Otter Creek ESB

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Middlebury, Vermont USA

12 oz bottle. Lot # 1845. Bottled 1/12/06. Clear copper color with thin white head and no lace. Very malty aroma with anise, molasses, and dried fruit. Nice balance of malt and mild bitterness on the tongue. Finish is tangy with a lingering molasses note.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained 09-Mar-06 in trade with jah noth, thanks Dan!) Lot #1845 bottled on 12-Jan-06. Pours a clear, radiant amber with dozens of trails of slowly moving carbonation bubbles making their way toward the surface. The small head is off-white in color and quickly dissipates to a filmy layer. Pleasant aromas of sweet caramel and gentle hops greet me as I lift the glass to take my first sip. The flavor is not as sweet and caramely as I was expecting, and in fact, it’s quite dry and chalky on the palate with the grainy malts being lightly toasty. Hops is mildly bitter and slightly floral, but balances the malts quite well and finishes strongly. I’m still struck by how chalky, dusty and mineraly the beer tastes, but I often like this aspect in a beer. Seems the sweetness in the nose has diminished considerably and now the aroma more or less matches the flavor. Carbonation is moderate and the mouthfeel is clean from the crisp, hoppy and dry finish. A loose spiderweb of lace trails remain on the glass. A decent American-made ESB that isn’t all sweet and caramely.

Bottle from Thaichile. Medium amber colored and clear. Small white head forms and leaves fairly nice lacing behind. Pleasing floral, fruity and sweet malty aromas hit the olfactory nerve with a soothing effect. Medium bodied at best, a little undercarbonated. Malty sweetness is slowly overcome by the IBU’s. Moderately bitter finish. Decent.

(bottle - 12 oz) Clear copper pour with a white head that quickly disappears into nothing. Aroma is sweet and malty with hints of bread, hops, apples, malts, and some nuts. Taste begins with a bitter and hoppy flavor then a slight malt taste, then a metallic and bitter hoppy finish. The finish is very dry, sour, and bitter.

Bottle, Lot 1847. Pours deep amber with a quickly fading off-white head. Grain, lots of caramel and a little pear/smoke in the nose. Malty and flavorful. Big presence of caramel/toasted malt, toffee, bread and apple followed by a finish of prominent hop bitterness. Actually, it seems overly bitter for an ESB but I’m enjoying it. Pleasantly sweet. Medium bodied with a smooth texture and moderate to mild carbonation. Bold and flavorful yet quaffable. I’m not usually a fan of Otter Creek beers but I enjoyed this one.

12 oz bottle, my third bottle before I could get a rating down on this one, bottled on 2/14/06, lot 1847, drunk on 4/23/06
Prominent lacing with a one-finger high off-white head that is fairly well retained. Clear copper-amber-honey body with medium-sized bubbles rising lazily.
Nose dry biscuity malt mixed with dry, old leaves and soily, brown malts. Nutty yeast, a light touch of buttercream and dry sourdough and seltzer water notes. Very weak strength, though no glaring flaws (such as dms, diacetyl,etc...).
Minerals, dry fruits (cherries, apples, strawberries) and mildly bitter hops keep things very dry. Fleeting caramel and toasty grains come through in the middle as soily notes and astringent, very unflavorful hops come through on the end. Medium-light body, watery, not terribly so, but just dull and only employing the hops for bitterness. Medium-sized bubbles and a fairly plain texture, too hard for a true esb. Light note of alcohol on the end, perhaps from the high filtration.

Copper color, small head. Lively carbonation. Malt and caramel nose. Light bitterness - caramel and honey. Ok .

Draft at Hop Devil. Amber gold with a froathy head. Aroma is slightly floral. Coulld be abything cut doesn’t taste like an ESB.