Otter Creek ESB

Pours copper with a white head. Smells of sweet malt and earthy. Tastes rosey with some sweet malty hints on the finish. Enjoyable.

Nice copper coloured body with a ruby tint and a thin off-white head. Aroma of fresh hops, caramel, malt and a light freshness. Light-bodied; Short hop flavour with very little else. Aftertaste shows very little taste - not really good. Overall, lacking in so many ways - especially from the hops. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Trader Joe’s in Reston, Virginia on 18-March-2006.

Taste 8/8 Bottle(12/21/06). What the hell...december 06. Damn rotate your beer TOTAL WINE. Looks: Iced tea body, with a tiny yeasty head. Aroma:Grain malt. Mild yeast/sour. Taste: Iced tea, bland, a little sour yeast. I think this beer is old. I’ll rerate with a fresher product. Has aged very well..bonus points.

Bottle sampled. Pours amber in color with a small off-white head. Aroma of light caramel, toffee, and bready malts. Flavor of caramel, toffee, spicy hops and a hint of chocolate.

Dark golden colour with slight tan beige head that leads too a small lingering lace. Caramel candy aroma is dominate in the aroma. Flavour again ... caramel candy with very light bitters. Body is fine but over all I found it all a bit confusing as to what I was getting.

12 oz bottle. A very confused brew. Not an ESB, not a bitter. Tastes more like an attempt at a Black’n’Tan that somebody mixed with last year’s old halloween candy leftovers. Balance of malt and hops is all out of whack for my tastes. There is simply no sense of adventure in this dud. Otter Creek has done better.

355 ml, bottled 1-31-07. Dark copper with a medium and lasting head. Nose is mellow fruit with some slight earthy spices. Flavor is big caramel malt on front with some cedar, pecan nut, sour fruit, chocolate, spiced honey, and more. Turns toward the bitter in the middle with more dry, sourish wood and earthy tones; almost some smoke in the aftertaste at times. Palate is smooth and tingly at the same time, with a medium body, and dry on the finish. Awesome balance and complexity, this ESB is way under-appreciated.

Let me thank jjpm74 for the chance to taste this beer. The feel of this beer is rich thick and malty. As bitter as it’s namesake with low creamy carbonation. It looks like a darker iced tea. Has a white ring around the inside of the glass for a head. Not very hazy. Overall, when compared to the other ESB; not as refined, sweet or happy as Wychwood Hobgoblin. On par with East End Session #6 - The Bitter End and Whitbread. Malty and bitter with a slight bite or tartness that cannot be described, very complex. Finish is an interesting combination of hops, grapefruit rinds and malty alcohol, lingering long and impersonating. The aroma of this stuff morphs from a sweet strong ale to a hardtack candy.