-
Stop lurking! Log in to search, post in our forums, review beers, see fewer ads, and more. — Todd, Founder of BeerAdvocate
Extra Special Bitter
Portsmouth Brewery
- From:
- Portsmouth Brewery
- New Hampshire, United States
- Style:
- Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
- ABV:
- 6%
- Score:
- 84
- Avg:
- 3.71 | pDev: 12.4%
- Reviews:
- 25
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- May 02, 2015
- Added:
- Dec 31, 2002
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 1
Our ESB is a bolder, hoppier pale ale.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Hoggo:
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by Boto from Connecticut
3.69/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.69/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Draught @ Brewpub: this one pours a slightly hazy, amber color. There was a small off white head that left a little lacing. The nose is a little lighter. It has mainly pine and citrus notes to it. Some sweet malts too. The taste is good. It is just a bit bitter. Pine and citrus notes. A decent malt body behind it. A nice, easy drinking ESB.
Jul 31, 2013Reviewed by Maxwell from Massachusetts
3.57/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
3.57/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
The beer pours the color of honey and sits in the glass similarly, somewhere between red, orange, and yellow in color. The beer pours with a light, half a finger’s width head of medium sized, yellowing bubbles that fade down to a scrim. The head leaves a lacing of slick clouds that swiftly slide down the side of the glass. In body, the beer is clean and translucent with a slight haze and lots of carbonation bubbles racing up throughout the glass. On the nose, the beer smells pleasantly hoppy with a good, minty herbal touch and a strong backbone of biscuity, caramel bread from the malt. On the tongue, the beer tastes lightly bitter yet caramel sweet with the faintest touch of acid on the sides of the mouth. In flavor, the beer begins as herbal caramel bread, moving slowly towards a more toffee flavor before the bitters overwhelm the caramel flavor with hints of English Tea and grass. This gives way to a strong, lightly tannic, bitter ending and finish to the beer that mingles grassy and herbal hops with just a faint touch of bread sugar from the malt. The finish is light, shorter, and quite reminiscent of a black tea. The aftertaste mimics the finish’s flavor in a lesser way, appearing light and bitter tannic on the tongue. In the mouth, the beer feel slightly slick and on the light side of medium in body. Carbonation is of a middling amount, providing a light scrub on the tongue, while not providing any fluffiness and only a touch of crispness. Overall, this is a fairly good interpretation of an ESB. Honestly, it’s a little too bitter for an ESB by my standards, but I’ve really only ever had American interpretations of the style, so my judgment might be flawed. Still, it’s a nice sipper with some good characteristics. As the beer heats up, the malt plays a bigger role on the tongue, and the bread characteristics start to unfurl and become more nuanced, which is great. A solid beer to knock back at the pub, and an excellent beer to pair alongside stronger pub food, like a burger or buffalo wings.
Jul 19, 2013
Extra Special Bitter from Portsmouth Brewery
Beer rating:
84 out of
100 with
54 ratings
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!