Alaskan ESB Review

Name: Alaskan ESB
Style: English Special Bitter
ABV: 5%

Today I've got a seasonal release from Alaskan Brewing but I'm not quite sure if it's a winter or spring seasonal release as I picked this up a couple of weeks ago. It's an ESB-style ale and I only started seeing this on the shelves fairly recently. Judging on the reviews I've seen on Beer Advocate, it's released once every 2-3 years for a limited time; Talk about cutting it close!

Alaskan ESB pours a fairly clear amber color with some moderate looking carbonation and a thin filmy head that leaves behind no lacing.

The aroma starts out with some nice floral hops, toffee, Munich & Pale Malts, biscuits and yeasts. For an ESB it's rather hoppy smelling.

The flavor profile is fairly similar to the nose with a couple of differences. Upfront are floral hops, biscuits, Munich Malts, light toffee sweetness and a mild encompassing bitter hop flavor. The aftertaste consists mainly of floral hops and some light pale maltiness. It tastes fairly similar in some ways to an English Pale Ale!

The overall palate is fairly light and the carbonation comes off as just a couple of notches above mild, giving it a fairly crisp quality.

I don't like throwing the term "Sessionable" around too often, but I would classify this beer as such. It's fairly low in terms of alcohol volume yet it's flavorful enough for one to enjoy. It also possesses something that many Sessionable Ales lack: an aftertaste, and a good one at that. I don't know how long Alaskan Brewing will keep this around so pick this up while you still can!

Alaskan ESB - 8.5/10

Robinsons Trooper Review

Name: Robinsons Trooper
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
ABV: 4.7%

While I was down in Minneapolis for the State Fair, this was one of the three beers I had picked up, the others being Flat Earth Element 115 and Stone's Gotterdammerung. I picked up this beer because I had heard about it many times before and I am a huge Iron Maiden fan. When I heard Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of Iron Maiden, was making a beer  in collaboration with Robinsons I just had to try it out.

The beer by Robinsons Brewing called Trooper is inspired by the Iron Maiden song of the same name.
The name of the song is inspired by The Charge of the Light Brigade which took place at Battle of Balaclava in 1854 during the Crimean War. A light brigade cavalry were suppsoed to be sent to attack some retreating Russian forces but due to a miscommunication higher up on the command chain they were instead sent to attack a Russian artillery unit. Upon initiating the attack, the British soliders were surprised by the artillery attacks and were forced to retreat but not before losing 118 of their troops and 60 of them captured by Russian Forces.

Trooper pours a clear dark orange color with a foamy head and sparse lacing. I'm not picking up on any visible carbonation activity in the glass.

The nose consists mainly of marmalade, strong floral hops, caramel, barley and biscuits. With the exception of the floral hops, all the other notes feel somewhat subdued.

The flavor has a stronger floral hop profile, but the caramel, barley, and yeasty flavor are again all very subdued and pretty much in line with the nose.

In terms of weight, it's pretty light but the carbonation is pretty much non-existent and the body as a whole feels kind of watery.

As stated before, I'm a big Iron Maiden fan but I'm not a fan of this beer. It's not offensive in any way, but the flavor feels imbalanced and severely lacking at the same time. There are better ESB/Bitter Beers out there than this one.

Robinsons Trooper - 5/10