E-S-B - it's dynamite!

With an impending trip to the UK (hopefully), I decided to get in the mood by drinking like a Brit. Lakefront is helping out with this ESB.

I took it out of the frig and let it warm a bit. Very tasty! Smooth maltiness with a really nice leathery kind of taste. Just enough herbal hops too. Well played, Katie.

Civil Ingredients: ESB Styled Ale by Civil Life Brewing

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.

Bloody Vikings!: Rune Amok by Valkyrie Brewing

One of the newer additions to the Valkyrie Brewing line-up is Rune Amok, an ESB or Extra Special Bitter. The label shows a quartet of Viking ships sailing off as a Lindisfarne-like church/monastery burns in the distance. The painting by co-proprietor Ann Lee hangs on the wall at the brewery's tap room. I believe Rune Amok was introduced last year but cannot recall if it was available on my previous stop at Valkyrie or not. If it was, I did not sample it. That waited until this autumn.

Just as a doppelbock is an extra potent bock and a stout is a heartier porter, an ESB is a bigger bitter. At least I think that's how it works. The intricacies of English beer styles continue to elude me and I think only a trip to Old Blighty will do to educate me sufficiently on this matter. My shorthand is that milds are dark in color and light on the hops while bitters have a lighter hue and more hoppiness as well. Both go easy on the fizz.

As I noted in my review of Valkyrie's dry stout, Velvet Green, my trip there earlier this autumn was made knowing the brewery was for sale. I made a mix six-pack to go and it was bittersweet walking out the door. Recent news that Valkyrie closes in January makes my memories even bittersweeter.

I'd been thinking that I'd write some words about the brewery in general now that its demise is immanent but I realized that I probably have one more brew review to go for them. Perhaps in that post I'll wax rhapsodic.

Rune Amok came in a chestnut hue and was topped off by a small, just off-white head that didn't last. It was hazy and I was unable to see inside the glass, not that I expected to see a whole lot of bubbles anyway. It smelled of leather along with a hint of caramel as well as a touch of vague, indeterminate fruitiness that was a bit date or fig-like.

As expected, the beer went easy on the fizziness and had a lovely, smooth medium-light body. Leather and tobacco are commonly used to describe such English beers and that's because they're apt. Here the pair were at the fore with a touch of caramel in back. A little herbal hoppiness joined in and that fruitiness from the aroma was present here, but faintly. The leather and fruity tastes lingered a bit on the swallow before a light dose of herbal hops threw some dryness into the mix.

While I cannot say just how true to style Rune Amok is or how it would fare in a genuine English pub next to a Fuller's, I can say that I really loved this beer. The caramel taste was moderate and didn't make the beer sweet in any way. That leather flavor ruled the roost. I found the hops to be on the easy side and would have been happy with more. Not a lot, but some. Regardless, I simply found Rune Amok to be tasty. It went down easy and I just adore the flavors of the malt(s). German and American style just don't produce them.

Just food pairing: The ESB may be an English style of beer but Rune Amok pairs well with the flavor concocted by the crown's subjects over in Canada - all dressed. So get a bag of all dressed potato chips and let loose.

A new ESB from Valkyrie

  

Valkyrie Brewing up in Dallas, which is apparently for sale, has recently released a new brew: Rune Amok, an ESB. Nice to see an English style getting some love. And I love the label. Is that Lindisfarne?

I trust the sight of the ESB refreshes you: Grainne's Special Bitter by Parched Eagle Brewpub

With Covid still on the loose, the Frau and I are forced to push any plans for a trip to London back further. I may be trying to make up for this by drinking more Extra Special Bitter, a.k.a. – ESB. Last time it was Working Draft's take on the style and this time we have Grainne's Special Bitter from Parched Eagle here in Madison.

The Grainne in Grainne's Special Bitter is a friend of Parched Eagle proprietor Jim Goronson. Both of them have a fondness for the ur-ESB, Fuller's, and the beer was named after her. There is a bit more to this story and, in an act of blatant synergizing, I will direct you to the episode of the podcast I do with my pal Old Man Schuck, Time Enough At Last, which features Goronson as our guest where you can hear the man himself give you all of the details.

