385. Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #31 Single Hop ESB

It’s been a while since we hit up Harpoon—which means it could be about time to revive the over-used references to Elli’s love of all things whaling and maritime/nautically-related. Because nothing says love like salt water, blubber, and Moby Dick. Ahem. This is beer features the latest addition to Harpoon’s 100 Barrel Series. It also marks our eighth beer from Harpoon, including 100 Barrel Series #30 Island Creek Oyster Stout, 100 Barrel Series #28 Glacier ’09 Wet Hop, 100 Barrel Series #27 Helles Blond Bock, Octoberfest, Leviathan Saison Royale, 100 Barrel Series #24 Glacier ’08 Wet Hop and their IPA. So pass the bottle and twist the cap...

Single Hop ESB pours a deep burnished copper with a thin ivory head that hangs around like that little brother who would never leave you the fuck alone. The nose is a mix of biscuit and grainy malt aromas with a touch of fruitiness to accompany the malt. There is also something of a molasses and/or treacle and/or dark caramel toffee creaminess that lurks underneath all of this, but is hard to specifically isolate—hence the equivocation. Flavors start with a dry grainy biscuit flavor; the middle has low levels of earthiness coupled with more of the graininess and some mild cola flavor (the same as you’d find in a mild brown) followed by some light spiciness. The finish is lightly bitter—just a touch—with some light fruitiness and creaminess, closing out with some graininess reminiscent of rye beers, but without the rye flavor. I’d call the final touch just a bit of dirt, but that seems not to capture what we see as something positive in the finish. Single Hop ESB has a medium body with a flat, clean, British mouthfeel that still carries a bit of creaminess. The carbonation is low to medium, and plays more of a rounding role on the palate than anything else. The lingering grainy browness does help push this into the realm of British beers, even though the label informs us that the beer uses Delta, a new American hop (well, and the ESB style is decidedly British). Good, drinkable, and certainly quaffable; Elli said she’d wouldn’t necessarily chose this beer, but then again, she wouldn’t complain if this was what she got served. I’ll give it about the same—it is good across the board, but it does need a little something more to push it into the exciting category.

From the bottle: “Hopped entirely with Delta—a new American hop varietal—this Extra Special Bitter has a unique earthy/fruity hop taste and a rich malt body.”

From the Harpoon website: “The 31st offering from the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series is the Single Hop ESB, brewed by Harpoon brewer Charlie Cummings. Already excited about crafting an Extra Special Bitter, Charlie jumped at the rare opportunity to brew this beer using one hop varietal, Delta, exclusively throughout the process. The Delta hop is a brand new American-grown hop developed by Hopsteiner. In fact, the Harpoon Single Hop ESB is the first beer in the world to be commercially brewed using the Delta hop. A cross between Fuggle and Cascade hops, Delta hops yield an unrestrained earthy/floral aroma and taste that compliment the rich flavors of traditional British malts and yeast. The recipe for this beer is a nod to the beloved Harpoon ESB, which was last brewed in 2002. However this version uses imported ingredients, except for the domestically grown Delta hops. Only a portion of the batch was filtered, leaving the full spectrum of flavor and aroma of this special new hop to enjoy.”

ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 38
OG: 14.8 °P
Brewed: 3/26/10

Bottled: 4/9/10

(7/20/2010)

305. Barley’s J. Scott Francis ESB

Our third beer from Barley’s—our last two were Blurry Bike IPA and Rye IPA. We bought a growler of this on our way to a party in Columbus with the idea that it would be our beer for today. But we didn’t take any notes or anything like that—we just drank it and enjoyed it. Take that, decorum and protocol. I know, I know. But you’ll just have to struggle on with your day.

From the Barley’s website: “Our ESB was a surprise tribute to our brewmaster, brewed without him knowing about it, then racked while he was on vacation in the Outer Banks. A bigger beer than Barley’s Pale Ale, it's got plenty of fruitiness form our house ale yeast, maltiness from British barley grain and the distinctive flavor of British East Kent Golding hops.”

ABV: 6.8%

OG: 1.068

IBU: 31.5

Malts: British lager, pale, & crystal

Hops: British East Kent Golding

First Brewed: September 1996

(5/1/2010)

191. Ska Brewing ESB Special Ale

“Can-tastic!”

Our second beer from SKA Brewing in Durango, CO; our last one was Modus Hoperandi.

