The Nevada Sagebrush

This week we reviewed four Extra Special/Strong Bitter (ESB)-style beers: The Grand Teton Brewing Company’s Bitch Creek ESB, Red Hook Brewing Company’s ESB Original Ale, Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale (don’t worry it’s still an ESB) and Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s Boont ESB.
The ESB ale is a variety of the English Pale Ale. The beer is usually moderately bitter with balancing caramel malt flavors. It should be dark coppery and clear with a light, off-white head. You should be able to appreciate the body of the beer but not be overwhelmed like with a Guinness, and there should also be a moderate to high level of carbonation. Some of the stronger entries may have noticeable alcohol notes.
We had five people tasting this week and the group was dominated by testers who are not big fans of bitter beers, which might explain why Red Hook’s ESB was the favorite of the group. Red Hook has constructed an exceptionally sweet ESB. This doesn’t mean the beer is sweet without presenting any bitterness, but rather the beer is more noticeable for sweetness than a delicious and hoppy bitterness.
The other three beers were more in line with what we were expecting, and it was the Boont ESB that brought the most to the table. It had great color and clarity, and a clean, bitter-sweet aroma, the strongest flavor balance and finished cleanly. This is a good beer.
Between the Bitch Creek ESB and Samuel Smith’s Pale Ale, it’s hard to pick one that is less distinguishing. The Samuel Smith brew is a little week in flavor, and according to one reviewer, “looks like rust and tastes like it in my mouth.”
While we don’t necessarily agree with the severity of the criticism, this is not an ale we would heartily recommend. It has an insubstantial flavor profile (it didn’t wow us but didn’t taste bad, either), presented a moderately weak body that leaves the mouth dry, and the alcohol flavor noticeable throughout distracts from the more enjoyable subtle fruitiness, bitterness and sweetness.
The Bitch Creek ESB had the opposite problem. It was too bitter. For some of the tasters, the bitter smell of the beer turned them off immediately. Unfortunately, the strength of the bitterness overwhelmed the sweetness, creating an unbalanced brew.
The Extra Special/Strong Bitter beer is not for everyone. You have to like bitter beer. Unfortunately, of the limited selection of ESBs we were able to locate, only the Boont ESB delivered what was expected, but wasn’t exceptional. We recommend this for those who want to try an acceptable ESB.
Red Hook’s ESB Original Ale was enjoyable, but we felt it didn’t bring enough bitterness. Try this beer if you are a fan of sweeter beers, but don’t look here for a good balance of bitterness and sweetness.
The other two beers were regrettably unremarkable and only merit a reserved recommendation.

Bitch Creek ESB (6.5% ABV) (ESB) (C+)
Grand Teton Brewing Company
“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.”
AR: high hoppy aroma, very light malts, some fruit notes present
AP: deep copper color with heavy cloudiness; an insubstantial, off-white head; short lasting
FL:  very bitter at first, shows some sweetness and alcohol flavors in the finish
MF: not very carbonated, a little heavy, and it leaves the mouth dry
OI: “Smelling this makes me not want to drink it.” Overly bitter beer that maintained all of the elements of an ESB, but, aside from the bitterness, nothing about it really stood out.

ESB Original Ale (5.8% ABV) (ESB) (B-, a good flavor, but not a great ESB)
Red Hook
AR: a little hoppy, malts noticeable, sweet caramel notes
AP: light amber, too cloudy; thick, persistent head
FL: light bitterness, malts throughout, very sweet. Clean bite at the end
MF: medium carbonation that keeps the bitterness clean when finishing
OI: little light on bitterness, good flavor balance, much sweeter than we were expecting in an ESB

Pale Ale (5.0% ABV) (English Pale Ale) (C+)
Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery
“Captures the soul of beer. It has a fresh maltiness that reminds you that good beer is a product of the soil. Beautiful balance of malt and fresh hops.”
AR: malt notes on first impression, we could also smell the alcohol
AP:  clear copper color
FL: alcohol prevalent throughout, little bite and little sweetness is there
MF: moderate to high carbonation
OI: “Looks like rust, tastes like it in my mouth.” Not a bad beer, but something that we don’t plan on trying again anytime soon. As an ESB it is successful, but maybe we just don’t like ESB’s?

Boont ESB (6.8% ABV) (ESB) (B)
Anderson Valley Brewing Company
“The abundant hopping in this four-time gold medal winner, creates arousing aromatics, accompanied by a pleasantly bitter bite. Boont Extra Special Beer is deep gold in color, with a spicy hop aroma. Starts with a big, malty backbone and finishes with a refreshingly bitter bite. Boont Extra Special Beer is excellent alone or as an accompaniment to your favorite well-seasoned meals (such as Mexican, Korean, Chinese, Indian, or Thai, cuisine).”
AR: tart bitterness
AP: deep gold color, light haze; head is light and off-white
FL: subtle malts and bitterness prevalent throughout
MF: light carbonation, flavor lasts well after the drink was finished
OI: “maybe good with Mexican food”