Summit Extra Special Bitter

Brewed by Summit Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

12oz bottle. Filtered looking amber-orange color, with small, patchy head. Mild sweet non-aroma. Relatively light bodied, with some mild caramel malt tones alongside an odd vegetable unclean bitterness, not really that good, sticky aftertaste. Sort of goes for a true English style interpretation, and falls short. The malt tones are really not thick enough to work with/cover up the odd hops. A little disappointing.

Pours an orange bordering on a flat copper. Aroma is a bit fruity, copper metalic (in a good way), and caramel. Smooth and fruity at first and then gets to a nice bitterness. A great beer.

Bottle courtesy of mar. Orange pour that edges on copper. Sweet bread aroma. Some strong sweet flavors. Finishes with bitter sweet.

Bottle from thirdeye11/mar. Pours with a white head and a hazy amber body. Aroma of grainy, huskyness and caramel. Taste is dry with grain and cardboard. Medium fizzy and dryness.

Poured from bottle into water glass at work. Color shifts from an orange-amber to somewhat dark reddish-brown depending on the lighting. Nice initial head that diminishes to a thin line with some lacing. Smells of fruit, caramel, metallic hops. Very malty upfront, with a strong fruitiness, as well as caramel and biscuit. Nice bitter kick at the end. Moderate carbonation, medium body, somewhat spritzy feeling, finishes fairly dry. Great American version of an ESB. I really feel that this would be a better flagship beer for Summit than the Extra Pale Ale, but that beer has been ridiculously entrenched here in the Twin Cities.

Pours reddish brown with a medium fizzy offwhite head. Nose is malt and bread. Taste is sweetish, with notes of malt, bread and caramel. A very nice ESB.

Pours a clear, dark amber with a thin, creamy, off-white head. Aroma of caramel malts, yeast, and light hops. Tastes of malts with some hints of biscuits, nuts, light fruits, strawberries, and light, earthy hops. Medium bodied with some carbonation. Very impressive; one of Summit’s better brews.

Pours a clear amber color with medium lived beige head. Smell is slightly nutty, with a touch of yeast. Taste is slightly metallic up front with crisp bready malt and a hint of fruity tartness and a light balancing bitterness. Comes off a bit dry. Decent overall. Medium body and crisp carbonation.