SKA Brewing’s ESB Special Ale has a bready and biscuity nose with some slight spiciness that could either be hop aroma or some yeast esters. It has a hazy copper color with an ivory head that dissipates rather quickly. Starting with a rounded bready malt flavor, ESB Special Ale moves into low levels of bitterness before ending dry, biscuity, and bitter, although not enough to take it out of the ESB category. There is a slight amount of a plasticy flavor in the middle of the beer, but it is mainly in the background. ESB Special Ale has a medium body and medium to low carbonation bite. Except for the plastic off-flavors, this is about exactly what an ESB should taste like; a very British malt profile, and low levels of bitterness and carbonation. Coupled with the can format—and it appears that SKA Brewing is working the can angle—ESB Special Ale is the beer for today’s on-the-go traveler.

From the SKA website: “Yes we can. Okay, that was stupid. But we can and we did. We can come up with can puns all day. We can do it. Can. This English Special Bitter is our Special Ale. Special because it was the second canned microbrew in the nation (after Dale’s Pale Ale). Special because the Galena hops and pale malts create a crisp first sip, a hoppy tongue, and a malty sweet finish. Though bitter is part of the name, better would be a more accurate term. Fresh and lively, this canned beer suits the needs of any outdoor enthusiast. Like it says on the can: fish, luau, golf, raft, toboggan. SKA can!”

Lip up Fatty, indeed. Why does everyone forget about Maui Brewing and their sweet sweet can action?

ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 58

(1/7/2010)

167. Grand Teton Bitch Creek ESB

Bitch Creek ESB is our first beer from Grand Teton Brewing Company in Victor, ID.

Bitch Creek pours a murky, rusty bucket brown; it may be a bit dark and murky for an ESB, but who are we to judge? The light brown head is pretty minimal, and the nose is a bready and sweet malt that smells like you’d expect it to be chewy. It opens with a sweet biscuity malt front—a baked good of some sort—before moving into roasted and chocolate flavors in the middle and ending sweet with some dry malt notes—both of which linger. There is no fruitiness or discernable hop presence. Bitch Creek has a medium body with a medium carbonation bite. Overall, the lack of a discernable hop presence is a problem, as is the darker malt profile, especially in the middle with the roasted and chocolate flavors. Hops would help the beer end better; there would be less lingering sweetness, and the middle would have some bitter bite. Ultimately, this tastes more like a brown ale (specifically a British-style brown ale) than an ESB. It seems like they pretty much missed the mark here; unless we got some random skanky bottle, Bitch Creek ESB seems to be trading on their “edgy” name to attract the tourist dollars. Seriously, an ESB with no hop presence?

From the Grand Teton website: “Bitch Creek perfectly balances big malt sweetness and robust hop flavor for a full bodied, satisfying mahogany ale. Like the stream for which it is named, our Bitch Creek ESB is full of character...not for the timid.”

Does that full bodied creek take a vacation during the summer? Because the hops in our bottle were incognito...

ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 54
OG: 1.062
Malts: Idaho 2-Row Pale, German Melanoidin, CaraAmber, CaraAroma & CaraMunich
Hops: Galena, Chinook, Centennial, & dry hopped with Centennial

(12/14/2009)

158. BrewDog The Physics

BrewDog Brewery is located in Fraserburg, Scotland. We should offer some sort of gratuitous Sink the Bismarck reference, but we’re not sure we can bring ourselves to do it. We’ll also let you all in on a secret: we didn’t discover that our bottle was well over a year past the “best before” date until after we had opened it (see below). Now that makes for some drinkin’ fun!

The Physics is a hazy dirty brown with an almost non-existent head—the little bit that does exist is white and brief. The nose is malty sweet and musty with some fruitiness mixed with tobacco and paper aromas. It starts with a dry malt mixed with some fruitiness, moves into a musty middle with some oxidized fruit flavors and paperiness, and ends dry and bitter coupled with more musty and paper flavors; it also gets a bit leathery at the end as it warms. The Physics is medium bodied and very dry in the mouth; carbonation is non-existent after the first minute. While there are plenty of off flavors, this beer is not that terrible. The oxidation/paper flavors actually round out and dry out the malt in the flavor profile, and the lack of carbonation also allows these elements to come to the forefront of the beer. The Physics still tastes pretty good, even as out of date as it is, although it could use some carbonation to round out the mouthfeel and palate. The main thing to observe is that this is no longer really an ESB—the drying and oxidation/paper flavors have dried this beer out, making it taste more like a dry red ale, or something with a fair amount of rye in the grain bill. While the oxidized and paper is too much to the fore here, this would be much less noticeable with normal carbonation—the absence of carbonation has led to the oxidization and drop in malt flavor, which, while changing this from an ESB, has not really done anything that some re-carbonation couldn’t radically improve. One could interpret this dilemma as a validation of buying American and local, but that seems too jingoistic to me—we like drinking all that the world has to offer. We would just like it a bit fresher and prior to the expiration date.