When I bought my bottle of GSB, it was the last one they had, tucked away in the back of the cooler forcing the bartender to move bottles around and really dig for it. If it's not on tap, you may have to wait for the next batch to be brewed in order to taste it. But do so. I really enjoy the Parched Eagle taproom. It's got koselig, hygge, and coziness in spades. There's no brewing equipment visible so it lacks that sterile industrial chic that is prevalent today and is all the better for it. The room is fairly small and has a warm, welcoming feel to it that many taprooms lack.

The ESB is a bigger, stronger bitter beer. The strength of a bitter seems to vary widely – from 3.X% to 5.0% A.B.V. The ESB is naturally a headier brew but nothing outrageous – think 5.5% - 6.5% A.B.V. With Grainne's Special Bitter at 6.6%, it's on the upper end of the scale.

On my first pour of GSB, my glass had no head. A second pour produced a small off-white head that went away quickly. This seemed in line with my expectation that the ESB should have only a little fizz to it. While the first two pours were clear, the beer at the bottom of the bottle was hazy.

I was surprised at the beer's smell which was kind of meager. Maybe it was my nose but I could only smell a berry-like fruitiness and a little floral hoppiness. While I loved both scents, I simply expected more smells to be smelled.

On the first sip, my fizz detector discerned just a hint of the stuff and GSB lacked the astringent quality of Working Draft's ESB, Elbow Patches. There was some leather flavor, a bit of honeyed malt sweetness, and a touch of that berry from the nose. Everything was nicely balanced.

That leather taste remained after I swallowed and was joined by a nice woody flavor and moderate herbal hoppy bitterness.

Exactly how closely Grainne's Special Bitter adheres to the Fuller's ESB template remains to be tasted and awaits a trip to London for confirmation. But I found GSB to be excellent. Having had Working Draft's ESB recently, I cannot help but compare and contrast.

Going easy on the fizz gave Parched Eagle's take on the style a gentle mellowness that Elbow Patched lacked. They have similar flavors in their respective mixes, though Elbow Patches is a bit nuttier, while GSB is more balanced. Both beers finished with a tasty herbal hop bitterness. GSB is boozier but it doesn't taste like a big, strong brew. Instead, it is a gentle giant.

Personally, I prefer Grainne's Special Bitter but I hold out hope that Working Draft can forego some fizz in the next batch of Elbow Patches. The more ESBs, the merrier.

Junk food pairing: Pair your Grainne's Special Bitter with a fine English cheddar like Extra Cheesy Cheez-Its.

While I am on the subject of English beer styles, WorkingDraft recently brewed a British style lager – no idea what that entails – and there may still be some on shelves around town. Also, Karben4's mild, ChampagneTortoise, is listed as a spring seasonal on their website so it will theoretically be available soon.

A Taste of Old Blighty: Elbow Patches by Working Draft Beer Co.

Had fate/the pandemic not intervened, the Frau and I would have spent some time last year in London. In anticipation of the trip, I did some preparation such as memorizing Imperial measurement units and so I now know my weight in stones. I also put in a lot of practice on London vernacular speech. E.g.:

"Let's go down the pub for a piss up!"

"A pint of your best bitter, guvnor!"

"Cor, that's a good ale!"

"Last call is 11 o'clock?! Bloody hell!"

No doubt we would have fit right in with the locals.

The trek would have afforded us the opportunity to head to some pubs and indulge in some English beers and/or ales. While I am quite ignorant about beer generally, it is especially the case with brews from the British Isles as evidenced by my recent encounter with an English style porter. Over there you find a whole different type of porter in addition to milds and bitters - beers with little carbonation served at warmer than straight-out-of-the-refrigerator temperatures. Pubs and their beer engines are guarded day and night by CAMRA members who are like the Hells Angels and they help preserve the beer and brewing heritage that has accumulated over the centuries.

Not really but I hear that some CAMRA chaps can really be pains in the arse.

Despite the prevalence of adjunct lagers today, people on these shores in 1776 weren't swillin' Bud. They were drinking beers based on English styles no doubt adapted to circumstances in the colonies. For example, it seems that molasses was a popular ingredient back then. George Washington is reputed to have been a homebrewer of no mean skill but I'd bet his brews were English styles or adaptations thereof.

