and very thick in various areas.
SMELL: Strong aromas of toffee are backed my mild aromas of plums, figs, black cherries, buttered toast, caramel, floral hops, earthy hops, and hints of bitter hops.
TASTE: Strong toffee and floral hop flavors enter first and are immediately followed by mild flavors of buttered toast and subtle flavors of earthy hops. Mild flavors of caramel, plums, figs, and black cherries enter next as all floral hop and butter (just the butter) flavors grow slightly stronger. Finally, mild bitter hop flavors make their debut as all previous flavors push on.
FEEL: Light-bodied and highly carbonated (this was going so well until now). Goes down somewhat rough due to the carbonation. Finishes with a moderate dryness.
NOTE: This blew me away. I like this brewery, but I was honestly expecting a slightly above average beer, but this shattered my expectations. Everything about this beer was on point for the style. There was an excellent balance between hops and malt and even the hop bitterness didn't bother me much. I had no idea that something can be so sweet, yet so tantalizingly hoppy. A huge kudos to Real Ale.
Dec 29, 2015LOOK: Pours with two fingers worth of thick, off-white foam that dissipates into a half fingers worth after 2 minutes. A large amount of thick lacing is left behind from the head dissipation. Copper in color. Medium and small sized rising bubbles are present in moderate quantities. Lacing is large in quantity and both thick and very thick in various areas.
SMELL: Strong aromas of toffee are backed my mild aromas of plums, figs, black cherries, buttered toast, caramel, floral hops, earthy hops, and hints of bitter hops.
TASTE: Strong toffee and floral hop flavors enter first and are immediately followed by mild flavors of buttered toast and subtle flavors of earthy hops. Mild flavors of caramel, plums, figs, and black cherries enter next as all floral hop and butter (just the butter) flavors grow slightly stronger. Finally, mild bitter hop flavors make their debut as all previous flavors push on.
FEEL: Light-bodied and highly carbonated (this was going so well until now). Goes down somewhat rough due to the carbonation. Finishes with a moderate dryness.
NOTE: This blew me away. I like this brewery, but I was honestly expecting a slightly above average beer, but this shattered my expectations. Everything about this beer was on point for the style. There was an excellent balance between hops and malt and even the hop bitterness didn't bother me much. I had no idea that something can be so sweet, yet so tantalizingly hoppy. A huge kudos to Real Ale.
Reviewed by TBoneJones from Texas
3.79/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Pours a deep, mostly clear copper color, barely a head, some spotted lacing.
Smells like some wheat and sweet malts, and some hints of tropical hops.
Tastes the same, with some pine, honey- like at times, and pleasantly bitter.
Smooth and medium. Creamy feel. Some bitterness.
Nice.
Apr 25, 2015Smells like some wheat and sweet malts, and some hints of tropical hops.
Tastes the same, with some pine, honey- like at times, and pleasantly bitter.
Smooth and medium. Creamy feel. Some bitterness.
Nice.
Reviewed by ZiegMeister from Texas
4.71/5 rDev +25.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.71/5 rDev +25.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
I was going to present a very detailed review, but I decided just to say that this is a very tasty beer and I would highly recommend it to any beer lover.
Apr 03, 2015Reviewed by AtrumAnimus from Texas
4.41/5 rDev +17.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.41/5 rDev +17.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
This one pours a slightly opaque reddish gold color that has a nice off-white head that is moderate, settles slow and leaves a faint lacing down the glass.
The nose is earthy in nature with bread, hops, pine, grass and camphor as the dominant traits with some moderate floral notes underneath.
The taste is pleasantly crisp, sharp and rich. There is a nice exceptionally dominant hoppiness that is buttery pine with some grass, bread and nutmeg in the mix with a mild medicine like finish that is well balanced on the bed of sweet to dry malt underneath.
The mouthfeel is surprising rich for such a style and really does a great job of delivering the complexity of the flavors to your entire palate.
Overall this is one of the better offerings from Real Ale, which is saying a lot. Real Ale is an accomplished brewery with some great offerings. I would put this in their top 3.
Mar 24, 2015The nose is earthy in nature with bread, hops, pine, grass and camphor as the dominant traits with some moderate floral notes underneath.
The taste is pleasantly crisp, sharp and rich. There is a nice exceptionally dominant hoppiness that is buttery pine with some grass, bread and nutmeg in the mix with a mild medicine like finish that is well balanced on the bed of sweet to dry malt underneath.
The mouthfeel is surprising rich for such a style and really does a great job of delivering the complexity of the flavors to your entire palate.
Overall this is one of the better offerings from Real Ale, which is saying a lot. Real Ale is an accomplished brewery with some great offerings. I would put this in their top 3.
Phoenixx Double ESB from Real Ale Brewing Company
Beer rating:
85 out of
100 with
320 ratings
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