Flying Fish ESB Amber Ale

This ESB is a classic British extra special bitter made fresh with an American slant. A beautiful copper color with an amber head, this classic style features five different malts, including imported English malts, and three hop varieties. The rich malty start features caramel notes that develop into a smooth, pleasurable hop finish.

Malts: Two-Row Pale, Munich, Aromatic, and English Medium Crystal

Hops: Columbus, Fuggles, UK Kent Goldings

Yeast: Chico

Original Gravity: 14.3 Plato

3.2

254 reviews

Somerdale, United States

Community reviews

2.3 12oz bottle from The Foodery, Center City, Philadelphia. Pale amber with a loose cream head; farmyard aroma; rather strange in the mouth - a sudden rush of muddy and confused malts and hops - and then it’s all gone; leaving nothing. Very odd, and disappointing.

2.3 Pours a copper color with a mild caramel aroma. Taste is slightly candy sweet, with a minimal bitter aftertaste. Overall a refreshing beer that is easy drinking.

3.5 Lively dry finish ok lacing clear amber small white head lightly toasty flavor, a little fruity, decent...

3.7 Touch of nutty sweetness. Pours the expected amber color. Nutty toffee aroma. Finish is grassy and a touch sweet. Little bit of candi sugar in the flavor. Nice drink.

2.8 Pours uncharacteristically light for an amber ale, little to no head and no aroma. Good mouthfeel, but more bitter finish than I would want from an amber.

3.6 Pours a light brown color. Smell is malty, caramel. Taste is malts up front, some caramel, hops are present at the finish. Overall an enjoyable beer.

3.2 Pours a lighter amber color with minimal head formation and light carbonation. Head is light with very little lacing and fast fading. Lightly malty in the nose with very little hop presence. Taste is quite malty with maybe Vienna or Munich malts. hops are quite low and settle into the background. Medium feel smooth. Drinks like your basic Octoberfest, ordinary and weak in flavor.

2.9 Bottle. Pours amber with a small off-white head. Light aroma mostly of caramel sweetness. Flavor is pretty bland with some sweet caramel and light earthy hop notes. Slightly bitter finish. Drinkable but overall pretty nondescript.

3.1 Location: 12 oz bottle from Buy Rite, 4/11/12 Aroma: It has some sweet malts, light fruit, candied sugar, toast, caramel, toffee, and a hint of funk Appearance: This is kind of a gusher - pours a hazy orange color with a large foam of off-white head Flavor: Tastes fairly sweet, much like the nose, with quite a mix of flavors, and some sour and bitterness Palate: It’s medium bodied, some stickiness, an overly fizzy carbonation, and a slight unpleasantness Overall Impression: I don’t really know what to make of this one. As I’m drinking it my mind changed on it on basically every sip, mostly because it seems to change with basically every sip. This is some decent stuff with a lot going on, but all that stuff that’s going on here doesn’t always work as a combination all that well. Also, there is way too much carbonation for my liking.

3.1 Bottle poured into a cheater pint A: amber color, 1/4" slight off white head with fair retention, visible carbonation S: hint of sweet malt, slight flowery hop in the nose T: flowery hops with some light caramel. Nice balance. M: light to medium bodied, slightly chewy.

3.2 From local tap....thin off white head forms that quickly descends into deep copper belly. Gentle caramelized malt and candied fruits aroma segueing into mild palate. Light draft, neither bitter or sweet. Tad short on overall complexity for designation, yet better than average amber.

2.9 Good hop aroma. Bread, floral and slight grass. Pours deep amber with a medium froth. Taste is disappointing. Sour lager yeast, slight floral and an ok noble hop aftertaste. Did not remind me of an esb.

3.3 Copper pour. Soft head. Aroma is a little more malty than I expected. Taste is a balance between malt and Hops. The caramel notes come through well.

3.2 Pours burnt orange with a white head. Aroma is caramel, florals and toast. Taste is sweet with a light bitter finish. Light mouthfeel makes this easy to drink. Overall this is good for sessions as it is not to complex but has enough going on to make it interesting.

3.4 Barley malt nose with honey accents. Clear amber, medium head. Drinks like it smells, but with more a honey presence.Dried leaves also prominent. I wasn’t sure I smelled honey, but the palate confirms it. Pretty nicely done and is exactly what one would expect from an American amber ESB. Better than an ordinary amber.

3.1 Light copper body with a white head. Sweet aroma with some hops faintly in the background. Mild malty, sweet flavor. Mild dry, malt finish.

