Elysian The Wise ESB

Brewed by Elysian Brewing Co.
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Seattle, Washington USA

Enjoyed this one on draught at the brewery in Seattle, WA. This beer pours to a beautiful, bright, deep copper color, with a thick, creamy, white head, and a good bit of carbonation. The nose on this beer is fantastic with very fragrant aromas of piney/grassy/citrus hop aroma, paired with estery aroma of fruit, and nutty/toffee aroma. The palate is firm, with excellent pale, and sweet toffee malt flavor, with good fruity estery flavors of plum and apple. This beer finishes with more excellent malty and fruity flavors, then ends with a big smack of piney hop bitterness that lingers. I was really impressed with the tremendous character of this beer. It is just bursting with big aromas, flavors, and bitterness. Really a great beer to sip and savor at the bar, or to match with a number of dishes on Elysian’s menu. Great beer, from a great Seattle brewery.

A place I frequent most. Really maly rich and red, if red was aflavor this would be it. Very silky sexy red with a sweet hoppy fashionable balance. One of my fav due to the mouth coating silky texture

Shimmering copper. Swirled mixture of creamy foam and medium sized bubbles slowly forms chalky rocks. Peppy, slightly airy nose of fresh bushy hops, perfume, glazed pine, and roasted nuts beneath a buttery caramel drizzle. Fluffy, fairly loose bubbles. Elegant showcase of soothing, palate-coating caramel and nut notes. Background of subtle cinnamon esters with a rounded tropical fruitiness that energizes the rich pine. Fabulous house character. Phenomenal balance, yet sneakily hoppy and bitter, throughout. Tight bitterness of pine needles buttresses the endless malt lushness. Perfect level of airiness briefly counteracts the hops and makes way for a richly malty engulfment nuanced with orange rind and flowery hops. Piney bitterness and minty hop flavors persist into the finish amid a chewy, continual thrust of caramel and assorted nuts. This pushes the envelope as far as it can go, ESB-wise, and does it all without jeopardizing its “to style” nature. Off the cask, this would be heavenly, and dare I say, even more magical.

Orange-amber appearance, healthily carbonated, and having a small head. Slight ESBesque bitterness detectable in the aroma. I was really surprised at the level of tastiness this brew generated with a wonderful hop-bitterness that would complement seafood as well as other culinary assortments. Very smooth on the palate with no noticeable detracting points. A superbly crafted ESB--the best I have sampled to date. It is quite a shame I am only discovering this beer now as the brewery is soon to be defunct.

22 oz bottle: Clear bronzed rose body with a full, fluffy tan foam, gorgeous. Sweet malted caramel aroma with a forceful pinesap air, but just enough to balance the malt and bring out the underlying floral and grass notes. The head remains on top, but becomes disparate and patchy. Smooth palate, with just a hint of grit: caramelized brown sugar. Creamy nuts, and a light fruitiness match the strong pine-hop (and grapefruit) bitterness with ease and allow this beer to walk the fine line of balance. As I can only judge by my bottle, this beer is grossly underrated…and I can’t image how wonderful it would be on cask…ah, what a nice thought.

Pours deep copper/amber with medium off-white head. Aroma of big hops, floral spices, caramel malt, toffee, brown sugar, some tannins. Tastes medium bodied on the palate, very smooth, with hints of caramel malt, solid hops, apricot esters, and some tannic acid as it warms. Fairly complex and well balanced. I consider this to be a top notch ESB.

This is a great session English style brew. Nice hoppy nose. Beautiful mildly cloudy amber in appearance. Nice toffee and caramel flavor combined gloriously with tangy citric hops. A real nice beer, not overly chewy, but adequate body to make it a winner.

Clear copper hue, good head formation. Floral hoppy aroma, mild lemon sweetness, caramel malts. Smooth palate at first, biscuity, lightly nutty, caramel. Fairly heavily hopped towards the end, plenty of citric bitterness. Delicious stuff.