Thursday, July 23, 2015

Pints: Tasting the British-ish ESB

The time has come to finally taste the kind of British ESB I made  Well, that's a lie, I tasted it several times prior to this.  But now, it is finally worth mentioning.  Not to say it is amazing, but I would happily drink it now and would be comfortable serving it to other people.  I kegged it ten days after brew day.  It wasn't terrible by any stretch, but it had a slightly buttery or butterscotch flavor and it had an almost salty taste.  That has since gone away.  I suck at describing beer, but here goes.
The head is probably the most disappointing thing about it.  It falls away quickly and leaves little lacing.  Not really a big deal though.  The color turned out about right as far as I'm concerned as well.  It will slowly clear up in the keg.  As for aroma, it has a slightly malty smell with obvious caramel.  Not much hop smell that I can detect, but maybe something faintly herbal or floral.  The flavor is pretty good I think, fairly light and refreshing, with some residual sweetness.  It tastes a little bit like Newcastle Brown Ale.  The bitterness is softer than I thought it would be, and the hops contribution leans more towards a light floral or herbal flavor (maybe some lavender?).  There is a bit of tartness from the carbonation that lingers on the tongue.  You can taste a bit of caramel and maybe a bready note as well. 

Overall, I think its good enough to try brewing again, though not exactly the same way though.  I will probably use less Burton salts next time and maybe add an extra ounce of EKG or maybe fuggles hops.  I think the malt bill was pretty good, though I may try using a darker crystal malt next time.

On a side note...I was at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in Nashville early this week.  They had Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout on tap, so I got to try the genuine article to compare it to the kit I made.  Didn't take detailed notes, but it was very tasty.

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