I'm going to purposefully ignore the fact that this says special amber ale underneath the name ESB. The first time I read this, I got very confused. An ESB is a very different kind of beer than an amber ale. I would have decidedly different expectations between these two beverages, and it is wholly unclear why the designer of the can would decide that this kind of confusion would in some way improve the beer drinking experience. I have a pretty chart (not an affiliate link) on my wall that shows the relationship between different beer styles, and while these two could definitely be further apart, they are not especially close to each other. I can only assume the use of the word amber on this can was simply to denote color.
It is a very clear beer that actually looks more like copper than it does amber. Now I really don't know why they put amber on the can. The head leaves some traces of lacing as it goes down to a layer of small bubbles that demonstrates almost German-like precision. The aroma is spices and brown sugar, and this will be good as an autumn beer can be.First sip is incredibly smooth. It is sweet and malty with a nice thick, earthy malt that has just a little bit of charring around the edges to give it some texture while the little bit of caramel is added to make it even more interesting. The spices are simply a flash before that malt takes over, and everything shows up as smooth as it can possibly be. This is a very easy drinking beer if you're just going to sip, but sipping isn't what I do.
Tip-in is brown sugar and spices with carbonation rumbling moderately underneath. The middle spreads out into a carbonation fury floating high above the caramel, earth, flowers, and spices that have turned dark. The finish is dry but lightly scorched brown sugar and earth come together with flowers for the trail off.
Bottom Line: This is a highly drinkable beer that just confuses me with the can.
3.25/5