Schlafly ESB
Our ESB (Extra Special Bitter) may have the word “bitter” in its name, but the key to this style is balance. The combination of malts and hops creates a toasty, fruity flavor. Our ESB is dry hopped with a US grown hop varietal called Williamette, which has a pronounced spicy, lemon flavor.
In the early 1970’s, brewers in London and the south of England expanded the range of beers available in pubs, reacting to the wave of European lagers moving into the British pub scene. In addition to the ordinary bitters and pale ales, brewers developed recipes for stronger premium ales like ESB, special bitter and special pale ale. These beers contributed to the English traditional ale revival of the 1980’s, making their way into the beer portfolios of many American craft breweries.
In the early 1970’s, brewers in London and the south of England expanded the range of beers available in pubs, reacting to the wave of European lagers moving into the British pub scene. In addition to the ordinary bitters and pale ales, brewers developed recipes for stronger premium ales like ESB, special bitter and special pale ale. These beers contributed to the English traditional ale revival of the 1980’s, making their way into the beer portfolios of many American craft breweries.
3.5
342 reviews
St. Louis, United States
Community reviews
Excellent ESB with bitterness and smooth malts. Has some bready and currant flavors that finishes bitter without lingering. Very good and warming.
This was a very good winter offering. I hesitate to use their winter to describe though. It was a good esb with more of a malt profile but much else.
12 oz bottle filled 11-15-2013.
Pours lightly hazed, medium amber with a fine, durable creamy beige head.
Aroma of baked bread, light spices and fruity hops.
Flavor: conservatively spiced, the fruity citrus character seems to be the more unusual feature in this ESB.
O: This winter ESB Schlafly Winter ESB is lighter than your average Winter Warmer, providing another good choice for the holidays. If found it to be enjoyable on a hot Spring day as well.
12oz bottle into a pint glass.
Pours a hazy dark orange with quite a bit of sediment from the bottle making it into the glass. The saving grace is the thick, rocky head. Excellent retention and lacing.
Aroma is extremely fruity. Lots of orange with some grape and cherry as well. Maybe just a touch of biscuit but it is faint behind the fruit.
The taste has even more fruit. I know pretty much every Schlafly beer has this fruit note from what I assume to be the yeast but this is just a little overdone. Heavy dose of orange and cherry along the same lines as what is in the aroma. Lots of malt in the way of caramel and biscuit but it lends a bit too much sweetness. Mouthfeel is quite sweet and sticky.
Overall, this one just doesn’t do it for me. Too much fruit and overly sticky make this a bit of a mess. Drinkability is very limited and it just doesn’t seem that well put together. I’ll pass next time.
A thick, hazy almost grainy orange body with a thin white head. Aroma is subtle citrus with spice and slight soap. First sip was bitter and unimpressive, but improved. Weak flavor with a soapy aftertaste. Not impressed.
Bottle pour, hazy copper color with minimal white head. Lots of sediment suspended throughout the glass. Subtle, roasty aroma with very well balanced hop and malt notes, not a beer that I would ever turn down.
Bottle. Caramel malt, spicy rye, and light piney orange hops aroma. Hazy amber with a large ivory head, suspended flocculation. Bready malt, rye, and herbal hops flavor. Medium body and carbonation.
Bottle: Poured a light amber color ale with a relatively large foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of dry caramel malt is dominant and somewhat lacking in character. Taste is also dominated by non-descript dry caramel malt notes with very else in terms of reportable characteristics. Body is about average with good carbonation. I was expecting a bit more sweetness to fit the winter theme but this ends up being a bland offering.
Draft->nonic at District Pi. Murky amber with solid offwhite head. Bread and malt with some grains and lite earthy hops. Mildly bitter. Not really an ESB, but pretty good anyway.
The appearance of this beer combines a few intriguing elements: a cloudy orange color, a large off-white head, and fine-grain sediment. The aroma is reminiscent of caramel and bread malts fused with a hint of fruit, and the taste is an interesting blend of a mild sweetness and a slight sourness, leading to a nicely balanced beer. The palate mixes a soft carbonation, medium body, fairly abrupt finish, and a slick texture.
