Extra Special Ale (ESA)
Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States 🇺🇸
Bitter - ESB / Strong Bitter Regular|
Score
6.47
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Our first ever and most beloved brew, ESA helped establish a following for cask-conditioned beer in the United States back in the ‘90s. East Kent Golding hops give this English style ale a subtle spiciness, which compliments its strong malt backbone. Hints of chocolate and caramel round out this deep chestnut colored ale. Floral, earthy, smooth.
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6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
From tap at the brewpub. Pours clear and golden orange with a small white head. Aroma is yeasty, slight smoked and caramelish. Bitter and roasted malty. Bitter and dry roasted finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 05 Jun 2011
at 07:32
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
A dark reddish amber ale with a thick creamy dark moka head. In aroma, light sweet caramel malt with herbal hops and cinnamon notes. In mouth, a nutty caramel, lightly roasted with nice fruity esters. Medium bodied. On tap at PA Flavor, April 9th, 2011.
Tried
from Draft
on 28 Apr 2011
at 18:14
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Location: 12 oz bottle from Buy Rite - Jersey City, 3/8/11
Aroma: The nose is sweet caramel malts with some toast, dough, fruit, cracker, and some spice
Appearance: The pour is a cloudy orange-brown with a small beige head, spotty lace
Flavor: Tastes fairly sweet with lots of caramel malts, some fruit, and an earthy/fruity hop finish
Palate: The mouthfeel is on the chewy side with a medium-full body and lively carbonation
Overall Impression: Overall, this is a pretty good ESB. It is certainly drinkable and has a nice hop presence to it. Solid stuff.
Aroma: The nose is sweet caramel malts with some toast, dough, fruit, cracker, and some spice
Appearance: The pour is a cloudy orange-brown with a small beige head, spotty lace
Flavor: Tastes fairly sweet with lots of caramel malts, some fruit, and an earthy/fruity hop finish
Palate: The mouthfeel is on the chewy side with a medium-full body and lively carbonation
Overall Impression: Overall, this is a pretty good ESB. It is certainly drinkable and has a nice hop presence to it. Solid stuff.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Mar 2011
at 18:47
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Dark with a malty aroma. Has some light spice in the aroma, as well. Flavor has a full malty taste with medium sweetness and some nice spicy hops. A decent brew but a little on the dull side.
Tried
on 10 Jun 2010
at 16:52
8.3/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Nice amber pour. Nose is very floral citrus. Taste is sweet and slightly bitter. Rated 4/12/03
Tried
on 07 May 2010
at 19:21
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
12 ounce bottle from Whole Foods Market Charlottesville, VA. Pours a clear dark amber color with a medium offwhite head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of toasted malts, caramel and leafy hops. Taste is herbal hop notes, caramel, toasted malts. Certainly fairly bitter. Medium bodied. The aroma and taste both have a bit of a faintly salty note that detracts a bit but this is overall decent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Feb 2010
at 18:45
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
On cask at Friday the Firkenteenth at the Grey Lodge Pub. Pours a translucent copper with a cloudy white head. The aroma is nothing special, mostly yeast and grains. Flavor is soggy grains, bread, English yeast. Watery finish.
Tried
from Cask
on 02 Dec 2009
at 18:14
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
(11/19/08) Cask at McMenamin’s in Philadelphia. Dark hazy brown with medium, quite stable, beige head - looks quite lovely in the mug. Aroma of malt, some bread, biscuiy and caramel notes, some slightly earthy hoppiness and flowery notes. Sweet malty flavor at first with some caramelly hints, continues with delicate hop bitterness with some citric notes and light fruitiness. Silky mouthfeel. Perfectly balanced. One of the best and most quaffable session beers I’ve ever had. I could drink a lot of this.
Tried
from Cask
on 30 Jan 2009
at 11:02
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Pretty dark body for an ESB with a nice beige head. Fruity aroma. Taste was a nice well-balanced mixture of hops and malts with a fruity touch to it. It is a really nice beer and I don’t mind drinking many of them.
Tried
on 11 Jan 2008
at 21:33
3.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 2
Texture 6
Overall 2.5
Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a dark bronze color with a medium sized khaki head. The aroma was basic sour malts. The flavor was tangy and sour malts that are rather bitter and reminiscent of windex. The finish is very bitter windex. Total crap drain pour.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Dec 2006
at 21:52