Grand Teton Bitch Creek ESB

Bottle. Pours a ruby red with a small white head. Aroma of toasted malts, yum! Flavor of the same toasted malts, light fruits (apple skins) with a bitter finish. Pretty fruity/sweet for an ESB but still good. I’ve been a little wary of trying Grand Teton beers, but this one was actually pretty solid and tasty. Worth a try.

Sampled at Oregon Brewer’s Festival, July ’08. Sweet and dark with an incredible balance of malts and intense hoppiness. Really unique!

Bottled June 2008; Sample August 2008
Pours with a frothy, four finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head into my 25cl tulip glass. Thick aromas of ample crystal malt usage and citrus-hops are noticeable as I inspect the beer. It has a dark amber, concentrated red color that shows an absolutely brilliantly clear, ruby - cranberry hue when held up to the light. There is definitely a lot of crystal malt in this beer; toasty malt aromatics and thick caramelized sugars are quite noticeable, though the hop notes are perhaps a bit more prominent. Hop aromas of candied citrus peel, grapefruit, concentrated berry notes, some caramelized & reduced tangelo notes as well as a supporting herbal note that has pine-needle leanings to it. A good aroma, even if the crystal malt plays a bit too much of a heavy handed role here.

An aggressively hoppy flavor with ample citrus notes tastes a bit tart at first. Lots of sharp pine flavors as well as a biting bitterness that takes an astringent turn in the finish. The malt character seems a bit murky here; it is definitely from the crystal malt and is a mix of toasted malt notes, caramel flavors and a bit of astringent grain husk notes. The hop character has an almost mint like quality to it at times . This has a definite fullness to it, perhaps a bit more body than one would expect in your average beer of this strength, but nothing outlandish. Lots of sweet, caramelized malt notes serve more to support the ample hop character than being overly noticed on their own (though they definitely are noticeable).

Not a bad beer, but clearly a bit too heavy handed with the caramel malts. The hop character, though fairly aggressive, just can’t quite balance out the sticky crystal malt flavors.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Fantastic example of this style. Rich roasty malt backbone with light citrus hints and a strong nutty presence lingering on the finish. Very sweet with soft molasses bits and a light grassy hop presence. Great drink - well balanced and very enjoyable.

great amber color, there’s even shades of plum in there. wispy head refused to leave and left nice lacing. rounded earthy hop aroma, seems balanced with the darker malt. long flavor keeps rolling, balanced perfectly. hops never spin out of control, great esb