Otter Creek ESB

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

(12oz bottle, bottled 12/21/06) Small off-white head atop crystal clear amber body. Aroma is moderately sweet, toffee, some caramel, floral, light earthy. Taste is medium sweet, caramel, some chocolate, earthy, bread, melon, light floral. Medium body, light acidity.

Bottle... Clear, amber ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Spicy, woodsy nose with notes of black pepper and dried flowers. Decently balanced, but a bit boring... such is the style. Light to medium-bodied with a thin, oily mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Finishes a touch bitter and a little dry.

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

Bottle drank at the Brickskeller during RBSG 06 DC Weekend Copper color, light head, lots of lacing. Nose of light sweet dusty hops, light caramel. The flavor is toasty, medium bodied and caramelly. Decent finish. I can dig it.

Bottle. Dark amber pour with a moderate frothy white head that lasted and had good lacing. Average sweet hoppy aroma. Medium body. Medium balanced malt and hop flavor with a moderate hoppy bitter finish.

Bottle from State Line. Pours hazy copper-white head. Aroma of bready malt, caramel, almonds, sour fruit. Tastes caramel malty, with some sour fruit and tannic brown sugar. Stays more sweet than bitter.

12 oz bottle purchased at City Market in Burlington, VT. Cellar temperature sampling, from a Flying Fish pint glass. Absolutely clear light amber-copper, smallish quick-receding head with light residue coating the glass....simple malty-sugary, lightly woody nose...body a bit sugary-syrupy at first, quickly dries out and becomes rather astringent and harsh to finish....what little real flavor this is seems dry, woody and somewhat mineralic....thick, lightly carbonated mouthfeel. Really doesn’t work; supposedly this is set to replace the Mudbock, my favorite OC beer...sad but not surprising from this least interesting of Vermont brewers.

Bottle (12oz). Bright clear deep copper, small foamy head. Sweet light roast malt aroma, floral/perfumy hops, dry, a hint of yeast and dried rose petals. Taste is ... I don’t know, I almost want to say nasty; the malt seems cardboardy, the hops are harshly bitter and herbal, the (long-lingering) aftertaste is medicinal - not nice. Average body, light carbonation, bitter - aroma’s too sweet, taste is bitter in the wrong way.