Great Divide HotShot ESB

Formerly brewed at Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Denver, Colorado USA

Serve in English pint

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Bottle pours a light amber with a thin white head. Scent is light caramel. Taste is the same with a light dry bitter finish. Would love to have had fresh.

On Tap at the Celtic Tavern, Denver 09/10/2007 As Max Evans Welsh Style Ale Carbonation. Small white head. Amber red coloured and slightly rich on the palate with a dry full malt finish.

Great Divide Brewing Company--Hot Shot ESB--Extra Special Bitter Ale. 2005-A 12 oz. Bottle. 5.20% ABV--30 IBU’s. (4.0 / 5.0) Beer of the Month Club Selection February, 2005. Nice lacy head. Clear thick dark golden color. Mild toasted earthy hop front. Crisp dry sweet mild butter caramel biscuit body. Creamy mild hop bitter end. Clean balanced mild ESB. Sampled 2/27/2005. 2005-B 12 oz. Bottle. 5.20% ABV--30 IBU’s. (4.5 / 5.0) Rich mild lace head. Rich clear dark golden color. Light toasted earthy malt hop front. Smooth rich earthy biscuit caramel mild sweet creamy body. Spicy earthy bitter hop spice end. Classic ESB. Rich flavor. Sampled 7/31/2005.

Bottle. Picked up by my wife on her trip to Jacksonville Beach from Broudy’s Liquors a few weeks ago. Stamping shows bottled on the third week of February. Is that ’09 or ’08? Hazed copper pour, not unlike a dirty penny. Short white head. Nose has light cardboard, faded hops, caramel, toffee, and floral notes. Taste is caramel, faded hops, wet cardboard (but not unpleasant), spicy notes and watery honey. Body is light-medium with light, prickly carbonation. Ends with more caramel, light cardboard, faded, spicy hops, earthy notes and toffee. Way past it’s prime.

12 oz bottle. First I should say I don’t know what the hell happened to mine, but when i opened it, it exploded with foam. I didn’t shake it, so I don’t know how the hell that happened. Pours orange with heavy head. Smells sweet. Taste is slight malt up front then a sweet caramel finish. I’m not picking up much bitter here. Decent, I would say I was glad to try it before it disappeared entirely.

Bottle. Light amber pour floral hop & malty aroma.. Taste is more hoppy than most ESB’s ive come across. Similar to Sierra Early Spring in that regard. Nice malt presence also. Pretty good

Bottle pulled from a box in the basement, guess its a little old. Pours clear amber with a nice malty aroma. Flavor is sweet, malty upfront with a decent bit of bitterness in the finish. Not sure why they quit making it.

Clear amber/copper coloured body with a thinnish off-white head. Aroma of caramel, citrus and somewhat fresh hops - just a small amount though. Light-bodied; Sharp pungent taste of malt up front with some caramel lingering behind and a bit of cardboard - nothing great at all. No hops in the taste or even in the aftertaste - where did they go? Aftertaste just fades to an unpleasant bitter maltiness. Overall, not a good bitter - If I had to categorise this without the label, i’d deem it an amber ale. Not recommended in the slightest bit. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Chevy Chase Wine & Liquors on 10-July-2005 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Bottle from my *hodge podge* box from richmond. So this was at least a year old, probably more. Poured a near clear golden amber with huge off-white head that eventually dies down. Some citrus character and light fruity hop aroma. Flavor has a nice malt backbone and actually seems to overpower the hop profile, but that could be in large part to the age. Not that bad actually.

Post-GABF football Sunday in an Irish pub after the Broncos game (I can’t recall the name of the pub). The server said that Great Divide allows them to serve this under the name "Max Evans Welsch Ale", but she thought it was their regular ESB. Deep copper amber, thin almond head. Sweet toffee malt, creamy mouthfeel, low earthy/woody bitterness. quite nice.