“Warming, malty and fruity. Pale and amber malts contribute to a mouth-filling and satisfying Horlicks and biscuity maltiness. Challenger and First Gold give a base note of herbal hop and Fuggles as a late hop contributes the main fragrant fruity and floral and spicy notes. Fermented slowly to give just enough fruity esters Abbot Ale provides a complex, satisfying and warming experience.”

Glassware: English pint.

Appearance: It pours a very attractive deep amber with full transparency. Not much in the way of head formation and the story is much the same with its lacing.

Aroma: Super sweet, but like all well brewed English ESB’s it’s perfectly balanced by a woody and earthy hop profile. Deep seated notes of caramel and toffee apple, marmalade, buttery biscuits and slightly nutty malt fill it all out beautifully. It has a certain residual sweetness to it which gives off an obscure Barleywine quality as well.

Flavour: Oh man there’s nothing like a traditional ESB in the middle of Spring – rich and sweet malts behind a veil of English hops. It strikes the perfect balance between malty sweet butterscotch, raisins and caramel with woody, floral and spicy hops. Gentle toasty notes and subtle fruit developing late in the piece. Nice, dry and earthy finish to round it all out.

Mouthfeel: Slick, chewy and gelatinous. Medium body. The 5% ABV is spot on.

Overall: One of the best ESB’s we’ve had for a while. Very impressive.