SKA Special ESB Ale

Brewed by SKA Brewing
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Durango, Colorado USA

Hazy amber color out of the can. I’m really starting to love canned craft beer. Attractive off white head that shrank pretty quickly and left some lace on the glass. Some wet grains in the nose with some nuttiness and something tangy as it warms. Toffee sweetness, with bready malts and some grassy hops. I do get the tea in here, and there is an odd tang that may be from the hops. Okay beer.

12oz can. Pours very clear with a nice chestnut color to it. Great looking carbonation and head. Makes me look forward to drinking it. Malty aroma with a touch of sweetness. Nutty malty flavor with earthy hops piled on top. Though that is not my favorite profile it is quite good in this case and there is nothing off at all. Good carbonation level for the style, medium body. Lingering malty finish. A solid brew.

12oz can-Pours an medium orange with a nice tight two finger off white head. Aroma of hops, citrus, and a little toffee. Taste of this medium bodied brew is of hops caramel, and toffee with a piney finish. I was expecting worse so this was not bad.

Pours a mostly clear, bright golden/orange body under a wet yet creamy yellowhite head. A sour grassiness is the first aroma to reach my nose with dusty caramel/toffee following. Creamy in the mouth, fuller-bodied than expected. Odd conglomeration of flavors with sourdough yeast, toffee, instant tea and coffeeground bitters. Essence of tea lingers with a mild sweetness of honey and saccharine.

<font size=-4>6x12 oz. cans from <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Beverage Depot, Orland Park, IL 60462</font>

Aroma is a faint hop scent. Color is a deep golden with good carbonation and a thin head. Taste is light and clean. Starting with a light body it goes down easy with a slightly crisp feel. Finish comes in with a very mild malt flavor that is then backed by a faint bitterness and ends very clean. Its just not very bitter for an ESB. Overall its a nice little beer to drink but it doesn’t fit its style very well.

Honey/amber color. Decent short lived head. A little lacing. Aroma is very mild toffee and malt with a hint of hops.Flavor is mild malt,baked bread and a hint of hops. Mouth feel watery but I’ve been drinking alot of BIG beers lately so it might just be me. Not bad but at $8 for a 6 of cans?!.......not likely to be a repeat.

I believe this is my first ESB in a can. It pours a very pale amber body with a slight head that lingers none too long. Little of any lacing. It has a light aroma of toffee, fresh bread dough, and just a wee bit of floral hops. SKA needs to remember that a Bitter should have some bittering hops, because the flavor is practically all malt, a tired toffee and some bread dough. Just a bit of hops figure into the finish, quite dry. Drinkable.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Beverage Depot, Orland Park, IL<font size=-1>

12 oz can. Clear burnt orange with a small, lasting head. Aroma is toffee with slight prickly herb-spice. Flavor is initially big toffee-apple; turns to a delicate, bitter herb and light fruit finish. Slight wood and smoke on the finish at times, too. Pretty decent for a canned beer, and seems true to the style. Not a bad ESB, but there are others I prefer.