Full Sail ESB - Full Sail Brewery & Tasting Room & Pub

Jason

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12oz brown bottle with a freshness date.

Deep amber hue, good lacing that leaves some stickage on the glass. Malty aroma, faint ripe fruit and caramel ... earthy hops in there as well. Smooth, medium bodied. Leafy, earthy herbal hop flavor, balanced bitterness. Grassy with mildly toasted bread maltiness. Hint of sweetness, dried apricots and mild alcohol. Finishes semi-dry.

Pretty big for and ESB, but coming from and American brewer it is nothing new. Balance is this beers most noticeable trait and it works from start to end.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 02:46:02 | More by Jason

jimmah120

Minnesota

3.84/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

12oz bottle into hourglass glass

look is a medium caramel color, small sudsy head. smell is sweet and savory with herbal piney hops. taste follows, semi sweet enjoyable amber style malts/grain, with a good amount of very bitter herbal hops. feel is light and syrupy.

solid beer, but nothing to write home about

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 06:57:37 | More by jimmah120

ngeunit1

California

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Pours a hazy golden orange color with a finger of frothy white head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some nice lacing.

S - Aroma is a mix of sweet caramel malts, nuttiness, fruity english yeast, and some citrus hops.

T - Starts off with a mix of sweet caramel malts with some nuttiness, citrus hops, and bitterness. Through the middle, some fruity english yeast comes through with a bit of floral hops and a bit more bitterness. The finish is a mix of fruity english yeast, caramel malts, nuttiness, and bit of hops.

M - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a fruity and sweet finish.

D - Very drinkable. Nice ESB with a bit of extra hops flavor.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2012 05:12:43 | More by ngeunit1

DavoleBomb

Ohio

4.08/5  rDev +10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a perfect pint.

3.5 A: Mildly hazed dark orange color. A little over one finger of frothy off-white head. Retention doesn't quite meet average, but a small ring of lacing is left.

4.5 S: Solidly malty with a deep toastiness. A touch of yeasty breadiness. Good caramel presence. Fairly simple, but really nice.

4.0 T: Like the nose, this has only a few flavors, but they are done really well. Caramel, lots of toast, malty sweetness. Light bready yeastiness.

4.0 M: Heavier medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Savory light chewiness. Super smooth.

4.0 D: Well made beer. No faults and great flavors.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2012 08:01:52 | More by DavoleBomb

Mora2000

Texas

3.2/5  rDev -13.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

The beer pours an orange-amber color with a white head. The aroma is full of biscuit malt, with a hint of pine and earth from the hops. The flavor is very similar. There is a good dose of sweet biscuit malt, as well as some toffee, earth, grass and a hint of pine. Low bitterness. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 02:45:56 | More by Mora2000

ryan1788a5

Massachusetts

4.38/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

22oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A: Clear orange, quick cascading bubbles effect. Cream colored head looks soft and creamy. It settles into a nice quarter inch crown. Not much lacing left on the glass, just a small spot here and there.

S: Caramel, toffee, and a light grainy scent. Orange marmalade, cedar chips, slight vanilla impression. Grassy and floral hops.

T: Orange marmalade and orange peel, tea leaves, wave of toffee and chewy caramel. Honeyed sweetness. Slight flavors of wood and ghost-like peppery spice. Hops are floral and grassy. Drying finish is a bit abrupt with toffee, woody, nutty, and grainy tastes.

M: Medium bodied. Very full and creamy with a soft and slightly chewy texture. Low carbonation. Very smooth. Great mouthfeel.

O: This is a great beer, and a very good representation of the style. Very tasty, and high marks for drinkability. This is an absolute steal at $3 a bomber. Now I wish I'd bought a case. I'd love to see this in regular production someday.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2012 02:59:21 | More by ryan1788a5

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.35/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a very hazy, dark golden amber color with burnt orange edges and a half finger off-white head that quickly settles into a lasting ring.  Sporadic spots of lace left behind.

Sweet, slightly earthy aroma with a strong malt character and a subtle crisp hop presence. Hints of bread/biscuit as well as some caramel and toffee countered by slightly grassy hops.  As it warns, a subtle fruit character comes forward.   Not bad smelling but kind of bland.

