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

Badger Hill Minnesota Special Bitter Review

Name: Badger Hill Minnesota Special Bitter
Style: Extra Special Bitter (ESB)
ABV: 5.7%

A couple years ago, a new brewery called Badger Hill Brewing opened it's doors in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The name of the brewery is from the names of the two brothers, who founded the brewery, translated into Old English. Currently they share their building and equipment with another brewery which is also fairly new: Lucid Brewing (Keep an eye out for a review from them in the near future.)

Today I'm having their Minnesota Special Bitter (or MSB), an ESB style ale which is one of their most popular beers. To my knowledge, it's also one of the first beers which they released.

MSB pours a darker orange color with a slight haze. The head is very thin and has more of a creamy appearance to it. Also in case you were wondering, I took a couple sips before taking the photo so that's why there isn't any foam present in the photo above.

The aroma has some mild floral hops and biscuit notes. There is also a slight malty and marmalade sweetness in here as well. Nothing too out of the ordinary here.

The flavor is what you’d expect of an ESB with yeasts, malts, and light orange/marmalade sweetness. However, there is a surprisingly strong floral hop presence here along with a bitter resiny aftertaste.

Compared to other ESBs, it's got a heavier weighted body along with some with some mild carbonation. It has a somewhat creamy feel which helps out tremendously with the drinkability.

I thought this was pretty good; It's got a nice balanced flavor with some good hoppiness to boot without being too overwhelming. All and all, MSB is a solid offering from Badger Hill and I can't wait to try out more beers from these guys.

Badger Hill Minnesota Special Bitter - 8.25/10

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

Surly Bitter Brewer Review

Surly Brewing has a regular lineup of seasonals, but in the case of Surly Bitter Brewer it was released in May as opposed to Late March/Early April which is when it is normally released. I guess with all the stuff going on with their new planned destination brewery, that would be good reason to delay it slightly.

Bitter Brewer is an English Bitter which is a lighter style of beer with a lower ABV level, like is the case with Bitter Brewer which is 4.1% ABV. Perhaps the most widely known English Bitter known is Goose Island Honker's Ale, which I believe you can find in all 50 states, or at least in the lower 48 but that's just an educated guess.

Bitter Brewer pours a dark golden color with some mild haze and carbonation. Head is a bit on the soapy side and it finishes clean.

In the nose, I'm getting some light caramel malts, citrus hops, yeasts, and fruity notes. Fairly mild aroma but you can still make out what is in here. Fortunately, the taste is alot better than what you are expecting. You have nice marmalade, malts, yeasts and floral hop notes and they all seem to fall into place at once; With the exception of a slight dry bitter hop finish.

The body is light in weight and has a very low amount of carbonation but it doesn't feel watery; So there aren't any issues with the body here.

While Surly is known for their stronger stuff, their lighter stuff like this and Hell shouldn't be overlooked. It's a great tasting beer whether you factor in the low ABV or not and it has some really good drinkability. Maybe once their new destination brewery is open, this'll go the way of Hell and be available year-round

Surly Bitter Brewer - 8.5/10