It occurred to me during this
Civil Life drinkathon just how many English beer styles have become mainstays of the American brewing scene. The brown ale, IPA, golden ale, porter - OK, maybe the winter warmer hasn't exactly taken American craft brewing by storm but, by and large, these ostensibly English styles are to be found everywhere here across the ocean. And, arguably, American brewers have made these styles their own, for better or for worse. (Definitely worse, in the case of the poor IPA.)
Well, that's cultural appropriation for you.
One English style that brewers here have not really cottoned on to is the ESB or the bitter, more generally. I don't see triple dry hopped with Simcoe, Citra, and Cascade ordinary bitters, special bitters, nor extra special bitters. American brewers show a little reverence, it seems, to tradition and even throw a batch into a cask once in a while.
My experience with American bitters (and milds too, for that matter) has been really hit or miss. Some have been very watery while others taste too much of caramel. Malty flavors that taste of leather and have a nuttiness to them are just not popular here. Similarly, hops with earthy and floral flavors do not get a lot of love from American palates. I guess Americanizing the bitter just doesn't work. It's too much like trying to do a mashup using Beyoncé and some of that atonal Schoenberg.
The upside here is that, although comparatively rare, when I do find an ESB, I can usually taste that the brewer at least tried to generate some of those flavors above, they put some effort into getting the brew to taste a bit nutty, a bit earthy instead of simply adding fruit or El Dorado hops to yet another beer and declaring innovation had just happened.
Civil Life calls this brew an "ESB styled ale" and I wasn't sure what to make of that. A simple admission that it wasn't brewed in the UK? Or something else? The other ad copy on the label indicated they tried to adhere to tradition so I dunno what to think.
I think I'm getting better at pouring because all of my Civil Life samples had nice heads. Here, I got big, light tan one. The beer was just lovely, all copper and clear with a bubble here and there. It smelled no less glorious with some coveted leather joined by caramel, apricot, and a hint of herbal hops.
First sip revealed a moderate fizz (should it have been flatter?) heralding the leather and caramel aromas which were joined by a delicate bready flavor. There was a little sweetness, at first, but it gained in strength as the beer warmed, though it never became cloying. I found it to be only very slightly astringent and that mixed well with the minty-herbal taste of the hops.
The malty flavors took on a fruity note on the finish before a bracing dose of those minty hops swept them away for a nice brisk finish. Not mega dry or bitter but enough to clear the palate.
Brilliant!
That leather-bread malt flavor combo is to die for. Or, at least, go to St. Louis for. It also had a very pleasant smoothness which was accented by the sweetness that, as I noted above, never got out of control. All of the great, rich malt flavors contributed to making a medium-light body but this stuff is nimble on the tongue. Extremely flavorful yet not filling.
This is a great beer. How "authentic" is it? Would CAMRA approve? I have no idea. But it has all the ingredients of a fine English brew, to my mind: that leathery-bready, maybe even a touch nutty, taste (Maris Otter malt?), the minty hops - Fuggle? - the relaxed fizz. Simply brilliant.
Junk food pairing: Pair your ESB Styled Ale with a very large bag of cheese and onion crisps.
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