Brew Kettle (Extra) Special Bitter

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of English malts, caramel, and a hint of tea. Poured amber in color with a large, creamy, off-white head that diminished but lasted throughout. Clear. Sparkling. Good lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of English malts, hops, slight hops, and a hint of tea. Medium body. Smooth, dry texture. Soft to average carbonation. Caramel, malt, and slight hop finish is dry.

Courtesy of Poonpillager. Pours copper with thin off white to tan head. The aroma is sweet and a bit odd too. The oddness seems to be cedar resin moving toward sap and going along with sweet malts. The taste is a bit sweet and malty to start becoming somewhat bitter with a big hoppy spiciness that moves into the cedar resin woody grassiness noticed in the nose. Interesting brew. Did crizay have his hand in the making of this?

Bottle courtesy of Gillard I think. Pours a slightly hazy copper with a one finger off-white head. Aroma of pale malt, earthy hops, and tea. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium thin mouthfeel with a mild amount of bitterness. Decent.

As a side note, my bottle looked different than in the picture illustrated here (had an English looking fellow running). Anyhow, purchased 2/04 at the brew kettle (22 oz. bottle). Poured an amber/copper color with a lite off white head that lingered. Very clear and drinkable looking. The aroma was lite and what I would expect if I were brewing an ESB. Some downplayed sweet malt, lite pine and/or citrus peal hops. A bit metallic and crisp. The flavor was very lite (almost watery at first) with a slight metallic twinge (but in a good way if you can imagine it). However, this gives way to a lite and well balanced pine bitterness with mild malt caramel. I very much enjoyed this brew. I would call this a good example of an ESB and what I would brew on a regular basis as a session beer.

22 oz bottle: Medium amber w/ orangy highlights. Lasting medium sized off white head. Aromas of toasted malt, very little herbal hop, and some English yeasty esters. Hints of caramel as it warms. Well balanced, but not bitter at all. Toasted malt and caramel flavors, very little herbal hop, w/ a light green apple fruitiness. Finish is on the semi sweet side, aftertaste is lightly hop and toasty malt flavored. Lighter body, but not watery, medium carbonation. Lightly dry m/f. Overall a very drinkable session beer. A good quaffer, but nothing fantastic.

This is a bottle from the Brew Kettle labelled "Extra Bitter Special Bitter" without any reference to the Ringneck. Amber color with a frothy, off-white head. Hoppy nose with orange. Very fruity beer with cherry and orange notes. Light body and easy drinking. Not an especially solid bitter, but pleasant.

The smallish head sticks to the sides of the glass. The beer is the color of iced tea. The aroma is malty, toast and chesnuts and the flavor is crisp. The hops are small and spicy in the finish with a little lemon.

Thick sheets of lace that seem to stick forever above the clear copper body. Biscuity malt aroma with some floral/pine hop. I like the malt flavor here, but there’s not enough of it - a little thin. Hop finish is nice and mild, some fruit and citrus (pineapple/orange). I also got some chalkiness, but I’d like to try this one again.