Foothills Rainbow Trout ESB

Brewed by Foothills Brewing
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA

Sample at the Knoxville Brewer’s Jam. Poured a darkish brown with a one finger tan head. Aroma of caramel malt with a hint of nuts. Flavor was caramel and nuts, with a chocolate note as well.

Sampled at the 2008 Knoxville Brewers’ Jam. Brown in the glass with an off-white head that leaves a layer lasting and good lace. Caramel malt aroma. The flavor finds chocolate, caramel, and nut. Medium body.

Very mediocre bitter. I liked that it had a strong note of caramel to it, some nuttyness that is pronounced on the swallow, but it just wasn’t hoppy enough for me. It tasted like an enjoyable brown ale, but otherwise a bit mild and underwhelming.

I was a fan of this ESB. Its been a while since I last had an ESB, so maybe I was just jonsin’ for one based on the other mediocre reviews. I thought there was a decently full flavored (more malt than hop) beer with a decent nose and palate.

Sampled at the 12th Annual Knoxville Brewer’s Jam. Reddish orange pour with a light cover of cream colored head. Nice bittering caramel malt and light hops. Drying hops give the palate a lasting bitterness.

on tap. small tan fizzy head into amber body with good lacing present. aromas of light to moderate floral hops and moderate caramel. flavor is moderate bitter with some light sweetness throughout. average carbonation. moderate finish duration length. pretty good ESB.

09-May-08 (22-oz bottle with a competition label only: Free sample bottle for stewarding the 2008 World Beer Cup in San Diego, CA) Lots of flavor in this American style ESB. It’s very dry with no residual sweetness whatsoever. The roasted nuttiness is more like eating the seed coat (not the shell) of the nut rather than the nut itself. Woody, a little dry chocolate too, but unfortunately, it has a slightly burnt flavor and a fairly prominent impression of corn husks is a bit of a distraction. After a few sips, a weedy, piney, slightly earthy, hop bite emerges in the finish, contributing flavor and moderate bitterness. Roasted nuts, piney hops and wood in the nose, but the husky character is quite noticeable as well. Medium in carbonation and medium bodied, with a slight, nut-shell astringency. Very hazy and dark amber in color. Small, almost filmy off-white head settles to a thin ring. It’s an okay beer, but a little too much of that dry, nut/seed coat character throws this beer out of balance and dampens my enthusiasm.

Pours a nice amber color with a small white head and no lacing. Aroma is malty with a little hop and bitterness. Has a good hop flavor with a fairly dry finish. I’m not very familiar with ESBs, but this was enjoyable.