We opened a bottle of our ESB back on the 28th of June, but found that the carbonation wasn’t quite there yet. This past weekend, we tried again, and the beer is definitely ready for consumption, evidenced by the fact that we have consumed quite a bit of it by now.

Here are my notes. I believe Mel is going to be chiming in on this, as well.

Appearance: Hazy, reddish orangeish brown. Thick, cream-colored head that gradually coalesces into a few thin islands of foam that never go away completely.

Nose: Bitter, flowery, and subtley fruity.

Taste: A bit bitter for the style. The nutty and caramel notes are there, though they’re a little bit harder to pick out than I would like. Still, very drinkable.

Mouthfeel: Crisp. Coats the tongue. A bit of a hop bite going down.

Overall: I’m thrilled with how well our first homebrew came out. I can’t be honest with myself and call this a true ESB at the same time, though. The hop profile is just too pronounced. If we brew another ESB down the road, I would probably want to cut the late[Ed: Duh] early-addition hops in half and spruce up the specialty grain bill a bit. Nevertheless, the knowledge that we still have three gallons of the stuff left to drink sends warm tingly feelings down my legs.

Here are my notes:

When poured, the beer produces a nice head and a subtle fruity aroma (no fruit salad here!)

Medium to light mouthfeel.

The hops bitter sits on your tongue, but not in a grease-coating way.

A slight crispness to the end. Also, the beer gets fruitier as it warms.

Overall, the beer is very drinkable; what I would consider a perfect session beer for me, unlike Old Rasputin (a personal favorite of mine, nevertheless), which is A. too filling and B. too expensive to drink for an entire summer afternoon. I also have to agree with Ray on the hoppiness of our ESB. Perhaps we should call it an AESB (American Extra Special Bitter), since we all know us Yanks like to hop it up a bit!

Homebrewing, Our Brew Days, Tasting 3 Comments »