ESB
Ferment Brewing Company

16 oz. can into a pint glass. Canned 12 weeks ago.
Rich dark copper color. Moderate head and lacing.
First impression: perfect malt forward ale. Appealing complexity….bready, smooth, a touch of hops.
Ferment has captured the absolute essence of this venerable English style. That’s especially appreciated because ESB’s are getting scarce out West .

 

 

Poured from 16oz can into a dimpled mug. Canned back on 10/3/24, but for this style I think that's fine.

Appearance: dark amber-brown hue with a bit of haze and a finger of orangey-tan foam atop. Nice.

Smell: bready with lovely notes of toffee and caramel. Kind of smells like a sticky bun or something ... I like it.

Taste: relatively sweet, with a bready malt that is just a little bit biscuity. Plenty of that toffee character too, with a rather bracing bitterness at the end. I'm not a huge fan of even that little bit of biscuitiness, but it's still a good beer.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a moderate carbonation but a nice smooth creaminess.

Overall: a really solid ESB. Maybe a little on the sweet side, although that works to this beer's advantage in the aroma.

Pours a dark, honey-amber color, clear pour, somewhat cloudy in the glass; thick, pale khaki colored head, creamy, rolling sculpted head,foamy yet densely so and long-lasting; sticky partial sheets of foam line the glass. Excellent caramel nose; toasted grains. Rich and balanced grain sweetness; caramel and honey; great bitterness counterpart. Heavy and sticky mouthfeel; teasingly warm.

What a fantastic extra special bitter, rich and delicious and sporting great looks and an incredible luscious mouthfeel.

ABV: 5.4%; pouring temperature: 56.4 ℉; canning info: 10/18/2? (may be 22 or 23); The Explorer Series
Source: @snaotheus

Pint at f/Stop Fitzgerald in Salem Oregon.
$6.00
Pours a nice tobacco brown, clear. With a small tan head. .
Roasty malty aromas..earthy hops. Lovely.
Taste.. similar to the aroma.
Very English..the bitterness is there but not as forward as earlier raters. It works.
Great mouth feel. Goes down a treat.
A NW Classic version of an ESB.

Taster flight at Loyal Legion. Amber pour with a thin off-white head. Aroma is caramel, brown bread. taste is toasty malts, fruity, nutty. Nice body as well.

 

 

Pours a clean, clear dark amber, modest head. Aroma is very light, just a whiff of yeast. First sip is..bitter! Dominant hop bitterness comes forward, but without any harshness. Taste is dominated by the hops, with any malts well into the background. Quite dry as well, finish is short but sweet.

It's a good take on a British ESB, maybe a little more over the top than a Brit would make it. Definitely as sipper.

draught
Light, off-white head. Medium auburn and chestnut appearance. Allspice, medium dark roasted, caramelized malt aroma. Slight roasty bite of spiced, off-dry, medium heavy roasted malt, with the hops helping to provide most of the edginess to the mouthfeel. This has an enjoyable, nearly dry caramel tinged finish, with a little roasty bite.

Medium brown body that is quite clear. Light pour to fit into the glass still yields a modest head and a medium light tan ring with nice lacing.

Aromas are light on a just-from-the-fridge bottle, so I took a sip to find a lightly sweetened toasted bread that reminded me of a brown ale, bringing a little more malt body than I expected. Initially there seemed no more than balance supplied by the hops, but a light bit of wood joined a grain husk impression to cleanse my palate of any residual malt sugars.

Back to the nose, there’s a crusty brown bread aroma here, but also a burnt sugar note that I’m not a fan of. I am happy I didn’t notice this in the taste, although once I smelled it a little spice started to sneak into each sip. Overall, this seems between a typical brown ale and ESB to me, but I enjoy both styles well enough to enjoy this beer.

Beautiful dark amber or auburn color with long-lasting foam in the IPA glass. Lush and sudsy mouthfeel. Pleasant woodsy aroma with hint of walnut. Clean and malty taste. Warm roasted malt with a touch of apples and a dark grainy finish. Nutty aftertaste with just a touch of bitterness. No trace of the buttery note that mars some malty English-style beers.

This is a really likeable beer especially for being non-hop centric. It's great to have a good example of this particular style. Maybe they took the "Bitter" part a little too literally, but quite drinkable. From the 500 ml bottle purchased at the brewery restaurant in Hood River.

 

Look: Opaque reddish-brown and a good pour brings on a billowing off-white head that pillows, leaving great lacing
Aroma: Rich toffee and earthy hops intermingle and go back-and-forth for the dominate spot. Warm bread and some spicy hop notes present as well along with some raisin notes
Taste: Big blast of earthy hops start things off (think dirt after a fresh rain), then comes the toffee and bready notes with a somewhat spicy hop and raisin combo meddling in the background. Good little crisp bite on the finish
Mouthfeel: Silky smooth with medium carbonation and a soft finish
Overall: I’m down with this one. Really good overall and a well-executed take on an English-style ESB – one of my favorite styles - albeit a unique one. My first beer from these folks and they definitely made a good first impression with this delicious concoction

On tap at the bar in Hood River. Color is hazy brown copper, very good head retention that is quite thick and whippy light carmel color, decent carbonation. The nose is very nutty and has a hint of bitter florals on the front end, some clear malt coming through. The body is very thick and full, finishing a tad dry. The taste is bitter and floral hop up front, going into hazelnut and walnut, gently folding into a bready warm malt that lingers for a long time, finally switching to some chocolate notes. Amazing, really good balance between bitters and malts.

This is the best ESB I have had, and I love this style even more because of it.

 

 

Aroma is caramel, sweet bread, dark fruit.

Look is dark brown with ruby-brown tinges with a back light. Good carbonation level. 1 inch thick tan creamy head with decent retention, creating a rocky surface as it does recede, leaving thick sheets of lacing down the side of the glass. Lacing becomes strings and patches as you consume the beer. After 15 minutes or so, the head is reduced to a thick bubbly cap and thicker ring.

Taste is raisins, caramel, earthy and woody, semi-sweet caramel initially, transitions to light bitterness in the middle. There is a great interplay of flavors; the previously mentioned caramel and raisin, with the bread from the malts, and the earthy hops. The aftertaste is a lingering light bitterness.

Moderate body, nice smooth feel on the tongue.

Overall, this is a wonderful English-style ale. Excellent complexity to the flavors, just the right amount of bitterness to offset the sweet caramel, resulting in a moderately dry finish.

Editorial: American drinkers reviewing a true English-style bitter or ESB seem to expect this to be the English equivalent of a WCIPA due to the word "bitter" in the name. A true English bitter or ESB is only bitter in comparison with a mild, and in fact, my experience in England was that there were some milds that were more bitter than some bitters. This beer hits it just spot-on. Light bitterness to balance the malts. These guys know how to brew in the English style.

fruity hops used, so that's off style, but it is a decent drinker.