Amber in color after pouring. Taste is smooth, with a balance hop kick up front but not holding on past the taste.
Pours amber with some chunky yeasty floaters. Nose is immensely malty with evident layers of stone fruits, caramel, and toast. Flavor is again cherries, peaches, malts, toffee and niceness. Yes, I like it. Tasty brew.
bottle. hazy orange/amber with a stable, creamy head. sweet, worty, pale malt aroma. full bodied and chewy. lots of bready malt. fruity, peach-like hop notes. the flaked ingredients definity add some body here. very nice beer.
Bottle. Pours hazy golden color, thin white lacing. Aroma of citrus, pine, bread. Medium sweet citrus flavor. Medium body, thin texture, a bit fizzy, mild bitterness. Very different ESB than many of the others I’ve rated. Thinner body and leans more sweet. Not bad overall.
In short: A muffled semi-hoppy amber ale lacking vivacity.
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed as soon as we got it through private importation, but already 5 months after bottling date :(
The look: Slightly cloudy amber-orange body topped by a medium off-white head with medium retention leaving lots of lacings on the glass.
In long: Nose is dank and moist, like smelling leafy hops in a wet basement. In mouth the beer has a medium body, slightly oily mouthfeel and abundant carbonation. Taste is semi-toasted cereals, an awkward mix of caramel and marmalade, moldy fruits, soggy cookies, very dank hops. Overall this bottle was as far from bright and vibrant as a beer can get, everything here felt moldy, slightly rotten, dank. Not as bad my choice of words make it to be, but still a pretty lame experience. Might be because the bottle suffered from the private importation transit, it has to be. Not what I expect from an ESB, Schlafly may think I will believe this is an ESB because it is written ESB on the label but my mother didn’t raise no fool (my father did while my mother ignored me because I was dumb)
Drank at Roadhouse in Webster Groves, Missouri. Pours orange gold, white head. Hoppy and smooth
Pours copper with a moderate white top. Aroma is sweet grains and pine hop. Taste is a great balance of sweet grains and pine hop bitterness. Rye spice just tops it off.
Smells of booze, caramel malts, and hops with a little rye, and then a little fruit the more it sits. Quite complex. Flavor: Fruity, boozy, hoppy toward the end, and a juicy, bitter finish and aftertaste. Wow, this is terrific. Phenomenal combo of a winter warmer ale with some more IPA-like qualities. Much of Schlafly’s stuff is rather average, but this is excellent and nuanced across the board.
Bouteille de 12 oz obtenue via Importations Privées Bièropholie. Arôme: Légère odeur d’orange et de caramel. Apparence: La couleur est orangée opaque avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de céréale avec une pointe d’agrumes et d’épices. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement minérale. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût légèrement houblonné. (Rating #5183)
A rather pale example, dark golden, covered by a light, lasting beige head. Tiny sediments settle at the bottom of the glass. Glorified esters and toasted, biscuity, caramelly malts which combine together in a sense of balance. Actually a bit lighter than I would have expected on the hop side where gently woodsy, earthy, orangey spicy hops do not quite egt over the appley, spicy, slightly sulphury even yeastiness which at times comprise a jammy fruity kick. Yet its dry/sweet balance is efficient, the initial biscuity sweetness burst being balanced by an earthy, smooth and clean bitterness to which the soft, but far from absent bubbles certainly contribute. Well, it’s good, but this was one of those beers, backs in the days, which used to be rated 3.8+ and was possibly even the top ESB on the site. Assuming it has not evolved, that’s kinda mysterious (even though its scores have been on a downhill in recent years) as there are plenty of awesome examples (especially York’s in my limited exposure) out there and I say that as a Schlafly fan who really appreciate their base beer portfolio, all clean and respectable, sometimes excellent straightforward recipes at very reasonable prices. I feel old all of a sudden.