While contemporary American brewers have leeched pretty much anything English out of the IPA outside of those three letters, you'd probably have to look elsewhere for the influence of English brewing here. The amber ale comes to mind and, from what I've read, it's a variation on the English pale ale. A lot of beers apparently are members of the pale ale family. I take it this is because "pale" ranges from gold to brown – basically anything is pale that's not obsidian here. One beer style that isn't obsidian in color is the ESB.

I figured that, if Henry VIII wasn't quaffing ESB as he went about looking for new wives and ridding his lands of Catholicism, then at least Charles Dickens' characters were drinking the stuff after cleaning chimneys and emptying their chamber pots into the Thames. But no.

The ESB dates back to the late 1960s when the venerable English brewer Fuller's introduced their Winter Bitter in 1969. It was rechristened an ESB a couple years later, it seems. Extra Special Bitter sounds right to my ears but Extra Strong Bitter also passes muster from what I can tell. It sounds like ESB was born as more marketing gambit than new style back when The Beatles were breaking up. (Not unlike the IPA here these days.) I mean, it's not like there weren't headier than average bitters out there.

So what's a bitter? My understanding is that it's simply a type of pale ale that's more bitter than the mild. Not 100 I.B.U. lunacy, mind you, just more hops to balance the maltiness of a mild.

Recently the folks at Madison's Working Draft Beer Company brewed an Extra Special Bitter called Elbow Patches. Having finished off a 4-pack of English porter, I figured it was time to move onto an ESB. This was Elbow Patches Chapter 2 and I'm not sure if this means that it's their second batch of the beer, their second ESB recipe, or something else. I don't associate Working Draft with English beer styles (no, hazy IPAs don't count) but they may be the Barclay, Perkins & Co. of Madison for all I know.

My pour of Elbow Patches yielded a large, light tan head that was in no hurry to go away. This was surprising because I thought the ESB was one of those beers that was supposed to be very lightly carbonated. My picture above isn't great so I will note it was copper colored and clear.

Working Draft notes the beer was brewed with Fuggle and East Kent Goldings hops. They provided a herbal scent while the Pale and Crystal Maris Otter malts smell like biscuit along with a raisin-caramel sweetness.

I could taste the herbal hoppiness, though it wasn't particulary bitter, but a more than moderate sweetness tasted like pear rather than caramel to me. There was a really nice nutty flavor that reminded me of raw pecans as well as a fairly strong leathery taste. While it didn't taste very fizzy, that is, it didn't taste like a bunch of bubbles were rolling across my tongue, the beer had a quite noticeable astringency to it.

That nutty/leathery flavor lingered and was joined by some hoppy bitterness and a hint of residual sweetness after the liquid had gone down into my guttiwuts.

A friend of mine who lived in London for a spell commented to me that he thought this was a fine beer but not flat enough. I agree. Although I liked Elbow Patches, I wish it tasted a bit less astringent. For me, it detracted from the beer's nice sweetness – not too much, not too little. Similarly, I loved the nutty taste but felt that the leather flavor was a little overpowering. I would prefer the flavors to be more balanced. Having said that, I truly appreciated the herbal hop and nutty tastes which I feel are in short supply these days. Here's hoping there's a chapter 3.

Junk food pairing: I did my tasting on a Sunday so, if you cannot find any appropriate crisps from England, open a bag of Old Dutch Prime Rib potato chips. Er, crisps.

Go to Westport young man and drink up the Grainne's: Grainne's Special Bitter by Parched Eagle Brewpub

Not long after having a flat, warm, and very tasty ESB out at Wisconsin Brewing Company, I noticed that the Parched Eagle Brewpub in Westport also had an ESB on tap – Grainne's Special Bitter. How fortuitous! A fine opportunity to expand my extremely limited ESB horizons.

The Dulcinea and I were rather hungry so we stopped at Athens Gyros next door for some victuals before visiting the brewpub. We both had chicken souvlaki and I discovered that proprietor Gus Kyriakopoulos and his minions do not skimp on onion. I think they have figured out how to overcome Van der Waals force and fit a whole onion in a single piece of pita bread and yet leave room for a generous portions of tomato and chicken.

Having filled our bellies, we moseyed next door. Proprietor Jim Goronson was there training a new minion. Soon enough I had a pint of Grainne's Special Bitter before me. I neglected to ask who Grainne is or was and it's a mystery to this day...