Medium bodied and much more flavorful and interesting that the aroma suggests.  Surprisingly hop forward providing a nice dry bitterness that counters the strong malt sweetness. Resinous with a grassy/piny flavor along with a slight citrus character.  This is countered mid-palate by sweet malt with hints of caramel and toffee.  As in the nose, the fruit notes become more apparent in the finish as it warms.  Decently balanced and easy to drink with a slightly dry finish.  

Serving type: bottle

07-31-2012 00:01:05 | More by corby112

Wasatch

Utah

3.53/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22oz. Bomber
Best By: 05/13/12

Pours a very nice hazy dark golden amberish color, nice carbonation, with a little fizzy off-white head, with some sticky lacing left behind. The nose is mostly malty, with a hint of hops, with a nice touch of caramel. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, a touch of hops, bready. Medium body, with a nice dry/bitter finish. Overall a nice brew for a HOT day.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2012 22:56:01 | More by Wasatch

ElCommodoro

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Colour was a beautiful amber to copper colour with a smell of malt and balance. There was no head, but that's OK with me.
The taste was not quite what I wanted. It's more bitter than I'd like for an ESB. I prefer more balance. The variety of hops is not one I'm particularly fond of either. However, given some breathing time, I got a bit more malt flavour out of it. It went well with pork. So, it wasn't at all a bad experience. I just wasn't particularly impressed with it either. It's just got that typical American craft hoppiness to it that annoys me.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2012 03:57:20 | More by ElCommodoro

2beerdogs

California

3.68/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Yay! Impulse buy. Grabbed this, along with many others, for my nieces graduation gathering at OSU. Listened to a great commencement speech given by our First Lady Michelle Obama, and followed her advice about "being present" with those who are special to us.

Well, I was very present sharing this ESB. Very well recieved, which I enjoyed because I was explaining the differences betwwen the beers I brought ranging from this easily approachable treat to Parabola.

This beer pours a beautiful dark copper meets brown. Slight head retention. Nose is light and mildly sweet...caramel, maybe a hint of fruit.

The taste comes through with a pleasing malt, a bit of caramel coupled with a hint dark brown bread. Mouthfeel is fairly typical of this type, but I prefer a a bit more of a fullness--just my bias. Finishes clean with a lightly sweet aftertaste that makes you want to lick your lips again.

Very good session beer. Very approachable and good to meet the range of a broad beer audience. It went over well, and now there are a few more people who declare themselves interested in ESB's. My job as a BA was done.

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2012 19:36:02 | More by 2beerdogs

twiggamortis420

Texas

3.88/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

From notes, drank this one a while back when fresh. 22 oz bottle pours a superbly clear light copper color with a great looking cap of beige head. Nice retention and lacing. One of the best looking beers I have seen in a long while.

Toast and astringent alcohol hit the nose first with some sugar coated fruit in tow. Grassy, herbal hop tone is lurking in the background. I hope it tastes better than it smells.

Taste shows none of the astringency I was smelling...just a nice, toasty bread-biscuit malt with a nice sidecar of hop flavor. Finishes balanced and mild. Mouthfeel might be the best part of this beer; Full Sail nailed it. Its full-bodied but not sweet and has a awesome creamy mouthfeel. I really like this one. It is one of my favorite beers in the ESB category and also one of the better Full Sail offerings I have had. Good price as well...I'll have another please, sir!

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2012 21:32:03 | More by twiggamortis420

shand

Florida

4.4/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a Sam Adams perfect pint. The "enjoy by" is very muddled and appears to read 12/15/11, which makes no sense seeing that this was first brewed a month after that date. Just a warning to potential purchasers.

This beer pours out a very hazy brown color with a small head. The aroma is a fantastic maltiness, it's got excellent toasty, bready, and caramel notes. There's also some earthy hops in the nose. Very appealing. The taste is, again, excellent for the style. The malt flavors in here are outstanding, it has a very firm malty presence with plenty of caramel. There's also plenty of earthy and slightly fruity hops. Seriously though, this is a malt lover's dream. It's got a nice amount of bitterness to round everything out. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and medium carbed, and the drinkability is very good.

Overall, this is a very good ESB from an American brewery. It doesn't stray too far from the style guidelens while still throwing it's own twist into the mix. It also donates some proceeds to charity! Check it out if you see it, it really is quite good.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2012 22:03:32 | More by shand

jlindros

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a light fizzy fluffy almost 1 finger head that fades at a med pace with bits of lacing, fairly clear amber honey orange color.

