Beer Tasting - 'Tis But A Scratch ESB

'Tis But A Scratch ESB was bottled a little over 3 weeks ago, so it's more than ready for a tasting blog. I've actually consumed half of the output in the past week as I've really enjoyed it and I find it pretty session-able, even at it's potent 6.4%. As I've mentioned at the other steps throughout the process, I didn't follow my recipe properly, so the numbers ended up being a bit off. This caused the beer to be a bit out of style from your typical ESB as it's a bit darker in colour, higher in ABV and a bit too bitter.

I'll be following the five category format from beeradvocate.com: Appearance, Smell, Taste, Mouthfeel and Overall.  

Appearance: Pours dark amber, perhaps a little too dark for the ESB style. Light bubbly head with very long retention.

Smell: Nice malty sweet character, but hidden a bit by a rather over powering bitterness. Hops providing a bit of a grassy, earthy nose. Definitely a bit too bitter for the standard ESB style.

Taste: The bitterness of the hops hit the taste buds initially, but it balances out near the end with malty sweetness. The bitterness of the hops lingers, but is pleasant, at least to a hop-head like myself. Aside from a slight earthiness, the hops don't impart too much flavour, definitely more focused on the bittering aspect.

Mouthfeel: Very effervescent, which is a bit out of style as well, but likely a cause of adding more priming sugar than the style called for. I'd say it's a bit too alcoholic for an ESB, putting it closer to the IPA classification.

Overall: For my first all grain brew, I'm pretty happy with it. I pegged some of the errors I made throughout the process, so it turned out close to what I expected. I'd re-categorize this beer as an American ESB (don't think this is a legitimate beer style... yet), as it's definitely more bitter than I'd expect out of ESB, but the malty sweetest of the ESB pale malt is still prevalent. Next time I brew this beer, I'll definitely focus on following my recipe closer and seeing if it fits the flavour profile better.

Thanks for reading!