Brewers Den ESB

Brewed by Sun Up Brewing Company (Sonora Brewhouse)
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Phoenix, Arizona USA

Tap at the den. Pours a bright shade of copper with a creamy off-white head. Smells of bitter hops. Tastes of chewy caramel, waxy grapefruit, and a fair amount of malt. Nears an IPA in flavor. Nice.

tap @ the pub. pours a clear brown shade of gold topped for a short while with a small white head. aroma is almost lager yeasty with copper, malt, lemon and dry herbs. very ’clean’ flavor... light yeast, grain, lemon and caramel with a slight spicy finish. it leaves a dry herbal aftertaste. medium body with a creamy mouth feel. this one went down WAY too fast!

Cloudy amber with A nice citrus, pine and toasty malts aroma and flavor. Easy drinking beer with a rather sweet finish. Good stuff.

On draught at the Brewer’s Den (Sonora Brewhouse) in Phoenix, AZ. Pours a clear light copper amber brew with a fast dissolving white head that leaves behind a thin white ring and film top. Aroma of a dry citrus hop character, some toasted caramel malt with a touch of toffee. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonation with a dry and citrusy caramel malt flavor. Finish is dry and slightly bitter that lingers around after the finish.

Tap @ Brewhouse. Had a floral aroma along with some citrus. Amber body with tan head left some lacing. Flavor had a mild bitter and grain to it. Also had a good citrus mediun sweet flavor that was a plesant surprise. Tasted more like an APA to me. Smooth enjoyable refresment after a day of golfing.

This rating is for the high content ESB. Draught out of a tasting shot: Rich, clear amber color with a thin, off-white head. Aroma of alcohol, sweet malts and hops Flavor: HOPPY! w/a smooth, even palate.

This beer is a lightly hazy amber color that shows gold highlights around the edges. The head is a frothy, pale tan color. The aroma is a mix of sharp herbal hops and toasted grain up front. Upon deeper inspection, notes of citrusy orange, grapefruit and lychee become quite apparent in the nose as well. The aroma is nicely hop dominated; it has just enough malt to help accentuate the hop notes. The malt aromatics add just enough sweetness to play up the citrus notes.

The flavor is raw and hoppy, not to the levels of an IPA, but still aggressively so for an ESB. Sharp herbal hop notes mix with resinous notes of pine and even some mint. A lingering, yet fairly light, astringent bitterness closes out the finish of this beer. There is a light buttery note to this beer, which is mostly drown out by the hop character. The malt here plays a supporting role; a touch of biscuit like grain notes and perhaps a phantom of toffee notes peek out from underneath the hop character. Quite a nice beer, which will definitely appeal to the hop heads out there.