Nose had some toasty malts but light overall, with some earthy slight grassy hops, light juicy sweet malts, with light caramel and toffee.

Taste starts semi sweet with more malts, reddish slight creamy and toasty caramel toffee malt flavors. Hops come earthy and slight grassy with a touch herbal, a decent bitterness, and some mild mint and tobacco coming later on the palate. Finish is slightly drier but not a lot, fairly bitter with earthy grassy hops lingering, a bit more mint, slight caramel creamy malt lingering.

Mouth is med bodied, decent carb.

Overall not bad, better than a lot of other esb beers, decent copper reddish malts, toffee and caramel, and decent earthy hops, fairly drinkable with interesting hop characteristics that get a bit interesting and weird and a bit bitter.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2012 02:45:10 | More by jlindros

larryi86

Delaware

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle poured into a pint glass

A- A nice clear copper with an orange tint and a two finger white head.

S- Nice citrus and tropical hopes, toasted malts, caramel malts.

T- Toasted bready malts, some caramel malts, balanced with citrus and tropical hops.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A very nice and easy drinking beer. Will pick this up again.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2012 01:14:31 | More by larryi86

burnerfinger

Texas

4.3/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

poured from the 22 oz bomber into my new belgium goblet:

A:
Generous, persisent head. honey colored brew with lots of clarity but very deep color. thin but nicely sticky lacing

S: strong hops to the nose...strong malt back

T: (see above) Very nice indeed! almost a barelywine.

M: just a bit watery, (note the lower mouthfeel marks) but still this is a GOOD one.

D: super drinkable, for sure I will go looking for more of this one.

CHEERS!

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2012 03:08:17 | More by burnerfinger

stckhndlr

Virginia

3.98/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A- A cloudy apricot orange beer with a pale white 1 finger head.

S- fruity and malty

T- A fruity malty beer with just a bit of bitters at the finish. Tropical fruits.

M- Good body, full and well rounded.

O- This is a good tasting beer and very enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2012 22:41:41 | More by stckhndlr

CheezyBlaster

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I've skimmed the previous reviews, and I'm surprised at the amount of people saying "this is sessionable". It's 6.5%! This is not a session beer.

Anyhow, I loved this take on ESB. A bit Brit with a slight American/West Coast twist. All Challenger hops brought out some sweet earthiness, and added to the authenticity. Mild orange and creamy feel/flavors, lovely malt presence. Beautifully balanced, a bit more bite on the hop end than I would expect, but still just so smooth and drinkable. I do wish these were available in 6 packs . . . or on cask??? Heheheh.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2012 13:38:14 | More by CheezyBlaster

meeekyh

Colorado

4.55/5  rDev +22.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I really like beer that is priced below the competition, which is what made this one stand out. Full Sail is rather famous for their ability to produce a very good product without producing a price tag to scare us away.

Great label. The initial smell is that of spicy hops. The ale pours to reveal a dark amber color and sparkling clarity, topped with a light tan head that displays both a foamy appearance and a remarkable staying-power.

The smell is thick and dark, yet rising, with fruity esters and toasty malts. My direct comparison to barleywine (another review) is in the semblance of this beer to Bigfoot from SN in Chico. I will presume the grain bill is similar, and the yeast. As for the hops, I was floored by the initial hit of spicy, floral goodness, and am pleased that it continues underneath the malt column that is the backbone of this ale.

Taste is full, balanced and round. There are tropical and dried fruits. There are also the charred-wood-caramels of aged spirits. The bite from the hops is clean and sharp without taking the star roll.

The feel of this ale is both silky and crisp. Carbonation is well suited to carrying the nuances of this ale across the palate and into the olfactory. The finish is sweet and the aftertaste is slightly like dried fruit and a bit like melon, with sweetness and a bit of tart dryness.

This is a beer worthy of re-visitation. I love the price-point (under $5 for the bomber), the flavor and nose are both complex and balanced, while the overall feeling one is left with is that of both satisfaction and of getting away with something.

Kudos and slainte!