2.2 Not a bad beer, just a typical Flying Fish product that lacks any biteto it. Drinkable, weak for an amber ale.

2.9 You can definitely see similarities in these Flying Fish beers when sampled at one seating. This one isn’t too bad although I can’t say I thought it was too good either. Wet leaves, cardboard, light citrus, caramel, but honestly not much of an aroma. Murky brown color with a thin head that doesn’t stick around at all. The flavor shows a toasted caramel with some fruity hops. Light bitterness in the finish. It’s simple but drinkable enough.

3.3 Bottle from Oak Tree. Pours amber with a creamy/bubbly beige head. Aroma of burnished malt, floral, and perhaps a hint of diacetyl. Perhaps. Med body. Flavor is malt, floral hop, and something suggesting butterscotch. It is certainly more bitter than not. Nothing really wrong here, it just doesn’t make any strong statements.

3.1 The beer pours a cloudy medium copper with a light white head that only rises about a finger but is gone right away. Lacing is ok. The aroma is super sweet with lots of apricots, and a little notes of toffee and nuttiness. This beer is actually pretty complex. It starts off pretty sweet, a big hit of candied sugar, like a Belgian. Then a hint of tye. After the sugar its pretty dead, then as you awallow you get a slight bitter finish. The feel is ok, a little on the light side without much on the palate.

3.3 Pours cloudy amber with a two finger wide white head. Fairly good lacing and well carbonated. Aroma is of caramel, honey, and slight citrus/hops. Flavor is much more hoppy than the aroma, slight sweetness in the finish. Light bodied, dry.

3.0 12 ounce bottle from Total Wine Fredericksburg, VA. Pours a clear amber color with a thin tan head that disappears very quickly. Aroma of caramel, toffee, earthy hops and a faint bit of toastiness. The taste is bitter hops, green apple, citrus, apricots, caramel, a faint bit ot toastiness and wet paper. Medium bodied.

2.7 Bottle pours amber with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, grainy, and somewhat vegetal with notes of honey, caramel/pale, hay. Flavor shows the same with a hint of cardboard.

2.3 Bottle 355 ml Aroma dusty feel , hint of wild mushrooms , cream and honey.5- Appearance slight haze on amber with medium white top. Fragmental lace. Flavor and Palate : medium bodied. Grainy with creamy texture , more of mushroom feel. This fish is not flying anywhere other than sink.

3.2 12oz bottle pours copper with weak white head. The aroma is a mix of sweet malts, floral hops and then lesser amounts of spicy and earthy hops. The taste is a somewhat odd mix of firm floral hops, malts and a mild level of caramel malts. Around the edges I get notes of spicy hops, slightly oxidized tasting earthy hops and then faint fruity esters.

3.2 12oz bottle. Amber color, light tan head. Aroma of pale malt and biscuits. Flavor of sweet malt and dried out wood. Dry finish with a touch of butter toffee flavor. Good for the style, worth a try.

2.6 Smells okay. Very little carbonation in the beer; looks stale. Flavor is a little malty. Mostly plain and boring.

2.5 The aroma is not bad but not right for an ESB. It’s a bit malty and a bit grassy but not much of anything. The appearance is golden with a tiny amber hue. The head is medium. The taste is like the aroma and not bad but not an ESB. The palate is average for the style. Overall I am not that impressed.

3.6 12 ounce bottle from Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia. Welcome to Georgia (or, more specifically, Total Wine stores in Georgia), Flying Fish! Appearance: Pours a clear, copper-amber body with, despite a hearty pour, only a thin, white head. Smell: Lightly sweet-scented, lightly spicy aroma of irregularly-sliced, delicately toasted white bread topped with dried apricots, a pinch of lemon peel, and dusted with spice. Taste: Pale malts marked with light bready, toasty touches to it and given sweet additions of toffee and honey candy. Fruity accents of ripe apricot but also some lemony citrus. Predominately spicy-minded hops with a soft, balancing bitterness. A rebound of malty sweetness pushes back through the spiciness and bitterness, though things finish reasonably dry for the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium-plus carbonation with a minute prickliness to it. Drinkability: Not the most authentic ESB on the block, possibly the reason for tacking "Amber" onto the label, though possibly for a less baffling name for those not familiar with the style. Still, it’s tasty, easy-drinking, and sensibly light on the alcohol.

2.3 12oz bottle. slightly hazy orange under small white head. aroma is more malty than their pale or ipa. flavor is very similar to their APA that i tried earlier. more malty but very similar.