Redhook ESB

Brewed by Redhook Brewery
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Woodinville, Washington USA

Pours transparent burnt orange with some carbonation bubbles. Medium sized soapy tan head that fades with decent lacing. Flavor is nicely balanced but a bit bland. Some hops with no particular malt flavors -- just balanced and smooth and relatively benign and easy to drink. Nice session beer.

not my fav. Copper colored. Hoppy. I guess I didnt get the citrus and lemin other people did. The carbonation was toomuch for me. Maybe al this is appropriate to style, but I didn’t like it. I also felt it was too watery.

overall not a bad beer by redhook. 12 oz bottle. pours a dark rich amber color with medium head. Aroma is well hopped and pleasant with a hint of sweet citrus. Flavor is unremarkable but not bad, and the palate is very smooth with no bitter aftertaste. Nothing out of the ordinary but definitely not a disappointment.

Amber with moderate head. Mild caramel malt aroma is rivaled by citrus hops. More in the spirit of a mid 90’s Pale Ale from New England than an Englsih ESB. Taste is similarly more hoppy than most ESB’s. Spicy dry bitter finish. Straightforward.

Golden with a mild haze. Citrusy sweet aroma. Some earth tones and lemon tossed on top of a malty backbone - a bit one dimensional. The lemon really kicks in when you take a sip. Some malts, citrus, and earth, as well. Body lacks depth. At first I didn’t think this was all that great a brew, but drinkable. Now, as I drink more I am finding it difficult to go back for another sip because that angry lemon bite keeps getting stronger and stronger.

Draft at Staples Center in Los Angeles. For a big arena, I will drink it, but when I’m used to much better beer, this is drab. I had Stone Oaked Bastard at a local pub before going to Staples, so this offering could not compare, yet I know it was far better than much of the other swill in the arena.

Bottle and draft. The draft version is preferable and more in keeping with an ESB. The bottle displayed a heavy grainy profile. The draft version is sweeter and crisper. Amber pour with average-size, white head for both. The bottle aroma is filled with grain, bread and canned corn. The flavor is lightly sweet, lightly bitter and moderately acidic. Medium body, thin texture. Finishes dry. The draft version’s aroma exhibits some notes of caramel and hops. The flavor is better balanced between the malt and hops. Overall, the draft version is more drinkable though neither bottle nor draft come close to being a top-flight ESB.

The aroma was nutty with a strong presence of caramel and a light fruity nature. Some cherry fruit was notable as was a light metallic note. The beer poured into the glass lightly hazy golden amber with a white moderate head that fell slowly to lace the glass. The flavor was lightly bitter with a mineral flavor and a moderate level of caramel. The flavor was fruity and nicely done. The finish was dry with lasting light bittering into the aftertaste. The body was medium. Apparently they have the diacetyl under control at Redhook. I may have to try more of their wares to see what else might have changed! 12 ounce bottle. 053007 (Had this one because someone told me they finally had the diacetyl under control, he was correct!)