Southampton ESB

On tap at BT. Deep copper amber in color with a little off white head. Malty grainy caramel aroma. Nutty notes. Cereal bready malty flavor. Smooth tasting. Sweet. Medium bodied. Nice beer. Very drinkable.

Draft at the Blind Tiger. Copper color with some head. Slightly sweet and bready malt aroma with some european hops. Flavor is the same, subtle bitterness but balanced with the bready and sweet malt. Nice beer.

On tap at BT. Copper amber with a small head. Aroma is cereal and malt, hardly any hops. Although the aroma would make you this this stuff is sweet, its really not. Flavor is dry and malty with. Nice flour flavor. Toasty.

Draught@The Ginger Man, NYC
Dark nutty brown color, off-white head. Nutty, mildly coffeish aroma. Palate is a bit on thin side. Flavor is dominated by woody-nutty malty flavors with some light and odd fruity notes. Very light licorice notes in the finish. Drinkable, but a bit bland to be in the "premium class" ESB.

On tap at Zeno’s Pub - State College, PA. Light malt nose. Faint. Pours a deeply hued copper, with fading rim of rocky white. Flavor starts predictably. Fresh bright honey-like malt, with oak background, grasses, and fresh chewy hops. Carbonation on the lower end is appropriate. Signature Southampton yeast profile sneaks through for a brief glimpse. Chewy. Smack is incredible. A rolling glow of real earthy fresh farm tones, heavy Flax seed, minerals, and salt. Almost oily in a omega way. Grassy milk residuals and fish bones. Complex and long lasting. Hop character is completely nuanced. If the sugars lied a little lighter on the tongue and the malt expressed a little more character mid-way, this beer would be astounding.

Tap at the Publick House. Biscuity malts in the nose, not much complexity or oomph. Downplayed and subtle, which is always good for a style like this, but it lacks the depth or smoothness I was looking for. Taste has a gentle bitterness, earthy, biscuits. Not too sessionable.

On tap at the Southampton Publick House 2/16/08. Pours a clear amber with a medium white head. Aroma of wheat, grains and bread dough. Taste is grainy with hints of wheat. Average.

Tap @ SPH. Poured a clear copper with an off-white head. Earthy and citrus hop aroma and flavor. Caramel malt makes up the base. Mild sweetness with an earthy dry moderately bitter finish. Light to medium body. I’m not an ESB fan but this wasn’t bad.