Arbor Triple Stone ESB

In short: A light honeyed English blonde ale of some kind. From the cask it was quite good. Probably very ordinary on regular tap.
How: From the cask at brewpub
The look: Partly cloudy blonde body with a little white head
In long: Honeyed fruits is the main attraction. Honey pears, honeyed bananas, honeyed peaches, a little caramel touch and a twist of lemon. The juicy/fruity/honeyed body is followed by hops that add a welcomed contrasting dryness with a mild bitterness. Lacks the crispness that I like from the style. However the cask conditioning was top-notch. Smooth bubbles and velvety moutfeel. Overall it is a very average ESB but the superb cask conditioning really ups my score to a superior ESB but if you remove the cask… well… you’re gonna have beer all over the floor.

On tap at the brewpub. Crystal clear orange-tinted gold, with a white rim. Aroma is a real, dry grassy hop, nice and glowing. Flavor is a little flacid. Cask seems a touch warm to me. There’s some buttery, cheesy hop character right off the bat, and then more of the grassy, juicy English hop style. Fresh tasting. Cask carbonation is working well. Pretty heavily hopped. Not much malt to back it up. Not bad. But, I get stuck on the cheesy, butteriness that develops as being unclean.

Cask sample at the brewpub: Arbor likes their Bitters! Pours a cloudy yellow/orange color with a foamy bone white head that lasts awhile. Patchy lacing on the glass. Tangy fruit and malt aroma. Medium-bodied and glassy-smooth with an unassertive hops flavor, as well as touches of fruit and malt. The finish is mildly bitter and short. Pretty forgettable overall.

Cloudy golden pour with a thin white head that leaves nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of citrusy hops. Flavor of citrusy hops with a very strong and dominating bitter finish. The body is light and oily with soft carbonation. Not bad but there’s more bitterness than hop flavor.