AleSmith Anvil ESB

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
San Diego, California USA

Serve in English pint

22 oz. bottle via trade with LtDan- thanks again, Dan! Pours a dark mahogany color, not opaque but very rich in hue. Small beige head that leaves a film on top of the beer. Aroma of grassy hops, rye, toasted malts, toffee, citrus, cherry, and wood. Flavor of toasted malts, earthy hops, tea, grass, toffee, rye, citrus, apple, and wood. Dry, earthy, and malty. Light-medium bodied, with gentle carbonation and a dry finish. Well-balanced, smooth, and subtle. Really nice to drink. I generally don’t get too excited about what is usually a pretty boring style, but this is the best premium bitter/ESB I’ve ever had.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of malt, nuts, toasting, light piney hops, and a hint of caramel. Poured mahogany/deep amber in color with a small to medium-sized, creamy, dense, beige head that diminished but lasted throughout. Cloudy. Slightly sparkling. Full of small particles throughout. Good lacing. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of malt, nuts, toasting, light caramel, light fruit, light hops, slight citrus, slight grain, slight wood, and a hint of orange marmalade. Medium body. Creamy, slightly tingly, then lightly dry texture. Average carbonation. Nut, malt, toasting, and light citrus hop finish is lightly dry. Disappointing for AleSmith, but not bad.

Bottle from brewolf...thanks Michael! - Pours a deep amber with a creamy off-white head. Smells of light and biscuity malt, nutty with a nice herbal hop burst and some light sweetness. Tastes real bready and yeasty, with some light toffee and a smooth herbal hop bitterness on the finish. A touch of milky sourness creeps in there too. Mild and easy-drinking, well-balanced and harmonious. If this was sold in WI, I could see this being a go-to beer that I could drink all night.

Aroma was of caramel, resin pine, slight hops. Appearance was a deep copper color. Was expecting the head to be gigantic, going by the alesmith IPA. But was suprised by it being very tiny. The taste was interesting. But kind of dissapointing, in a way. I was expecting something Extra Special Bitter. But was not really bitter at all. Had a slight alcohol presence. Not very fond of that, But an exellent beer, just was expecting something else. Overall great. Definitly will be trying alesmiths other brews.

Not my first time trying, just my first time rating it. It’s a very nice ESB, although light on the bitter side. Pours a clear copper color with a tiny offwhite foam head that sticks around. Lacing is nice. Aroma, is difficult for me to rate after mowing the lawn....I just smell myself...This brew has a relatively simple smooth taste and mouthfeel. The flavor dissipates as quick as slides down your throat. No aftertaste. At first I thought this was denoted a beer without complexity, but thinking back to other esb’s this is more of a positive element of this brew. Another fine libation from AleSmith.

Finally got to try this. Pours amber with a decent size tan head. Light aroma of caramel, roasted malt, some pine. Good smooth flavor, with the malt flavor doing the dominating. Very easy to drink.

UPDATED: APR 1, 2011 Bomber. Pours a dark, coppery amber color with a half inch of milky, bubbly head. Aroma is very faint floral hops and barley. The taste begins with tart fruit flavors (apricot, cherry, cranberry) and toasted malts followed by spiced hops and a hint of barley. It finishes crisp and dry with a little sour bitterness at the end. Doesn’t taste anything like the English ESBs that I’ve tried and I definitely wasn’t expecting the fruit flavors. Very smooth and unique brew.

UPDATED: FEB 12, 2010 This is my first ESB so I can’t necessarily rate it based on style, but considering that it is from AleSmith it is probably one of the best of its style. Apart from agreeing with what everyone else is saying about the flavor I would like to add that it actually reminded me of trail mix (nuts and dried fruit) and a little bit of smokey tones. Which is great because I love trail mix. This was a near perfect beer(from my limited experience) and I highly, highly recommend it. PS: The only set back is that if you’re not careful you WILL get a cup full of head. The first glass I poured was only moderately gentle and I ONLY got head. Second pour was as gentle as I could be and it was half head. In a way I kind of like that though