Extra Special Oak (ESO) - Element Brewing Company

nhindian

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle wrapped in paper and finished with a cork and cage, poured into a Southern Tier Imperial goblet. Bottle generously provided by apollokim, thanks Kim!

A - Pours a beautiful burnished copper color, with a lighter orange in the highlights and deeper mahogany in the middle. After opening it threatened to gush, but only reached the opening of the bottle before retreating. The head is huge and very active; easily 3-fingers worth and shapeshifts between thick foam and a cavernous, rocky terrain. The body is pretty clear, which makes it easy to see the rush of carbonation flooding this beer. Head retention is great, and the lacing is more so thick clumps of leftover head rather lacing. Great looking beer.

S - Upon first smell, I am getting a noticeable English influence here in the malts and the oak really accentuates its oakiness. I'm also getting a lot of spice and earthy tones. Overall a mild, but pleasant smell.

T - Whereas the nose is more mild, the taste definitely boasts a lot of flavor. The malts are thick and flavorful, adding more depth than sweetness, that leads wonderfully into the barrel flavors. Speaking of, this beer brings more oak to the flavor than almost any other beer I've had before, it is almost chewing on an oak trunk and eating oak sawdust shavings. It's an interesting and certainly unique flavor, and is strangely addicting. Not much hops going on here, and the finish is moderately long with a ton of residual oak flavor.

M - Mouthfeel is light-bodied with moderate carbonation. Finish isn't as long as I would've liked given the different flavor, and it just kind of disappears from the palate.

D - Drinkability is high. Incredibly easy to put this down and the flavors keep enticing me back for more. The alcohol is non-existent and overall, just a finely crafted beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2011 21:31:26 | More by nhindian

PowderRay

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev +15.7%

05-17-2013 18:54:40 | More by PowderRay

tneenan1

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%

04-27-2013 23:33:23 | More by tneenan1

bluerabbit

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

04-26-2013 23:38:24 | More by bluerabbit

brentk56

North Carolina

4.2/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Appearance: Pours a cloudy apricot nectar color with a foamy head that leaves some impressive splashes of lacing behind

Smell: Malt and oak forward, with shortbread, earthy hops and vanilla/oak

Taste: Sweeter malt flavors, up front, with shortbread and toffee followed by a slightly lemony/earthy hop in the middle; the barrel builds after the swallow, bringing oak, vanilla and marshmallow to sweeten up the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation

Overall: Pretty good stuff for a sweeter style ale; like the balance and complexity

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2013 22:24:05 | More by brentk56

taez555

Massachusetts

3.13/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Oak in your face. Its a solid beer, nice caramel backboned strong ale, but as it warms it is just completely dominated by oak. I love barrell aged beers, but all I taste is barrell. Needs to either kick up the ABV, or tone down the barrell. It simply smells and tastes like a platform for oak.

Serving type: on-tap

03-16-2013 17:12:17 | More by taez555

grumpygerman

Alabama

3.25/5  rDev -16.5%

02-07-2013 01:09:37 | More by grumpygerman

JTSingletary

Florida

3.48/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Appearance: Clear, deep amber color. Fizzy carbonation that forms a narrow ring around the edge of the glass.

Aroma: Very mild aroma of oak and vanilla with hints of roasted malt. Toffee and caramel as the beer warmed. Somewhat phenolic.

Taste: Right away the taste is very solvent-like, but after that dissipates the malt and dark fruit character takes over. The aftertaste is floral and spicy (peppery).

Mouthfeel: Heavily carbonated with large fizzy bubbles (even though packaging described the beer as having "lighter carbonation"). Medium body.

Overall: Overall, the phenolic character is too over-powering for me. However, after the initial taste of solventy-plastic is gone there is a nice floral sweetness left behind. The second taste sensation makes me want more though, and I did enjoy the whole glass.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2013 03:46:48 | More by JTSingletary

nquigley16

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

12-26-2012 01:23:59 | More by nquigley16

innuendobrewskiman63

New York

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

12-10-2012 11:43:53 | More by innuendobrewskiman63

Bob6518

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +28.5%

11-30-2012 15:57:24 | More by Bob6518

durkle

4.75/5  rDev +22.1%

11-17-2012 21:52:54 | More by durkle

sneaks2210

New York

2.5/5  rDev -35.7%

11-15-2012 03:03:32 | More by sneaks2210

CalebHiliadis

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%

11-10-2012 05:47:45 | More by CalebHiliadis

hopley

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +28.5%

10-29-2012 01:06:39 | More by hopley

mdfb79

New York

3.78/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From 10/06/12 notes.

a - Pours a clear amber color with one finger of fluffy off white head and moderate carbonation evident.