Whoever this person is or was, their eponymous ESB was a light copper hue and clear. My pour had a small white head which was gone in a flash. I should note that the beer was served from a regular tap and not a beer engine as was WBC's ESB. However, Grainne's was put on tap on a beer engine at The Malt House.

The aroma was quite inviting with caramel and estery banana scents wafting up my nostrils. Still, it was odd not to smell any hops. Does eating a lot of raw onion mess up one's ability to smell hops or some such thing?

Despite having a fondness for the dunkles und schwarzbier and thusly knowing full well that a beer's color doesn't necessarily correspond to its body, I think I took my first sip of Grainne's thinking it would have a fair bit of heft to it. I mean, I saw the big board and it listed the brew at 7%. But it turned out to be surprisingly nimble on the tongue with a medium-light body. Fruitiness came first with the banana from the aroma making a return engagement. There was also clove, which was strange. I later asked someone who knows much more about beer than I ever will and was told that this flavor was not to style.

This is not to say, however, that it tasted bad. The clove was not very strong and certainly didn't interfere with the other tastes here that are more "proper" for an ESB. For instance, there was some toffee as well as a bready flavor from the malt. While MIA from my nose, my tongue got to enjoy a prominent hoppy bitterness which tasted a lot like grass with some black pepper thrown in for good measure.

At the finish the malt flavors were off like a prom dress leaving a light fruity taste and the clove to duke it out with the hops. And the hops won hands down with their grass-pepper 1-2 punch accompanied by a healthy bitterness which made for a rather dry finale.

As I noted above, my pint of Grainne's was served from a regular tap so it was cold. It really benefited from warming up as this brought out the hops which had a grassy flavor that I really enjoyed. One thing about the ESB that appeals to me is that it does this malt balancing act where you have sweet toffee or caramel flavors as well as more savory bread-like ones. Grainne's did a nice job of this, to my taste. Clove be damned! This was a tasty beer.

Junk food pairing: Crisps! Pair Grainne's Special Bitter with a bag of Herr's Steak & Worcestershire potato chips.

The Two Gentlemen Go to Verona: ESB by Wisconsin Brewing Company

Last Thursday Wisconsin Brewing Company offered a relative rarity on tap – an Extra Special Bitter. It was part of their Forward series which introduces small batches to drinkers and then solicits their feedback. I suppose it also allows the brewers to try their hand at something different - a new ingredient, perhaps, or a style which wouldn't warrant massive quantities.

I headed down to Verona with a friend who had lived in London for a year where he acquired a taste for English mild ales, bitter, and the ESB. He's fond of the ESB at The Great Dane downtown but, overall, doesn't get to indulge his taste for English real ales too often here in the land of the IPA. We were both a little apprehensive as the e-mail invite described the beer as having "a focus on bittering hops" which we thought may be their way of saying that it's really an India Extra Special Bitter Pale Ale. My friend quipped that he wanted something warm (well, cellar temp), flat (natural carbonation), and malty.

I've read quite a bit less about English beer styles than I have those from other countries and drank less of them too. (I have reviewed one ESB prior to this: ESB Amber from Saugatuck Brewing.) From what I gather, the ESB is a stronger and more full-bodied bitter. And a bitter, contrary to its name, is all about the malt. Your ordinary bitter is a true session beer, usually under 4% A.B.V. They have a healthy malt taste along with a fair amount of hops for balance. And so the ESB is the bigger cousin of the bitter. More maltiness, more hoppiness, and more alcohol. But this no imperial mega-quad that can fuel jet planes. We're talking more along the lines of 5%.

WBC's ESB is (or perhaps was, by now) 4.7% A.B.V. and 33 I.B.U. which perhaps comes in at the low end of ESB spectrum. My companion seems to have mistaken the ESB for the ordinary bitter as he felt the alcohol content was too high here. The beer was offered both on cask - served via a beer engine - and keg - your normal keg with gas pumped into it. The difference between the two is that a beer engine has a piston which goes up and siphons the beer out of the cask while your more familiar tap sees gas pumped into the keg which pressurizes it. Open the tap and the high pressure flows to the low.

