Beer Works Bay State ESB

Brewed by Beer Works
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Boston, Massachusetts USA

vegetable taste throughout this brew that otherwise has acceptable flavors of fruit and caramel. moderately strong flavors this dark brew is refreshing with a powerful foamy head produced as it was released from the keg. moderate in body it is a pretty good all around ale.

On tap. solid to form. Toasty with a nice crisp nutty dry finish. Wish I had time for a few more. would be a great sesion beer.

Dark brown, good lacing, not much aroma, strong bittering hops with long finish.

On tap at Fenway location. Pours a deep amber color with a small white head. Earthy, bitter aroma. Good clean, hoppy flavor with a bitter finish.

(Draught) Pours a clear deep amber body with a moderate off-white head. Aroma of caramel, nuts, light fruitiness, and toasted grain. Flavor of pine hoppiness, caramel, and nuts with a dry finish.

On cask 3/2007. Pours a very murky amber reddish brown. Nose is a very florally soft sweet. Slight wood character, from the cask no doubt. Flavor is pretty complex. Seems to be a bit of vanilla at the start. At least I got that on the first wave of taste. It quickly moves to a woody, earthy profile. Unfortunately I have to give the flavor a lower score because I feel like the only influence is the cask. Where is the beer’s character? It just ends up being a woody mess almost. Cask beers can be nice, but this one seems to lack balance.

On tap at the Salem locaiton. Pours a translucent ruby amber with a creamy white head that left some lacing. ARoma on the light side with hints of a pleasant hop and malt balance. Flavor on the hoppy side with some citrus, some spiciness and a nice malt balance...a tad bit thin.

22oz cask pull at Salem location on 5/20/06. Deep burgundy-violet-cranberry red body is bright, with a very well-retained ivory head that is dense and leaves wispy lacing. Nutty, English hops are dusty, and very light in the nose. Creamy, modestly sweet malts (pale sugars, buttercream). Fruitiness is actually rather tame, some black cherries and light tangerines. Some mild roast and peanut brittle, but the creamy-pale malts smooth things out. Creamy malts show nuts (walnut paste, with some vanilla cream) and very nutty hops. Some minimally bitter hop bitterness on the end. Crystal malts enliven things, somewhat and are well balanced by the pale malts. Cherries and almonds build up quite well on the finish. Very creamy texture, not overly watery with low carbonation. Too strong (in alcohol, even though you can’t taste it) and a little muddled by the amount of malt notes, but the texture is very impressive, as is the clean, fairly-crisp finish and overall condition of the beer. No diacetyl or alcohol.