s - Smells roasted malts, toasted malts, some vanilla, and oak. Also some bready and burnt malts, and some earthy notes. Nose is nice and malty, and the vanilla from the oak is nice too. Barrel element seems heavy here, but I like it.

t - Tastes of roasted malts, cream, vanilla, toasted malts, light sugar, light sweet fruit, oak, and burnt malts. Nice, though not as good as the nose.

m - Medium body and low to moderate carbonation. Smooth, and pretty easy to drink.

o - Overall a nice strong ale aged in oak barrels. It has some vanilla to it from the barrels which I liked. Not sure I'd want to drink a full bottle by myself, but splitting it with someone this winter would be nice.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 18:28:52 | More by mdfb79

Greywulfken

New York

4.36/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

A: poured into a nonic pint, deep amber brown ale body with a nice finger of foamy head

S: dry malts and hops; some oakiness and woodsy flavors; mild hard liquor aromas

T: pale malt flavors with a hearty rich bready character; some deep wood flavors added complexity and distinction to the beer; sweetness of vanilla

M: the body and feel of a sweeter beer; buttery on the finish, not quite butterscotchy - it stays dry and then evaporates into a near-clean finish

O: a highly driknable brew, that I would gladly buy again.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2012 16:46:08 | More by Greywulfken

Gregwa

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2.8%

09-24-2012 03:26:19 | More by Gregwa

guezarka

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2.8%

08-13-2012 01:37:54 | More by guezarka

Dope

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle probably 2 years old.

A: Pours a reddish-amber with a big fizzy white head. Fades slowly, leaving no lacing at all. Common element of this brewery (see what I did there?). Oddly enough the second pour produced a solid wall of lacing. I'm not sure what to think about that but I did upgrade it to a 4.

S: Smells similar to an ESB. Toasted malt. Vanilla and oak. Swear I even get maple syrup.

T: Oaky for sure but not overpowering. Toasted malt and lots of bread. Some mild vanilla in the middle and through the finish along with some maple. Nice clean finish with just a touch of oak and vanilla that lingers.

M: Medium bodied and smooth.

O: Pretty much exactly as described. Tastes and smells like an ESB that's been oak aged but without the bitterness. Nice, clean crisp and balanced flavors. Relative simplicity keeps it from scoring higher but it's definitely a beer I enjoyed. Super malty and the drinkability is very high.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2012 02:36:20 | More by Dope

Casterbridge

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

07-07-2012 13:09:35 | More by Casterbridge

Exiled

Texas

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

06-16-2012 02:45:03 | More by Exiled

woosterbill

Connecticut

3.98/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at Prime 16, served in a 25cl Duvel tulip.

A: Clear mahogany body under a creamy tan head. Ok retention, spotty lace. Not bad at all.

S: Very woody indeed, with tons of vanilla and coconut oakiness in front of some treacle, caramel, and toastiness from the malt. Quite nice.

T: Follows the nose pretty precisely, with wood up front, malt sweetness in the middle, and a bittersweet, vanilla-heavy finish. Perhaps a bit too sweet, but rich and enjoyable.

M: Creamy, gently-carbonated medium-full body. Pleasant.

O: I really enjoyed this one, although I wish I had checked the time before ordering it - happy hour had just expired, and this ~10oz beer rang up at $8. A bit steep for being under 8% and, while heavily oaked, not barrel aged. C'est la vie.

Cheers!

Serving type: on-tap

05-20-2012 18:07:28 | More by woosterbill

Shaggy9356

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -16.5%

05-05-2012 03:26:09 | More by Shaggy9356

sulldaddy

Connecticut

3.3/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a cellar temp bottle into a large snifter. The beer pours a clear copper to chestnut color with frothy and loud eggshell white head of about 1 cm. Several small streams of bubbles rise to the surface. The head fades gradually with tight lattice and some large craters as it recedes to an edge layer and wispy islands.
Aroma is mild with some caramel malt and toffe, and maybe some red grape, but also very faint phenolic bandaid. This scent is very faint and not enough to ruin the nose, but I do get it, maybe Im just sensitive to that specific scent.
First sip reveals very fine yet tingly to almost prickly carbonation. Those little bubbles pack a punch!
Flavor is also mild, but malt driven with caramel and some dark fruit, red grapes I think. I also get a bit of brown sugar and general sweetness. The finish reveals just a bit of earthy hop note that actually lingers quite a bit and is actually a little bitter on the finish.
Overall the beer is very drinkable but not overly memorable. No flaws but Im not wow'd either. Worth a shot if you like english strong ales, just not as complex as I hoped when I bought the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2012 04:37:34 | More by sulldaddy