Redhook ESB

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

Pours a clear, deep amber-orange with about a finger of creamy, pitted, off-white head. The nose is pretty muted. I detect notes of biscuity, sweet malt and some earthy hops. Medium-bodied and slick but with tongue-coating carbonation and a tight bitter finish. Round bready malts and lightly bitter earthy hops with a fairly tight conclusion. Some bitterness and toasted maltiness lingers on the tongue, but it’s fairly subdued. A decent ESB, but it didn’t make me crave another.

Light copper colour with a white head. The aroma is of faint hops and malt. The flavor is somewhat grainy with some hops and not really anything else going there. Seems more like a pils than an ESB or a Bitter.

Hazy amber orange beer with a light malty aroma with faint hops and light citrus. Good malt taste, not too sweet, with a mild bitterness in aftertaste. Medium bodied with a good balance of hops and malts.

12 oz. bottle, bottling date in the lower right hand corner of label (06.11.07), sampled in a pint glass. A clear reddish copper appearance, small foamy white head, slowly settled into a thin creamy lacing. Hop aromas, mainly citric fruity, a light leafiness, butter caramel and biscuit maltiness. There is a creaminess to the medium bodied mouthfeel, but it also has a firm roughness, mildly harsh in the palate. Smooth hop bitterness with a brisk bite towards the end, citrus rind with a salty spiciness. The malts are not overly sweet, toasted grains, traces of caramel and buttery biscuits, finishes dry with raw, rough graininess. For a ESB, the mix of rind and raw grains at the end leads to a harsh finish, a bit too rough for the style.

Really strong bitter aftertaste, if it weren’t for that I could actually drink it regularly. Smells pretty good, I just wish it had a better aftertaste.

Heavy malt, but not as heavy as it could be - hops come through hard and strong. One or the other should be a bit less, but still a good solid effort. For when you want the citrus flavor of strong hops but not just a summer beer.

Date: 03/07/1996
Mode: Draft
Source: Taco Mac, Sandy Springs

cloudy yellow, decient head, great lace, sweet malt aroma with a touch of spicy hops, tight hop flavor, almost an ipa, good bitter aftertste
-------- /> Date: 02/18/2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Score: 3.3 to 3.1

clear amber, wispy white head, light caramel malt aroma with a hint of sweetness, nice sweet malt flavor with spicy hops, light bitter finish,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+/4

Poured a clear golden/ruby with a fair head. The nose was strong with a citrusy hop punch with a faint maltiness beneth. The taste begins with citrusy bitterness and ends with raw, dry grain. Overall this was slightly stale, a little more maltiness would have made it much better.