Fire Station 5 Fire Drill ESB

Brewed by Portland Brewing Company (Pyramid)
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Portland, Oregon USA

Bottle in Anchorage AK: Reddish-amber with an average head of bubbles. Little activity. Seducing aroma ... hop bouquet. But the promise isn’t wholly fulfilled. Instead, I get a flat almost flavorless mass-targeted beer. This aims for some hoppiness but it doesn’t live up to the promise. Maybe I’m a bit harsh with it ... this is a good well-balanced concoction, but it just doesn’t stand out.

OK it was reservations that I grabbed a single 12 ozer of this beer..the others had been rather pedestrian in this line. Actually not too bad of a beer to look at..chesnut brown with a large creamy off white head. Smell is pretty good mostly spicy hops..sherbety. mmm the taste is actually better than I had expected..certainly you get some nice bitter hopiness and a small malty taste in the front. Mouthfeel is good too..surprised it wasn't too thin like the other FS brews. Nice drinkable Bitter..not bad for Fred Meyers beer.

Bottle pours a coppery orange with very creamy white head.   The head seems to cling to the glass well enough.   I was suprised to see this brand exibit some finer attributes given the only average qualites of the other ones I sampled.   Of course, as I type this the head dissappeard.   However, there is still a minut layer of very fine bubbles distributed over the surface with ample carbonation eminating from the bottom.   Aroma is faint, light hop nose is present.   Initial taste has a little hoppiness, nothing overpowering.   Dwindinling bitterness through to the finish.   Moderate mouthfeel, perhaps due to the carbonation.   A little thin on the exit.    Overall I would say this is an alright brew, much better than its four siblings.

Copper bronze color, creamy head, light lacing. Aroma is fresh with dry hopping (cascade?) and lots of sweetness. Flavor is vaguely bland, light malt and hops, nothing spectacular. Mouthfeel is a tad bittersweet if anything. Eh, pretty well made considering the other Fire Station beers I've had.

Amber pour with a head of huge bubbles that are leaving pretty quickly. Big hop aroma covers most every other part of the nose up. Small malts, and less hops than in the nose dominate the flavor. A surpisingly bubbly mouthfeel. Very smooth palate and a bitter finish. Definately stands out more in this line of brews than the others.

#560 on my beershelf. Nice amber color with a little head. Much better than the other firestation 5 beers ive had. Had some great rich malty flavor with a hint of peach? i think. A little hops in the background to mellow out the malts and a smooth mouthfeel.

citric, fruity aroma; sweet body, a little metallic, and very slight bitterness in the end, a little toasty and grainy malt body; decent.

Medium orange gold color. Medium white foamy head. Aroma is malty and fruity. A medium bodied ESB. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are slightly bitter and grapefruity. Nicely balanced. Somewhat mild for an ESB, but it does have some hop bite. Touch of orange peel. Lively carbonation. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.