Pilot Program: Athletic ESB
Athletic Brewing Co.

As a pub-style NA fan, i was excited for this re-release. I love the malt-forward and super drinkability of this NA ESB, and since this style is so hard to find as an NA, i took that into account with my rating. I really like Athletic’s similar and very tasty Irish Red, and if the ESB could borrow a little more flavor from the Irish Red, it would be perfect.
Update: I think the latest edition tastes even better than last season’s and has more of that unique slight sour-esque brown tone character of an English ESB that makes it really stand out from the few other NA malty amber or copper pale ale contenders. Great job on this one as usual from Athletic! No one else has anything even close to Athletic’s ESB in the world of NA brews.

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours orange red with a small white head. Smells of sweet caramelized grain and some citrus. Tastes of caramelized grain, very slight citrus. Beer is light bodied and easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, a good NA beer.

Poured from 12oz can into a dimpled mug. Canned 11/18/21.

Appearance: amber-golden-orange hue with a light-to-moderate haze and a thin finger of frothy tan foam atop. A little more head would be nice but overall quite pretty.

Smell: caramel malt, a little dry biscuit, and some earthy hops. This thing is super well balanced, and I would say pretty indistinguishable from any "normal" ESB or English bitter-type-beer.

Taste: quite malty with plenty of caramel malt flavor and biscuitiness. Hops are earthy and balanced, with a decent bitterness. That being said, I do feel like this beer is missing something due to no alcohol being present. Still, for NA, quite good indeed.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a decent level of carbonation and creaminess. Perfectly decent for a beer, but very good by NA standards.

Overall: this is a really good replacement for an ESB. Of course being NA means making some compromises, but still, I could see myself sitting down and enjoying one of these on a regular basis.

Pours a dark brown with a copper hue to it. Head is two fingers of dense khaki foam. Aroma is caramel, toffee, and bread. Grassy hops and sugary wort develop towards the back, but are an afterthought. A late raw grain note disrupts the otherwise pleasant nose. The entire aroma leans into the 'sweet' category. Flavor profile is caramel, toffee, and mild raisins. It leans into malts for the duration of the flavor profile, with some late grassy hops. As with the nose, it leans sweet, but the balance is better here. Mouth feel is softly crisp with a medium thickness. Overall, simple, clean, and malt forward.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 12oz can.