From Jan 2007 Poured from 12oz bottle a cloudy orange with a large head of foam that shrank quickly leaving very little by the time I got half way through and..there's just a tad of lacing. The smell is of caramel malt with a bit of citrus. The taste is very malty...lots of nice caramel malt flavour up front. There's just a hint of hop bitterness in the background, mainly lemon, that offsets the malt sweetness just a tad but this is all about the malt and a fine example of an ESB. Yummy. Even the finish is sweet though it does fall off right at the end and concludes on the dry side. I wish I had another as I really appreciate ESBs that are true to form. Bottom line: A very good ESB that I can easily recommend! Another brew obtained via Wasatch; thanks bud!

Poured into a mug, the appearance had a dark copper to amber color with a finger’s worth of white foamy head that dissipated at a fine pace. Messy lace. The aroma some bready malts, a touch of spicy hops, slight floral, and then sweet butter (not diacetyl). The flavor blended sweet biscuits/bready malts to sweet butter fairly nice. Grassy and spicy hops slide in nicely. Slick biscuit/bready aftertaste and finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fair sessionability about it. Carbonation felt good, maybe just a tad more than expected, but wasn’t distracting. ABV seemed appropriate and projected as the brewer said. Overall, mostly pretty good ESB with just a touch more carbonation than I thought would be there, but hey, coming all of the way from California and bottled, I guess it makes sense why.

A full body, ambrosial maltiness, and an arousing hoppy bite. This beer is not for the light beer drinker or those desiring no aftertaste. Note: Formerly known as Belk’s ESB.

nice 1" white head recedes slowly leaving nice lacing atop a slightly hazy.. dark yellow/amber brew. Aroma is bready malts and spicy hops... nothing over the top.. just balanced by a pronounced yeasty ester profile. Flavor is more of the same with a slight buttery slickness (not distracting, just there)... biscuity flavors... toasted grains and more English hops. Big boned for sure.. but not overdone. Body is smack dab medium with low/medium carbonation. For such a large West Coast ESB, I always expect a quite a bit more hoppiness out of this one... If you’re using English hops, then let me taste them! That being said, the above negatives are only suggestions... this beer is very drinkable with a great body.

(bottle) Still labeled as Belk’s ESB, with no bottle date, hard to know how old this is. Pours a hazy orange complexion with lasting head and glass lacing. Aroma of dough and malt. The flavor follows the traditional British style with an understated hop note.

Backlog from lost & found notes: Aroma is malty and floral. Taste is solid but one dimensional, malts with citrus tones and a gentle hop character. Medium bitter.

A 12 fl oz bottle with no visible best by or bottled date and poured into a pint glass. Poured a slightly hazy orangey copper colour with a one finger off white head that dissipates within a minute leaving some stringy lacing. Aromas were a bit weak but what little I do get is caramel malts, some fruitiness like plum, pear, apple sauce and orange plus hints of mineral notes. Taste is more pronounced with strong caramel sweetness beginning and citrus grapefruit bitterness finish with hints of pine, grass and pepper in between. Medium bodied with low carbonation and dry finish. This was decent but nothing special. I think I may prefer it more if it had a little less of the caramel sweetness.

12oz bottle. Poured a light orange color with a small white head. Aroma was some light caramel malts, light toasted notes, with a touch of sweet malts. Light fruity notes.

Pours hazy and kind of light for an style that usually holds alot of caramel malts. Aroma is in the style but amped up slightly. Lovely. Taste resembles the Fuller but with some tones raised, the right tones for my palate! Love it! The ABV is insanely well masked. Bottle from SB

Old rating. Bottle from old town. Pours a light copper color with a modest white head. Strong citrus aroma with a hint of malt. Grapefruit, orange and pine stand out on the palate. Fairly well-balanced. Nice bitter finish.