Arbor HXL

Brewed by Arbor Brewing Company Pub & Eatery
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint

10 ounce draught mug at the brewpub on June 19, 2007. A creamy, lasting touch of head tops the dark, near-opaque and dusky amber body, lacing well...very fresh, predominantly earthy-piney aroma, citric hops show up asa well, nicely balanced acidic/loamy character.....wonderfully juicy-sweet flavor, light biscuity malts, lots of cherry and bitter orange, earthy with toasty graininess gaining prominence on the back end....beautifully carbonated and expertly judged; a truly fine ESB.

Pint @ brewery. Golden color, Nice hoppy aroma and a flavorful, but not overdone body. Very drinkable, almost session-like.

Pretty thick-bodied and not a lot of carbonation. Like many other big grapfruity, citrusy IPAs; in fact the malt bill is dominated by the hops so much that it’s not a bitter anymore, at least to me. Tasty, but over the top.

On tap: I was at the right place at the right time for this one, one of the brewers gave everyone sitting at the bar a sample of this a couple days before release. If it wasn’t 7.5% I wouldn’t have any problem having a couple of these with lunch everyday. Bready malts. Not too much carbonation, citrus on the palate. Another tastey selection from ABC.

Draught. Cascading gradient orange colour with a small creamy white head and plentiful lacing. Smells of orange/grapefruit hops and bready biscuit. Pretty nice amped up IPA body with noticeable alcohol character and lots of citrus hops up front. The caramel and bready flavours follow for the balancing act. Very good.
Tasted at the brewpub on December 27, 2006.

Tap. Pours a hazy orange-amber color with a smalisl white head, fair amount of lacing. Aroma is floral hops, some malt, pine. Flavor is lightly toasted malt, nice punch of floral hops, pine, grapefruit. Palate is medium bodied, medium carbonation, slightly sticky, bitter finish. Decent brew.