Sweetwater ESB

Formerly brewed at Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Bronze color with a initially tall fluffy head that settles to a small cover of light tan bubbles. Slightly sour nut and floral aroma. Biting carbonation. Light malt sweetness coupled with an earthy nut and mild medicinal/resin component. A bit rough on the edges. Finish is somewhat spicy and takes to much away from the malt.

Deep amber/honey in color, with startling clarity. The small ecru head soon vanishes completely, no lace, no collar, nothing. Nutty and toasty malt nose- roasted chestnuts meet peanut brittle- bread dough, brown sugar, autumn leaves, and a hop aroma of fresh hay. Flavor is toasty and hearty bread (molasses-oat or five seed?), barely sweetish and grassy. Almost no hop flavor. Body is smooth and fairly full, almost oily. In contrast, the aftertaste is watery and earthy-sweet, like unboiled beer wort. Seems more like a prototype than a production ESB.

Dark copper color, sticky head and light islandic lacing. Buttery light hop aroma, caramel up front sweetness. Flavor is sweet and lightly balanced, the hops are delicious and the sweetness is a mix of brown sugar and molasses, yummy. Finishes sweet and flat. Good.

Amber pour with a thin head of white. Some lace. Strong floral hops and some citrus in the nose. Caramel and malt in the flavors. Followed by some hops. Sticky palate, medium bodied and a nice bitter finish. Nice.

Pours a medium copper color, head doesn't stick around long. Nose of bittering hops and hints of citrus. Taste is mostly hops in the beginning with a sticky malt finish. Mildly bitter. Nothing extraordinary but easily drinkable. Like the other beers I've tried from Sweetwater, they are pretty good, but not great. Worth a try.

They brew beer in Georgia? Nose of flowers, spice & caramel, hint of citrus. The brew pours a medium sparkling amber orange. The titanic off white rocky head is thick and tight, has great lacing and hangs around until the end of the show. The flavor is floral and bitter. Not very complex, but ok for a session brew I suppose. The medium body is lively and dry, with a very astringent feel to the finish. Not bad, but I expect much more in the nose and flavor from something labeled "ESB".

Thank you Slikwily for sending this brew. Faint malt aroma with some sweetness evident. Cascading carbonation with large, off-white head. Excellent lace. Amber body. Doesn't capture the true essence of an EXB. Comes close but falls short. And, with ESBs, if it falls short it isn't even close. A little thin. Mostly malt with only some bitter. Not very enjoyable and too much malt. Disappointing.

On tap at Summits Wayside Tavern-Really sweet floral aroma that was definitely carried over to the flavor. I really dug this beer but thought that it was a bit of a stretch to refer to it as an ESB. Definitely not bad but at the same time not what I was expecting.