The acronym ESB has a wide variety of meanings.  Nerds may think it refers to an enterprise service bus, music fans might use it to describe the E. Street Band, while other nerds assign it to The Empire Strikes Back.  Even in the beer world there are multiple uses for ESB.  Some people translate the letters as Extra Strong Bitter, and others as Extra Special Bitter.  Just like the scenario where your girlfriend asks you which of her friends is the prettiest, there is no right or wrong answer.  ESB is often refereed to as both Extra Strong and Extra Special Bitter.

The style is characterized by malt sweetness balanced with medium to medium high hops.  Generally lighter in color, the ESB style is easy drinking and will not slur your speech like the bigger styles.  Hailing from the its country of origin, England, this week’s beer is perhaps the most well known of the style.  Without further ado: Fuller’s ESB.

Appearance
A vigorous pour left only a single finger of off white head.  Fuller’s ESB is golden in color with bit of copper when held to the light.  It is very clear and clean looking.  A thin lacing clings to the glass.

Smell
Lots of malt sweetness is noticed first.  Further investigation reveals golden delicious apples and green grapes.  Hops are present but cannot able to keep up with the attention-grubbing malt.

Taste
As expected malty sweetness takes center stage and belie the name Extra Strong/Special Bitter.  A slight earthiness and yeast notes can be detected.  The beer tastes as clean and crisp as it looks and has the essence of mineral water. 

Mouthfeel
Light and watery in the mouth.  Carbonation is light as well.  Still very has a very pleasant feel.

Overall
A very quaffable beer.  No bells and whistles or anything fancy here.  The balance is decidedly in favor of the malt making this a very easy drinking pint.  A few bottles would go down quite nicely at the next backyard barbeque and make answering your girlfriend’s question a littler easier.  Overall grade for Fuller’s ESB: B


Fuller’s ESB

Up next on Tuesday Tastings: Xingu brewed by Cervejaria Sul Brasileira’s