Wild River ESB

Brewed by Wild River Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Grants Pass, Oregon USA

Pretty good, slightly sweet fruity aroma. This is pretty good. Some fruitiness up ront with a good hop bite later. I found that the two beers I had in bottle almost seem better than those on tap--perhaps time to clean the lines?

Draft @ Wild River Brewing and Pizza Company, Medford, OR. Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head. Has a malty hoppy aroma with some hints of caramel. Sweetish malty caramel flavor with some hoppy hints. Has a sweetish malty caramel finish with some bitterness in the aftertaste.

From a 12 oz bottle purchased from the brewpub in Grants Pass, Oregon. This poured the color of ice tea, with almost no head and no lacing of any kind. Nose of caramel malts and citrus hops. Very light mouthfeel, similar to water. Flavor is malty with some fruit. Slightly bitter finish with some odd notes.

12oz bottle from jake65 - thanks, Jake! Kind of a big body and nose for an ESB, but maybe that’s because it’s not a prominent style in the US these days. At any rate, nice bouquet with some floral aromas and hop crispness. But what really stands out is a sweet (in many ways too sweet, heavy on the vanilla) malt flavors. It’s a bit too one-dimensional, but not bad.

Bottle: Copperish amber pour with a large white head that dissapated quickly. Sort of a sweet and floral nose, followed by a fruity/citrus and floral dominated hops. Some sweet malt and caramel like flavors as well. Very good. Thanks again Leah!

Maybe it was just me but this one really came across with a large astrigency and over the top bitterness. There was some extremely piney almost spruce like hoppy flavors, some citrus fruits, and a nice malt character. There was almost a dirty, briney finish. I think I may have come across a bad bottle.

Wild River now bottles. This ESB pours a medium amber with a fast falling white head. Citrus hops in the aroma with a bit of earthy dirt smell to it. The thing that really turned me off on this brew was the smoked taste in the malts. After the initial caramel malt sweetness came a slight ash tray/stale smoke flavor that kinda killed this beer for me.

Amber with a thin foamy head and just a couple of spots of lace. Bitter and orange in the aroma. Some caramel malts back that up. The flavors are bitter and piney with some orange peels. Malts come through with roast and caramel. Full bodied with a clingy palate and a bitter hop finish.