Half gallon growler. Transluscent medium brown color with a small beige head. Light cocoa malt nose. Sweet roasted malt flavor lacks depth. Easily drinkable, but lacks real body or character. Average at best.

Tap at barcade - fairly light red color - very light aroma, mostly of cherry and some citrus fruit, plus some spicy hops - quite thin-bodied and very light in flavor - some caramel malt manifests itself, but this is mostly dominated by light fruity esters and a dash of hops - very thin in the finish - unimpressive.

Growler. Small head. Aroma is very present with lots of fruitiness and slight underlying malty biscuity aroma. Very sweet and nice indeed. Taste is a bit of a disappointment. A bit watery with the faint fruitness. Lacks the maltiness i enjoy in this style. But a clean, easy drinking ESB.

A deep red beer with a lazing orange head. The aroma is sweet and like a good hop soup in which You’ve put oranges and caramel, but also with a note of alcohol. The flavor is sweet malty, with a quite strong alcohol presence, though the body is weak. There’s quite a lot of hops in it, which towards the end turns more and more dusty, but the flavor also contains a honey note. The end is dry, but until that sets in, the mouthfeel is smooth. Comes in a beautiful blue bottle.

On tap at Barcade. Poured into a shaker. Color is dark amber. Aroma is very present - sweet malt and sweet hop. SWEET. Taste is literally bitter sweet. Fruits, plums, and a grassy hop. Some tea like flavors. All those fruit flavors make it sweet and the hop comes in to give it some bitter edges. Average mouthfeel and a sweet aftertaste. Mediumk bitterness. Impressed me.

Draught pint at Redbones on 8/8/06.
Copper-amber colored, somewhat on the lighter side of things, with light cherry red hints and a small, neat, off-white head that recedes eventually to ring. Medium-high to high clarity.
Very little aroma to be had, and I don’t blame Redbones, because their lines are immaculate and the bar was empty at this time. Some very slight wafts of fruits, honey malts, touches of dough and some soggy, soily, grass-like hoppiness. I suppose ESBs don’t have to have a striking, clear nose of hops and vibrant yeast, but this one just seemed dull and vaguely fruity, with some sugars behind that.
Flavor was certainly not dull, however. Large malt presence, nutty-sweet, light sugars and light caramel malts all arranged in harmony. But there dosent seem to be enough balance here. It seems the attenuation level and lack of hop balance just serves to fatigue the palate after a while. Yeast dosent seem all that fun, either. Well-malted, supportive body, but I can’t find much else to say about it. Low carbonation, no alcohol present. Somewhat of a mineral character.

(Bottle 50 cl) Clear amber golden with a creamy, off-white head leaving a light lacework. Fat aroma of caramel and aroma hops. Full body with sweet caramel and toffee and some bitter hops - not a very clean hop profile though. Rather distinct alcohol. 240706

Bottle provided by Jimmack (thanks) at Dickinsonbeer’s Pre-TAP gathering. Blue bottle poured dark-reddish copper. The aroma is not overpowering, a good hop presence but well balanced with the barleywine sweetness. The body is not heavy. The aftertaste is something particular but I cannot pinpoint it. Light for a barleywine. A bit of bitterness at the end. An average BW I would say. 7/3/7/3/14

Rerate: now this has got a chance to age a bit in the bottle, almost 6 months. The aroma has greatly improved, I get hit with a strong English malt aroma a la Hardy’s. 8/3/7/3/15.

on tap-pours a tan head with orange/copper color. Aroma is malt, nutty, hops. Taste follows with the dominant taste being the malt. Low carbonation.