McNeill’s Extra Special Bitter
Massachusetts is due to get hit by a snow storm tonight and tomorrow (I’ll believe it when it actually happens… weather forecasters are not the most reliable bunch around here), the temperature has been quite cold recently, and I’m sitting down to enjoy an… ESB? Sure the ESB might not be the typical “winter beer” but so what? The McNeill’s ESB is a favorite of mine, and any time I see it on store shelves, which happens to be more frequently thankfully, I pick up a bottle or two.
It pours a lightly cloudy light copper into my pint glass. The beer is topped with a finger of slightly off white head that sticks around for a good few minutes. The head’s texture has a cream consistency, with some large interspersed bubbles, almost like it was poured from a nitro-tap.
In the nose the beer is a pleasurable mix between its malt and hop characteristics. Freshly toasted bread, and slight caramelization provide a mouth watering malt presence. The hop is equally enticing with lemon zest, herb, floral, and lingering pepper spice all playing in my nose. The aroma is quite dry in experience, which reads strange, even when I write it, but dryness came to mind when thinking about the character.
In the mouth the beer is clean and runs smooth through the mouth. The beer starts with a sweet caramel, bread taste. This bread flavor provides a nice base for the hops to work off of. Though I did not notice it in the nose, the hop character has a grapefruit presence, which is a nice surprise, mixed with a herb character. The finish is nice and bitter with a slight spiciness to it that drys everything off.
Now I am only left with thick lacing on the glass walls, a reminder of a great beer drunk.
Categories: Extra Special Bitter, McNeill's
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