Winter is big beer season, when breweries bring out their heartiest and heaviest offerings, and Legend is no exception. Along with our regular lineup, we currently and proudly serve up our Imperial Stout and Belgian Tripel, with the massive Barleywine on deck for an early January release.

Our seasonal beers are very popular and so with the rapid disappearance of this year’s Chocolate Porter, were faced with the need to fill a slot for a “not so big”, but still exciting beer to keep things interesting.

Why not an E.S.B. (Extra Special Bitter)? This is a British style that understandably is a bit confusing by name…

”Oh, Legend makes an extra special beer…oh they call it bitter…hmmm, I’ll try something else”.

Actually, an English Bitter is not what it sounds like. It is a medium bodied, somewhat malty brew with the hop character coming primarily from bittering hops. The result is low hop aroma with a little bite of bitterness on the finish. Not present are the intense hoppy flavors and aromas of a Pale Ale, for example. An E.S.B. refers to a brewery’s finest version of a Bitter, usually a little higher in alcohol and malt flavor.

History lesson aside, Legend E.S.B. serves as a medium octane winter warmer that brings flavor without chaos.

Legend E.S.B. pours a deep reddish orange and possesses a nose ripe with fruity aromas. The body is medium, as is the carbonation. The flavor is at first of fruit (apples, pears, berries), then turns in a warm caramel toasty direction provided by the specialty malts. The finish is dry and earthy.

Malts: Two row malted barley, light roast malt, caramel malt, aromatic malt, wheat malt.

Hops: British East Kent Golding

Yeast: British premium bitter yeast strain