Arcadia Lake Superior ESB

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint

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Ugly brown. . . Thick malty caramalized banana aroma. Murky sour bitter flavour that has no real pleasant attributes. There are quite a few better bitters out there than this one, I'd choose any of the those.

Fullers ESB is one of my favorite beers, so i decided to try another kind of ESB. Arcadia is not a bad ESB, but it is far from a Fullers. This might be just a bit too hoppy for me. I tend to lean towards the bitterness from the roasted malts instead of the bitter hops. Overly hoppy beers tend to be too flowery/perfumey for my tastes. This is a nice beer, bust not one of my favorites.

Draught at TJ’s: Aroma of malt, slight caramel, and kinda general ESB. Poured copper/amber in color with a small to medium-sized, creamy, off-white head that greatly diminished but lasted around the edges. Very slightly hazy. Not sparkling. Flavor is lightly sweet and slightly bitter. Tastes of malt, hops, slight caramel, and a hint of dried leaves. Medium body. Dry texture. Average carbonation. Malt, slight caramel finish is lightly sweet, slightly bitter, and dry.

Reviewed from notes. Pours a moderately dark copper color with an off white head and good lacing. Nose brings caramel malt and a decent dose of citrus and herbal hops. Slight bitterness. Taste is a bit more restrained with nothing really standing out. Feel is relatively light with good carbonation. Drinks quite well and was a nice find. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 10-12-2010

Draft at the bewpub. Pours a dark golden. Small white head. Some lacing. Mild grassy aroma. A little bit of caramel in the flavor. Bitter, but not overly so. Very crisp and clean. Very sessionable beer. Was only called ESB at the brewpub. Since no other ESB’s on the list I will make assumption I am rating the same beer.

On tap at Hopcat, pours an amber/reddish color with some light lacing in the glass, has a bitter hoppy aroma and the flavor was more sweet than hoppy which is to be expected, I was hoping for a bit more in the brew but it’s still nice.

Poured on tap at The Maproom (Chicago, IL). Pours a deep dark amber, hazed well with a decent offwhite head that dies to a thick film and laces well. Aromas are caramel malts and a light floral hop, grass. Nice. Initial is mellow, caramel malts, a decent floral hopping, mellow and drinkable. Bread, biscuits, a touch of citrus. Lighter bodied, light medium body hybrid. Tasty, sessionable, a bit under hopped. Easy drinker, a bit too malty for me. Not a re-buy.

Cask at Blind Pig in Champaign, IL. Pours a reddish amber with a rocky off white head. Aroma of fruity ale esters and wet grains. Lighter side of medium bodied with soft carbonation. I had problems drinking this one- perhaps the cask temp was bringing out the flaws- which were buttery and vegetal mixed in with caramel and raw wort. I did not care for this at all

On tap at Hopcat. Came to the table in an imperial pint, with a decent tan head and nice copper body. Aroma was somewhat faint and didn’t give off much in the way of hops... mostly a carmelly aroma. Flavor was the same, caramel, biscuit and a little bit of noble hops to add a fair amount of bitterness. Medium chewy mouthfeel. Not a bad esb.

On tab @ Hopcat. Pours a good copper with large white head. Refreshing a drinkable yet a good amount of hops and malts, a decent ale.

Middle of the road version of a bitter. Nicely hopped, decently bitter. Just not very complex, and not quite bitter enough. A reasonable attempt though.