It was time to try a bottle of our recently bottled ESB. It was tasting quite nice during bottling already so am really looking forward to trying this one. The beer pours with a slightly hazy amber-orange color and a slight cream-colored head is formed. The foam head collapses quickly leaving some lacing along the glass. The aroma is a nice mixture between fruity esters, a nutty maltiness, some caramel, as well as some earthy and herbal hop tones. The aroma has a nice ‘British’ vibe, and suits the style well. Not really much to complain about. The aroma could perhaps featuring some more hoppiness for my taste. The flavor begins with lots of maltiness, and the tones you get are bready, nutty and caramelly. A slight fruitiness joins in (yeast derived, rather than hop derived) and it reminds me almost of apples and pears. The flavour finishes with an earthy and herbal hop bitterness and a semi-dry finish. There are some slight alcoholic and solvent-like notes in the background, but fortunately they stay quite well hidden. The relatively strong bitterness works well here, balancing out the slightly sweet maltiness. The beer has a medium-full body and medium carbonation level. Feels quite good in the mouth, but the bitterness and slight alcohol notes draw away from the drinkability. Overall a good beer, but it is far from perfect. I would maybe up the aroma hops slightly and use a different yeast strain.