Elysian The Wise ESB

Killer, much better on draft in my opinion than out of the bottle, much more tame in the bottle. Fresh and lively on draft, this one has a bit of a zing, caramel malty flavors with some nice bittering hops, a slight bit of mineral and earthiness, but the fragrance is wonderful everytime you take a sip.

(Bottle) Pours a lightly cloudy amber body with a small beige head. Aroma of bread, pine, grapefruit, and caramel. Flavor of taosted malt, hops, and caramel. Somewhat bitter finish.

22oz bottle. Poured a darker and hazy amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Some small floaters. Aromas of caramel, bread, with some hop presence (pine). Tastes of stronger pine, grapefruit, roasted malts and lighter caramel. Lacing left on the glass. Another ESB that reminded me more of an IPA (but that’s fine in my book).

I hate typing in a rating after Clark...Pour is deep copper amber with a huge dense tan head...smell is hoppy with hints of pine, as well as bready sweet...taste is slightly sweet up front with that bread dough character coming through turning bitter, almost IPA bitter...not ESB bitter, but flavor wise this is a very malty beer...

Draught Pint at Redbones on 11/17/05 with OldGrowth. On the border between transparent and transluscent, this amber to cherry-red and beige colored beer invites a beige colored head to dinner and the two chat in to the evening (alternatively, the head is well-retained). Spotty lacing evident on the glass. Very respectable appearance for a pressurized, low gravity draught. Aroma has a touch of earth to it, lightly musty notes arise as well, and then a hint of cherries, dry peaches and finally soft caramel. Only a smattering of orange-peel-like citrus notes are apparent at first, but after warming, evolve to a more broad orange and light grapefruit variety. Flavor combines medium-dry caramel with light oranges and a touch of minimally sour, munich-like grains. Supportive malting mixed with low carbonation produces a lightly creamy texture. Strong dryness on the finish suggestive of dusty yeast, dry grains and light hop bitterness. Fresh, and with more yeast character than your average American ESB. Lightly sweet toffee lingers on the aftertaste.

22 oz bottle, from Sams in Chicago, I think Dec 2003. This could certainly be old, something I forgot about for a while, but there’s a nice crisp pop when I open it, and a lusty, thick off-white merinague head topping the clear copper body promises good things...pine and grapefruit in the nose, as expected, with some nice dry oakiness as well, and a touch of oxidation to mellow the hoppines (a good thing if you as me)....the body is smooth and lightly bitter throughout, with cherry and grapefruit upfront drying out in the woody, slightly dusty finish. This does seem a bit past its perfect prime, but is still a fairly reasonable American ESB and something I’ll try again fresher, someday.

Pour was ok, big loose head that smelled a bit stinky. Bloody red amber colour, very bright. Aroma was very prevalent, perhaps a bit astringent...grapefruity. First sip was very pleasing. Great malt profile with plenty of caramel/crystal character. Hops were very present, but didn’t interfere with the maltiness. Whoo hoo. Bitterness was more like an IPA than an ESB, but a nice complement to the malts. Big bitter finish, but maybe a bit citrusy. We love our New World hoppy beers, but I wish someone would brew a true pint bitter! This is a great example of PNW brewing.

ESB. With Chinook and Cascades. no. No. NO. For the love of all that’s holy, NOOOOO. Unpleasant, overbearing, clunky bitterness and damn near downright disgusting. Who the hell thought of this?