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ESB Showdown

/ Adam Barhan / Leave a comment


ESB Showdown, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

Full Sail ESB

Appearance: pours a very cloudy orange / amber color with a short 1/2″ head that breaks down immediately.

Smell: caramel and a load of fruity sweetness is detectable.

Taste: grainy malt profile. Caramel, ripe fruits, and a hint of earthy tones arrive late. Decent bitterness here too.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied. Lightly crisp to start, smoother towards the finish. Aftertaste is very short.

Overall: an easy to drink beer that leans a bit on the sweeter side, but is brought a bit into check with the bitterness. Sessionable beer

Breckenridge/Stranahan’s Well Built ESB

Appearance: Pours a cloudy amber with a nice 2 finger head that dissipates fairly quick.

Smell: Well you could be drinking a whiskey if you didn’t know any better, not characteristic of an ESB but nice with notes of vanilla and oak.

Taste: Very sweet for an ESB and huge whiskey notes. Some malt comes though but hard to get past the whiskey thats overwhelming.

Mouthfeel: Light carbonation, alcohol taste is present.

Overall: A nice beer and cool collaboration between two colorado establishments. I would drink this again but it definitely does not fall into the ESB category by any means.

Exposure Brewing ESB

Appearance: The pour is amber/light copper with a creamy off-white head.

Smell: Some moderate caramel and toffee notes and a floral, earthy hoppiness. Not an overly intense nose, but appropriate for the style

Taste: Very bready on the palate with a light amount of hop bitterness. Not an overwhelming flavor profile, but sessionalable

Mouthfeel: The body is medium and so is the level of carbonation. The finish leaves a lingering bitterness.

Overall: Nice beer to have on a summer day, not huge in any department but a nice balanced beer. I guess I am a bit biased but I think it turned out nice.

Jolly Pumpkin Ore de Calabaza

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Jolly Pumpkin Ore de Calabaza, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

Easter 2012 Beer
A: The beer pours a lightly hazed golden orange color with a tall white head.

S: A very nice tart aroma of apples, pears, and peaches. Light grass notes to it and some wet oak. A little bit of earthiness and some lemon zest. Still a little bit of malt and a touch of pepper.

T: Some light spice, particularly white pepper. Hints of bready malts in the background, but the tartness really takes hold. Lemon zest, lactobacillus, grapes, and apples provide a nice complexity and tartness.

M: Medium in body with a medium to high carbonation.

O: A winner from Jolly Pumpkin. This is a really nice somewhat sour Saison

Serving type: bottle, split a few ways

Adelbert’s Dancin’ Monks

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Adelbert’s Dancin’ Monks, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

A: Pours a dark hazelnut brown color. A two finger white head forms and recedes to a ring that sticks throughout. Lots of sticky lace is left behind.

S: Toasted malts, toffee sweetness, some plums as well. Simple, but enjoyable.

T: Toasted malts with a nice sweetness.

M/D: A medium body and carbonation. Creamy and smooth. East to drink

Overall, very enjoyable and simple. Worth a try, and am looking forward to trying the other ones from them

Stone Double Bastard

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Stone Double Bastard, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

A: Dark copper with a nice wheat head and a good deal of lacing.

S: Tropical hops and some roasted malts that bring on a good deal of sweetness.

T: Quite sweet with dark sugars and caramel in addition to the tropical and citrus hops. Slightly earthy with some wood notes.

M: Full body with good carbonation and a bready mouthfeel.

D: Pretty drinkable. The bottle I had was about a year old.

Lagunitas Imperial Red

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Lagunitas Imperial Red, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

Appearance: Pours a clear copper body with a white, diminishing head. The lacing was thin.

Smell: Caramel malts in the nose with a nice bit of toastiness. The hops are piney with fruity undertones.

Taste: Light bready caramel malts joined by crisp, hoppy flavors of pine resins and grapefruit.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, with a pleasingly smooth mouthfeel.

Drinkability: Though the hops can be a little cutting at times its a rather likeable red ale.

Oskar Blues Deviant Dales

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Oskar Blues Deviant Dales, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

Appearance: Bright orange. Head is off-white, massive, and sticky as can be. Drops to a thin cap very quickly. Very clear.

Smell: Grapefruit and biscuits layered over a damp hops. Faintly spicy with a touch of pine needles. Sweet without being sugary. Loads of biscuit. Some roasted notes along with some cooked grain. Green onions. Did I mention Hops!

Taste: Loads of malts. Biscuits and sweetness upfront. Lingering pine notes mix with pith and an oniony/vegetal flavor. Bitter, pithy, earthy hops. Hops assault at the beginning and the end of the sip with a nice malt backbone rounding out the middle. Hops

Mouthfeel: Medium body with a higher than expected carbonation. Dry and a touch crisp. Oily hops.

Overall: Unique to say the least. The hop profile is definitely an acquired taste, that I have drifted away from. Definitely pour this in a glass to smell what your re in for. The can hides the aroma and making it shocking on the first sip. Hop Bomb in my book.

Saint Arnold Endeavour IPA

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Saint Arnold Endeavour IPA, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

Appearance: Bright amber gold glass shows excellent clarity. Holds a thin head that is a bit below expectation for a DIPA, but laces nicely.

Smell: Fresh, oily hop cones, all West Coast citric. Grapefruit with a touch of pine, the hops overwhelm any malt character.

Taste: Bitter almost tea like start fades into a sweet hard candy peach before the oily hops soak in for a long slow finish. Nice round profile. Loads of hops, cone, leaf, maybe a bit of vine, they went whole hog.

Mouthfeel: Medium heavy body with a mild chew, lively carbonation.

Overall: A nice IPA.

Ommegang Hennepin

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Ommegang Hennepin, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

A – Pours out clear golden in color. Carbonation is champagne like and constant. The head is two fingers of white foam. Retention is good but lacing is a moderate.

S – The nose is excellent. Lots of clove and black pepper spice. Belgium yeast, banana and faint wheat characters thought the middle. Sweet white grape as well. Hints of alcohol. Complex.

T – Yeasty, spicy, grainy, fruity, it just like it smells.

M – Smooth and refreshing with a champagne like finish.

O – Pretty good. Lots of flavors going on and melded so well together. Excellent to say the least.

Chatoe Rogue Good Chit Pilsner

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Chatoe Rogue Good Chit Pilsner, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

A: A straw color with a slight chill haze and a finger’s width white head that laces the glass.

S: Bready malt with a fresh earthy, grassy hop aroma.

T: The hop is immediately noticeable with a floral and earthy flavor that overpowers the malt. There is a very slight bready malt flavor and a slight sweetness. It finishes clean with a slight floral hop.

M: Light with good carbonation. Very refreshing.

O: I like the aroma and flavor of this beer. Pilsners aren’t my favorite style but this is nice.

New Belgium Lips of Faith Prickly Passion Saison

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A: Pours a golden hue, clear, and a light 1/4 finger worth of head. A good amount of carbonation coming off the bottom of the glass, light lacing as it recedes.

S: Nose is of green apples, Lemongrass, a very light acidic note, and in the end I’m getting some Belgian yeast (although I know it’s French yeast).

T: Taste is a bit tart. Tartness is smoothed over by earthy yeast and citrus notes. I’m not keen to the passion fruit/prickly pear in this saison, but I’m definitely picking out some citrus and pear notes.

M: Medium- bodied, light and refreshing, as well as perfectly carbonated. Great hot summer day drink, but at 8.5% ABV, it was well disguised.