12oz bottle, orange-amber color, with a thick beige head, nice candied orange peel, orange marmalade, orange lollipop, biscuity, toasted, caramel, bready maltiness nose, with some honey cracker, pannetone cake notes, with a hint of citrus hops in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a good biscuity, bready, toasted, caramel malt, fruity candied orange peel, orange marmalade, honeyed bready cracker character, with a mild flowery citrus, leafy hop, pannetone cake flavour, leading towards a candied orange peel fruitiness, honey maltiness, lingering citrus, leafy, grassy hop bitterness finish.
Les sédiments tournoient dans ce liquide ambré. L’effervescence alimente la mousse, qui ne bouge pratiquement pas, en fait, on dirait même que la levure travaille encore. Le nez est de caramel, d’épices, de miel et de malt et ça m’est plutôt agréable. La texture soyeuse nous caresse la bouche en transportant des saveurs de miel et de fleurs sauvages au travers le malt. Une faible acidité et une amertume soutenues par des pointes fruitées finalisent le tout. (Embout. 9 janv.2013) (781-170813)
Bottle 12 fl. oz. Served in english pint. Pours dark orange-amber with slight particles (mispour maybe). Strange aroma of earthy hops, fruits, caramel and vegetable juice. Taste is on par. Kind of thin. Not bad, but nothing extraordinary. Freshness may have been an issue here.
Had at the Tap Room in St. Louis in the summer of 2011. Nice esb. Pours an amber brown. Lightly toasted malt flavor with some toffee and maltiness. Good esb.
355 ml bottle. Pours a very opaque orangeish dark golden with sediments and a short lived white head. Aroma is biscuits and toasts. Flavor is roasted bread, dark fruits, sweet caramel, bananas, bubble gum. Finish is earthy, herbal. Lingering sweetness and bitterness. This has got to be one of the most refreshing, well-balanced incarnations of the ESB I’ve had. Light to medium body, average carbonation. Very solid, super well balanced. Loved it.
12oz bottle from IPB.
Appearance : Clear pale amber with small head. Rather pale for an ESB.
Aroma : Malt with some mixed grains. Very light caramel. Very light herbal and earthy hops
Taste : Malty with light hops. Finish slightly bitter with malt. Pretty malty finish. Very light mineral notes.
Palate : Average carbonation. Too strong for te style IMHO.
Overall : A rather awkward ESB that barely has any British character. Fairly unanimous beer that is still decent and drinkable. Carbonation could be softer. Uneventful beer.
12oz bottle served in a Dogfish Head IPA glass
A - Pours a hazy amber, with 1 finger of yellow tinted meringue head. Very nice retention with below average lacing.
S - Bready, pureed peaches, caramel, honey sweet malt, hints of light lemon citrus.
T - Bready malts, light caramel, the peach fruit carries over from the aroma and melds very well with the soft bready malts. There’s notions of crisp lemon in there lightly cutting through the bready malt. Hops provide a tannin-like bitterness. Finishes bright and semi-dry.
M - Nice doughy texture, heavy side of medium, super soft carbonation, very nice texture.
This is an all around well crafted beer. It has a rich doughy character with a bright fruity side as well. I would enjoy this anytime of the year.
Serving type: bottle
03-29-2013
pours hazy golden orange with a small off-white head, little retention. fruity caramel, pepper, spices, grass, hint of biscuity malts, but mostly plain lightly toasted malts, tobacco, juniper berries, pears - perfume-like, oranges. moderate carbonation, light body - oily, grassy-peppery with a short citrus bite finish. ok.
My Bottom Line:
Orange confit and French toast allusions offer up a sweetish breakfast flavor profile, while biscuity undertones and earthy hops get together in the finish.
Further Personal Perceptions:
-A healthy head of foam settles atop the misty orange.
-The mouthfeel is more carbonated than the average British brew (naturally carbonated, I mean).
-The overt yeastiness gets in the way of the malt and hop profile.
-This may be flavorful, but I am disappointed considering the high ratings for this one. If you like this, you have to go out to England since there are tons of brews with a similar flavor profile which are tighter and brighter.
Bottle.
Light brown pour with a finger of head. Aroma of bread, lemon, caramel. Taste of lemon, grapefruit, bread, toffee, fairly sweet, good malt backbone. Medium body, average carbonation. nice sessioner that I would never have guessed was 6.8%