AleSmith Anvil ESB

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

Pours a lightly hazy, fiery, reddish-amber body. A dense, bubbly, cream colored head shows decent retention, settling after a few minutes to a 2mm blanket with a steep walled rim. Gobs of thick lacing cover the glass well. The aroma shows strong, fresh, grassy and herbal hops over a toasted caramel malt base. Grapefruit makes a brief appearance as well. A touch of fresh cream subdues the hoppiness quite a bit. The flavor is very well balanced. Nougat and caramel malts offset grassy and citrus hops. Cream adds a smoothing element up front, though the grassy hops seem to intensify over time. Finishes long and grassy. The body is just on the heavy side of medium and very smooth. Really good beer, but resembles more of a hoppy amber or a red IPA than an ESB.

I keep this beer around. I show it to friends, I foist it on houseguests, I consume it like butter. It’s almost like candy sometimes. Nonsense!

11/04/2007: AleSmith Anvil ESB Ale pours a beautiful clear brown sugar/pecan color with a foamy orangy-ivory head that leaves a lasting crown. The aroma is a wonderful, inviting blend of soft, sugary citrus (orange) with some underlying brown sugar and caramel maltiness and floral hoppiness. The flavor starts with lightly chewy caramel and then develops into a deeper, toasted maltiness with some traces of more darkly roasted malt and lots of caramel with a touch of citrus zest thrown in. The finish and aftertaste are simply amazing for an ESB as the caramelized sugar maltiness and delicate floral and citrus hoppiness linger. There is a dark toffee twist at the end too. The body of this beer is medium-full and it is very smooth and mellow on the palate. This is an excellent ESB and well worth the wait. I really need to get my hands on some more of it and soon! People in CA are so lucky to have this readily available in their area. This has to be my favorite ESB out of all that I have tried so far...

22 1 pt., 6 fl. oz. bottle from 5000. Thank you very much Andre! This one has been on my want list for a very long time. No longer though thanks to you. I really appreciate it! Rating #330 for this beer...

Hazy orange with a medium head. Aroma of sweet caramel malt with floral hops and a touch of citrus. Bitterness you can feel on your tongue. Pine and citrus show up at this point. Crisp texture. Bitter finish. A nice session beer.

Rich amber to maroon color with a light beige head. Smell was sweet caramel malt, BIG floral notes, fruitiness, hibiscus, and tea like flavors. Almost no noticeable bitterness, and flavors of hibiscus, tea, and some mild light malt. Interesting mouthfeel and flavor, and a great ESB overall. I like this, and it’s very unique.

The first beer I’ve had from Alesmith that hasn’t impressed me mightily. While the beer looks quite fine and has a pleasant mouthfeel, my impression is that this brew - which I purchased and consumed quite fresh - just lacks liveliness and flavor. There’s in fact very little spice and character in the beer, and the hops aren’t even all that detectable. Respectable enough to get a decent rating, but nothing I’d seek out again.

22oz bottle. pours a dark caramel with an off white almost french vanillish color head. Very light aroma.. hints of caramel hit the palate but no heavy bitterness and very little aftertaste. truely a steady smooth taste from first sip to last. not bad. not bad at all....

poured a dark orange/brown nice thick white head. Hops and malts were spicy and fruity in nature. Very good ESB.