Said in my best Homer Simpson faux-whisper: “I think this means it’s a bit out of date.”

From the BrewDog website: “A historically accurate beer based on the recipe devised on the 8th of February 2007. Recreated using the finest coloured malts which provide the complex sweet malt character which initially arouses the senses. Like a fine cheese cake the biscuit base has a smooth and creamy layer that both satisfies and entices. Culminating with a delicate fruit topping of blackcurrant and tinges of citrus to refresh the participant, complimented fully by the crisp dry bitter finish.”

ABV: 5.0%

I also got up at the crack of dawn to drive to Columbus for the official BCJP test—three hours of fast-writing hand-cramping neurotic fun. Cramming in the car on the way to the test was pretty fun, and, in retrospect, probably provided some information that made its way onto the test, at least for me. The tasting portion was mixed with the written portion of the test, which made for an odd balance of careful deliberation followed by more speedy scribbling. Afterwards, we swung by Barley’s Ale House No. 1 for lunch, and then back to Dayton and being able to sleep in on Saturdays. While I haven’t gotten the results of the test yet (I’ll keep all you die-hard readers posted), I have been assigned my official BJCP judge number: you can call me good ol’ B 0704.

(12/5/2009)

100. French Broad 13 Rebels ESB Ale

Our second beer from French Broad; our last one was the one that started us off, their Ryehopper.

13 Rebels is a cloudy orange with a minimal ivory head and small, tight bubbles. The nose is a bready malt with light fruity notes. It starts sweet with some fruitiness from the yeast and some low levels of graininess as well, and moves into a toasted malt middle, ending with bitterness that lingers and lightly curls the tongue. 13 Rebels has a light thin body; the mouthfeel is watery and soft with very little carbonation bite, although there is some bite and dryness in the mouth from the hops at the end. Definitely a smooth, easy-drinking beer—we would love to try this on tap, as it would probably be even better. And the label is straight up awesome—easily a Top 10 Best Label contestant.

From the bottle: “13 Rebels ESB is an America interpretation of Britain’s Extra Special Bitter.”

From the French Broad website: “French Broad Brewery's interpretation of the classic UK Extra Special Bitter. A bright copper color with a complex malt palate is complemented by traditional British hops, notably East Kent Golding. French Broad has made this classic public house session beer a cult classic with its skull and crossbones artwork.”

ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 42
OG: 13° P

(10/8/2009)

25. Stoudt’s Scarlet Lady Ale ESB

Our second selection from Stoudt's, located in Adamstown, PA.

Scarlet Lady Ale has a bready, biscuity malt nose—almost a dry crackeriness even—with a slight floral hoppiness to it. It is nut brown in color with subtle red hints, and minimal carbonation. Opening with a rounded bready malt flavor and some British-type ester qualities, Scarlet Lady moves into a slightly bitter middle before finishing clean and crisp with some residual malt and biscuit flavors. The mouthfeel is medium to light bodied with little to no bite from the carbonation—basically, Stoudt’s actually follows through on the British style implied in the name, with bready malt flavors and bitterness being used to build the beer profile, and a lower level of carbonation than found in most American pale ales. Scarlet Lady is a crisp and refreshing ale—it is both well-balanced and very drinkable.

From Stoudt’s website: “This English-style ale is brewed with Maris Otter and Caramel malts for a rich, reddish-copper color and smooth malty palate. The use of bittering & aroma addition hops balances the regal, sweet maltiness and imparts a softly perfumed aroma.”

ABV: 5%
IBU: 32
Bittering Hops: Perle
Aroma Hops: Williamette
Malts: Maris Otter, Caramel, and Carafa III

(7/25/2009)