Schlafly Winter ESB

Brewed by Saint Louis Brewery
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Maplewood, Missouri USA

(Bottled) Slightly hazy amber-golden with a medium, slightly tanned head. Fruity nose with some nutty-aromatic hops. Fruity-malty flavor with vegetably hints. Medium body, soft carbonation. Ok, but not very interesting.

Bottled (HBF2009, bottled 12.05.2008). Clear amber color, steady off-white head. Bready, a bit juicy aroma. Sweet caramelly malty and bready, ryeish American hops. A bit fizzy. More like APA than ESB.

Bottled@HBF2009 (Thanks Tomas Czarnecky!). Hazy golden colour, mediumssized white head. Grassy and hoppy aroma along iwth some caramel malts, biscuits and mild fruityness. Flavour is grassy/fruity hops with big dryness to it. Also caramel malts giving it some sweetness. Wellbalanced and drinkable ESB.

12oz bottle. Pours a see-through orangey copper body with a thin, white head that leaves a good amount of surface lacing and thick glass lacing. Aroma is sharp, earthy hops and mango fruits. Good amount of caramel malts as well. Pretty straightforward spicy, floral, sweet aroma. Flavor is pretty solid. Good amount of earthy, malty, bready caramels. Woody, somewhat spicy hops and a light amount of sweet tropical/mango fruits. Very well balanced throughout. Finishes dry with a long lasting, semi-sweet and earthy finish. Palate is medium bodied and chewy with a tickle of carbonation. Overall, a very solid ESB. Normally not one of my favorite styles, but this one is pretty damn good.

Pours clear light amber with a bit of white head. Smells nice and bready with rye and hops. Flavor is very good, some initial malty sweetness and fruitiness that seems to come with ESB yeast, with bready notes, and of course pleasant hop bitterness on the tongue and as it goes down. Mouthfeel is creamy and a little bit thick. Overall, a very solid beer.

Bottle from Acknud. Many thanks!! Hazy orange apricot pour with a decent off-white head. Aroma of fruity hop. Near full bodied with very mild carbonation. Flavor is light fruit over caramel malt. It has a bit of tang not typical of an English ESB. Finishes dry, fruity and a tad spicy. Just excellent. This was bottled on 11/25/2007, so it may have improved with time. It’s really good now.

Bottle. Poured a darker amber color. With a thin white head. Decent lacing left on the glass. Aroma was caramel, and malts, some hops. Flavor was much of the same. A very good winter seasonal.

12 oz bottle pour. Bottled December of 2008. Pint Glass. Pours very clear orange with a thin white head. Bubbles are rising rapidly. Aroma is very hoppy, slight citrus, grassy. Flavor is slight sweet malt, salty, hops. Excellent balance! Bitter finish.