Your favorite ESB

Ska ESB is pretty good

 

I sure miss Blue Point's ESB. That was one hell of a beer.

 

If you count Boddingtons as a bitter idk is it a pale ?

I like Red Hook ESB.

 

Another vote for Redhook...been drinking it for years-always available-great price-AND cool 'retro' label....

 

Yards ESA... one of the first local craft beers I fell in love with. A shame they took it out of their variety pack though as now I have it a little less often.

 

Left Hand Saw Tooth Ale is a good American take. Also Yards ESA.

 

Another vote for Fullers.

 

Lots of things to comment on in this thread, as a lover and homebrewer of English pale ales, so hang with me...

Fuller's ESB is one of my favorite commercial beers when fresh and kegged. It's getting harder all the time to find it bottled relatively fresh. It presents better on draught for some reason than bottle. I can only dream of having it on cask.

When it comes to styles, I wish Americans would just call these beers "English Pale Ales" and not try to separate out bitters, best bitters, strong bitters, ESBs, etc. The differences within the supposed style guidelines are minute. As mentioned above, no other British brewery markets a beer as an ESB besides Fuller's. Let's just have a classification for pale colored beers made with English malts, hops, and yeast and leave it at that. If we tried to do this separation with American Pale Ales the "war" would be on here at BA.

I wish I could comment on domestic ESBs, English Pale Ales, but unfortunately they are few and far between, outside of the one off brew pub releases, can be all over the map as far as quality and style goes. They might be good beers, but they don't seem to have a common denominator that defines them as ESBs as far as I can tell. Anyway, I do recall Goose Island having an ESB years ago that I enjoyed. I used to enjoy Summit ESB, which no longer seems to be distributed in Ohio. Otherwise I can't name for you a current domestic ESB that I enjoy outside of my home brew

 

I am a BIG fan of English Bitter Ales. I very, very rarely find imported English Bitter Ales (such as Fullers ESB) to be in good condition (fresh). During my numerous travels in the past to the UK I would order and enjoy Fullers ESB on cask (as well as other Bitter Ales).

I started homebrewing over 20 years ago and my first batch of homebrewed beer was a Muntons kit called “Traditional Bitter”. I make it a point to brew a batch of Bitter Ale every year; I bottled my most recent batch this past May. That beer is drinking very, very nicely.

The commercial beer that I most drink of this style is Yards ESA with my preferred format being on cask. I am fortunate that a number of Philly bars have this beer on cask and it is always available at the Yards Tasting Room.

“Yards ESA on cask

Posted: March 27, 2011

Who ever thought thirsty Philadelphians would ever really warm to warm flat beer? It's an acquired taste, to be sure, these "cask ales" kept at cellar temperature (about 55 degrees) and drained without carbonation by gravity from little firkin kegs. But Philly is having its cask-ale moment, for sure, with proponents such as Fork & Barrel, and now the Dandelion putting this British style front and center.

Remarkably, familiar beers taste different, even more vivid without the mask of chill and bubbles. So what a pleasure it was to rediscover at Dandelion one of the beers that helped in 1994 to launch Philly's brew revolution: Yards ESA. Malty and rich, with dried fruits and spice weaving through its amber brew, I've found this beer a bit too ponderous for my tastes at times from the bottle. On cask, though, so many other things pop out, including a light floral and citrus hops on the finish that perks it up into something "extra special" indeed: a Philly classic poured just right, and no longer ahead of its time.

- Craig LaBan

Yards ESA on cask, $4 (10 ounces) to $8 (20 ounces), the Dandelion, 124 S. 18th St., 215-558-2500.”

Cheers!

 

Alas, it is no longer brewed!

 

Fuller's comes to mind, as does GT Bitch Creek. Red Hook ESB was a favorite back around 98-00.

Cheers!

 

That's a bummer. It was a nice beer when fresh. I was just guessing no longer distributed to Ohio since 90% of shelf space is now American IPAs.

 

Aha, gotcha. I started homebrewing 40 years ago. Now, I haven't done any in the last 39 years but I can say I was homebrewing 20 years before JackHorzempa got started. It's a gold star Friday.

Back to ESBs I think this style has much to recommend it for both seasoned and new beer fanciers alike. Perhaps an updated image like, say, Imperial English Ale might spark some sales.

 

The Bitch Creek is actually an Extra Special Brown Ale.

 

I have to echo everyone's thoughts on Fuller's. I think it's the best ESB I've tasted. I recently had a locally-brewed ESB called CopperTop Special Ale, brewed by Barley Creek Brewing Company for The Olde Mill Inn. It was quite good. Very nutty but not as much toffee as Fuller's.

 

I feel lied to. It would explain how beefy it tastes next to something like Fuller's.

 

Beast Bitter for me too.
I love all the beer geek styles...Imperial stouts, Double IPAs, Belgian quads, anything barrel aged...but ESB has a special place for me.

 

They tell you straight up on the label.
That being said, it certainly is a delightful brew.

 

Deschutes and Alaskan made tasty ESBs. I don't know if they still do.