The other day, I was at Summits Wayside Tavern, my usual haunt, perusing the draft beer list. Summits, you see, has a mug club you can join (it’s called the Passport Club). It works like this: you drink 100 different draft brews, and you get a 20-ounce mug with your name on it. Once you earn your mug, you then get 20 ounces of draft beer for the price of 16. You can keep going from there and at 250 different brews (draft or bottled) you get a 25-ounce goblet. 500 beers get you a 32-ounce stein.

I like to drink new and different beers anyway, so this was just the thing for me. I have my 20 ounce mug, and I’m now working towards my goblet. Hard work, that. Anyway, the other day I was looking over the draft menu for something I hadn’t tried before, when I discovered that they didn’t have any beer I hadn’t tried before. At least not on draft.

So, I started to look for beers that I had had before, yet were not on my tasted list. That’s the downside with these types of clubs; you try a lot of new beers, but you tend to overlook the really good ones you’ve already had. I decided on a mug of Fuller’s ESB. ESB stands for Extra Special Bitter, but don’t be afraid: the style is not exceptionally bitter despite the name.

Fuller’s ESB is a beer I’ve enjoyed many times in the bottle and on draft. I’ve enjoyed it cask conditioned as well, a totally different animal that way, packed with powerful notes of fruit and so very smooth and drinkable. The beer has been around since 1971, making it a relative newcomer as European beers go. It’s just a little stronger than average at 5.9% alcohol by volume.

When my mug of Fuller’s ESB arrived it was a brilliant amber in color with a light creamy head formation and a rich nose hinting at caramel and soft fruit. I was delighted with my choice, and realized again just how wonderful this beer truly is. It has a wonderfully rich malt body that is all the same very drinkable, and the palate is packed with slightly sweet malt flavor that is slightly nutty-toasty. There’s a lot of chewy caramel flavor, and I think that’s the biggest thing going on here.

A touch of fruit, very subtle, was apparent as well, suggesting pear. The finish provided just a gentle touch of hop bitterness and herbal aroma in the finish (they use Goldings which I got and also Target, Northdown, and Challenger). Not really bitter, but nicely balanced so as not to be cloyingly sweet. You could just drink this all day.

The moral of my story, of course, is sort of like that old song we sang as kids in grade school: make new friends, but keep the old. It’s a great thing to try new beers. But make sure to stop back and check up on the old ones once in a while, too. Just to see how they’re doing. You may be surprised to find out how much you missed them.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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