Sweetwater ESB

Formerly brewed at Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Serve in English pint

much thanks to kp for breaking this old school brew out of his celler fridge. this was a very easy to drink moderately flavored brew. i got a decent amount of malts in the body witha citrus accent. decent brew, but damn glad i had it.

This beer is an Extra Special Bitter by style, and it is a very good example. ESB is a British beer style, that has a touch more malt and hop character than Bitter, which when bottled in Britain is called Pale Ale. This is a medium bodied beer, with some really nice balance of flowery hop character, paired with some good biscuity and slightly sweet malt character. ESB is an excellent session beer, a beer to drink if you feel like having more than one, and Sweetwater ESB is the type of beer you could drink a few of, enjoy the flavor, and not feel too full or bloated. Sweetwater ESB pours to a bright, deep amber color, with a tight white head that fades, and a moderate amount of carbonation. The nose in this beer is inviting with flowery hop aromas, paired with subtle aromas of pale and stewed malts. The body is lean, with some nice pale and sweet malt flavors, paired with some estery fruit flavor. Sweetwater ESB finishes with more malty and estery fruit flavors up front, then ends with a slight, dry, hop bitterness that rounds this beer out. When fresh, this beer is a very drinkable, very quaffable ESB, that would make a great session beer. This is especially so, as Sweetwater ESB is a little thin in body for the style, but this is not a major flaw. It makes the beer all the more drinkable. It is also very food friendly, and would work with anything from barbecue, to deep fried fish and chips.

This bottled brew marked BBF 10 Month 2 week, weird huh?, poured a small sized head of foamy finely sized of unnoted length off-white colored bubbles that left behind a good lacing. The body contained very soft carbonation, was transparent and caramel brown in color. Its aroma contained notes of mild malts hops and soapy. Its mouth feel is initially slightly and tingly yet smooth in the finish with a mild hop bite and a malty aftertaste. Its flavor contained mild bitter ESB notes. A very average brew.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with goldtwins, thanks Larry!) Another sweet and bready ESB this evening, but this has seen some aging, so no surprise. Well, at least this one has a somewhat balancing bitterness to partially offset the sweet breadiness, but still, I want a bit more bitterness in my ESB. Ah well, it’s still an okay beer. The nose is toasty, bready and slightly earthy, with no sign of hops. Medium bodied, nicely carbonated, but a little wearing on the palate after awhile. Medium amber color and nearly crystal clear body. Off-white head pours to over half an inch and gradually recedes to a wide ring. A few strands of lace remain behind on the glass. Not bad overall, just not quite the flavor profile of an ESB at this point.

Sampled from bottle, a gift from Staleyiv. This ESB pours a cloudy copper with a thin white head. Aroma is caramel and flowers. Flavor is slightly bitter and dominated by crystal malts. Maple and citrus also present. Medium-bodied and smooth. An easy-drinking session ale that would be a regular drinker for me if it were local.

Found a few bottles of this right across the Georgia line heading into Rome. I really did not expect much from this one as the first bottle of the 6-pack had the “gusher”. Worst of all I happened to be driving when I opened it (I know, that’s not the best idea) so I had to try not to get beer every where while pulling over in a non-obvious location to dump the beer. Damn unfortunate. So, much to my surprise, when I got home and tried another one, it seemed fine. So here’s your rating. Poured an ugly hazy brown with yellowish hints. Had a nicely sweet aroma in which you can almost believe you are smelling orange and caramel. The flavor was a bit maltier than I usually like in my ESB’s but now that I see this is retired, that makes sense. The malt flavor is quite good however, and there are also some metallic hints and very very light hop presence that does this justice. The body was slick with some sticky syrup feel, though the crisp finish is a surprise after the beginning mouth feel. Glad I got to try this one. I’ll have to read some reviews and see how it was fresh.

Bottle. Poured a small sized off-white head that was mostly lasting, fine-medium sized bubbles, fair lacing, transparent, carbonated, and an orange hue. Aroma was malty and hoppy, Sweet, lightly bitter, malty, and hoppy flavor. Tingly mouthfeel. Medium body.

Pours a bright, clear, copper with a 1/2 inch egg-shell colored head. Nice thick lace. Smell is lightly fruity, hints of citrusy hops. Tastes of sweet malt. A nice hop bite but very subtle and balanced. Problem is, you would like an ESB to be a bit less balanced, a bit more hoppy. Light citrus flavors. Crisp in the mouth. A light hops aftertaste and very smooth. Very easy to drink and a tasty brew. The sixer says that this is their "most complex" beer. It’s good but this recently transplanted Atlantan hoped that is not their most complex offering by a long shot.