We, of course, went with the brew from the cask. The beer was copper in hue, perhaps with a slight orange tint, and very turbid. I have to admit that I don't know if an ESB should be clear or not. My glass came topped with a big white head that lasted a good long time. I couldn't see any bubbles inside the beer.

The aroma was wonderful. There was some expected caramel as well as toasted grain. The great part was that it smelled like a brewery. That grainy smell that greets your nose when you walk into a brewhouse – that's what this ESB smelled like, in the main. Although the hops couldn't compare to the malt, they were not exactly slouches. Here I smelled floral/grassy hops with perhaps just a touch of citrus in the background. At this point we were convinced that this wasn't some kind of Americanized take on the venerable English style where it was dry hopped with Cascade and then aged on a bed of Citra inside a bourbon barrel with brett.

It was hard not to notice the relatively warm temperature the beer was served at. Quite a change of pace after having quaffed a bunch of pilsners recently. Similarly the rather low carbonation also stuck out to me. Just like the aroma, the taste had an emphasis on the malts with toffee and plum flavors lending a touch of sweetness but there was also a distinctly less toothsome biscuit flavor as well. WBC did not reveal any ingredients to use proles but the hops tasted like what I think of as being classically English – very grassy. They were quite tasty and kept the malt sweetness in check.

Those malty flavors faded quickly at the end allowing the hops to take on a slightly more intense straw taste and increase the bitterness as well which left my tongue rather dry. ESB left some really nice lacing inside my glass (plastic). There were streaks, patches, spots – the whole nine yards.

While I cannot compare WBC's take on the ESB to something I'd find at a pub in England, I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It had a light-medium body with a definite emphasis on the malts but it was not overly sweet. I don't know if WBC used traditional English hops like Fuggles or East Kent Goldings or the nearest equivalent. Regardless, the grass and straw hop flavors were wonderful and a welcome change from the spicier Noble flavors I've had recently. With the trend leaning towards tropical fruit tasting hops, these kinds of flavors are often lost in the shuffle. While by no means a big beer, it was not short on taste. But it wasn't about bullying your tongue. Rather, it gently plied it with malts and then some grassy hop bitterness to balance things out. Easy to drink more than one.

Junk food pairing: Crisps! Eat potato chips with your WBC ESB, especially the ones with weird flavors – those Lay's chips that were crowd-sourced. The current batch has gyros, reuben, and biscuits & gravy.

ESB Amber from Saugatuck Brewing

Today Detroit is well-known for its troubles and not its beer. The salad days of automobiles and Stroh's are long gone but surely the craft beer movement hasn't passed the Motor City by. A friend of mine went to visit family in Detroit and brought me back some local brew including a six-pack of Saugatuck's ESB Amber. The Extra Special/Strong Bitter is not a style which I've quaffed an enormous amount so I can't compare this one to others. Perhaps I ought to reacquaint myself with English beers. (As an aside, I had some Bungalow Rye ESB from House of Brews this spring and it was fantastic.)

ESB Amber pours a clear copper. It had a nice frothy head that lingered. There was some lacing but few bubbles in the beer itself. Malt was most prominent in the aroma with a nice sweet, almost peachy, scent. My understanding of ESB's is that malt and hops are both forward yet remain balanced so I was surprised that I didn't catch much in the way of hops in the aroma.

The taste was a wholly different matter, however. Straight out of the refrigerator, a floral hop bitterness prevailed over a moderate malt backbone. But, as the beer warmed to a more suitable 50 degrees (which didn't take very long in this weather, I can tell you), the two flavors became much more balanced. The malt was bready with some caramel flavor but not too sweet. I could really taste the hops on the tip of my tongue but, the farther back the beer went, the more pronounced the malt became. I'd say the mouthfeel was not too light but not cloyingly full either. It really hit a happy medium. The finish was very dry and bitter too with the hops lingering into the aftertaste.

ESB Amber is 5.4% ABV which seems average for the style. The name comes from the fact that your normal English bitter is what I think of as a true session beer – something like 3.5% - and this is a pumped up version. I really enjoyed it and was glad my friend picked it out as I probably would never have requested an ESB. My plan is to investigate the style more come the autumn when my house can't pass for the Icarus II.

Junk food pairing: Expect it to go well with Parmesan Cheez-Its or BBQ potato chips. Er, crisps.