Odd that I’ve never reviewed this given that when I used to go to Asheville on a regular basis from Atlanta, Green Man was basically my favorite place to go, and ESB was a beer that I drank multiple pints of on each occasion. Oh well.

12 oz bottle from Blue Ridge Beer Hub, $2.20.

Pour creates a mid-copper colored body with a white head. Great lace (which is always a good sign for the style), and a thin, but well-retained film. It’s a little cloudy, could do better on that front.

Nose is solid with some requisite, caramel malts.

This has always been an ESB with a higher hop profile that is perfect for me, BUT it’s within style parameters. I prefer more sweetness, more rich malts and less ‘green’ based hops, but it’s not a deal breaker for me. Because of that the beer feels drier to me that it should do, and it takes a little off the edge of the ESB moniker for me. A few biscuit malts in the back end that help, but for me this is one notch below where it could be, and one notch below where I really want it to be.

OK, so why do I continue to drink it each time I’m in Asheville, and why do I buy it when I see it? That’s more to do with the general availability of ESBs in the USA I’m afraid, and even ones that I don’t think are in the upper echelon necessarily are still going to get my attention.