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2012 03:38:36 | More by meeekyh

Bfarr

Washington

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Light copper with thin tan head and no retention. Clean malty aroma with a light lemon zest aroma. Sweetness followed by hop bittering to quick clean finish but even a slight linger afterward. Caramel and nutty with light toffee and alcohol notes. Good body and fairly crisp.

Good drinking with simple complexity (oxymoron?). It’s really a deceptively simple beer that can be an easy drinking spring day beer or a good sipping, clear flavored beer to be enjoyed slowly. Nothing gets lost or muddied and is enjoyable form beginning to end.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2012 00:58:24 | More by Bfarr

RJLarse

Washington

3.7/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I bouight a bomber of Brewer's Share ESB in a grocery store. Poured in to a pint glass.

Pours a hazy dark orange color, with a modest white head.

Smell is faint, a sweet bread scent with a little fruit aroma along side.

Taste is a caramel bread flavor, with a little bitter fruit flavor on the finish.

Mouthfeel is light to medium body for the style. Not at all cloying.

All in all a good brew. Caramel sweet with a mild hop flavor. Very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2012 00:53:47 | More by RJLarse

scootpolute

Washington

3.6/5  rDev -3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

1 Pint, 6 FL OZ. bottle into tulip glass.

A - Pours burnt, orange, with a nice off-white head...- some good lacing.

S - Malts, bready tones with,Hops and the faint...

T - Smooth...good balance of malts and a nice bit of hops, then ending with bready bits...and some hints of pine spice...

M - Good carbonation... There's a good fullness. Present, but not 'too' much hoppy/or sweet flavors...The final pine/spice balances the beer out pretty well...

O - This one is good...Although ESB is not my fav (IPA,Porters, & Browns are) this one works out well, comparable to well know Bass, or Red Hook ESBs/Bitters, but hard to compete with 'true' UK Bitters like Flowers, or perhaps Boddingtons...Probably 'WON'T' be looking for this one again, but not bad...Chasing-Cheers :~)

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2012 23:29:15 | More by scootpolute

coldriver

Texas

3.58/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22 oz bomber pours a cloudy deep amber with adequate head and lacing. Aroma is rich toffee malt with light floral and spicy hops. Taste is caramel and bready malt, spicy and grassy hops. Nice smooth clean mouthfeel. Nothing real special here but certainly nothing offensive. Not a bad choice for a good session beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2012 18:03:37 | More by coldriver

Gavage

New Jersey

3.48/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: pours a very cloudy orange / amber color with a short 1/2" head that breaks down immediately.

Smell: caramel and a load of fruity sweetness is detectable.

Taste: grainy malt profile. Caramel, ripe fruits, and a hint of earthy tones arrive late. Decent bitterness here too.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied. Lightly crisp to start, smoother towards the finish. Aftertaste is very short.

Overall: an easy to drink beer that leans a bit on the sweeter side, but is brought a bit into check with the bitterness. Sessionable beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2012 18:13:09 | More by Gavage

beertunes

Washington

3.53/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Served in straight pint glass. Poured a clean, bright, gold color with 1/2 inch of white head that had good retention and low lacing.

The aroma was a very well balanced blend of sweet, grainy malts and nice floral hops. The flavors were pretty much the same, with the hops having a bit more noticeable of a presence. The body was clean and fairly typical, but had a somewhat sticky finish that I didn't care for.

The drinkability was pretty, I like a nice ESB and I'd happily drink a couple of these. Overall, a pretty nice brew. Full Sail isn't among my personal favorite breweries, but every so often they put out a brew I really like a lot. This is one of those brews. Try it when you see it.

Serving type: on-tap

03-19-2012 17:36:09 | More by beertunes

Nerudamann

Arizona

3.83/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle into a mug.

Look - amber in color, a little hazy, with about half a finger's worth of off-white colored foam that dissipates quickly.

Smell - mostly malty in its aroma, which seems to match what the label claims. Not much else in the smell.

Taste - surprisingly hoppy and bitter, but it's only surprising, not strong. The hops are tasted at the beginning, but the bitterness doesn't strike until the late middle. Oddly there doesn't seem to be much of a malty taste.

Mouthfeel - pretty well balanced, but if it leans anywhere, it might be on the watery side.

Overall - actually a pretty interesting beer to consider. Not a bad taste either.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2012 03:41:39 | More by Nerudamann