This beer pours a beautiful rust color with a dense 2 finger head that dissipates to a film but is already leaving some intricate lacing. The aroma is not all that pronounced but there is a malt presence and lack of hop notes. That theme is continued after the first sip when I taste mostly caramel malt flavors with some muted hop distinction. This tastes like an ESB. Light in body, some decent malt flavor, and just enough hops to counteract the sweetness and add pleasant bitterness. A nice pairing of the two. I feel generally that ESBs are for me. They taste like real beer, but they don’t knock you down after a few. There is a balance of the malt sweetness vs. hop bitterness and usually it makes for a great, everyday, all around beer. I feel that if I had to choose one beer style that encompasses enough of my beer preferences, it would be ESB. I wouldn’t want to have it as the only beer available, but if it were, I’d find myself pretty content. As long as there was a lot of it. I could drink Lakefront’s Organic ESB anytime, on any occasion. This is BEER to me. I’m not inclined to purchase this beer in the slightest because its organic, but I suppose that’s great too. This ESB is a well done beer. It is light on the palate, crisp with carbonation, flavorful, and incredibly delicious and drinkable. Good hoppy aftertaste, in just the slightest bit. Seeing as I love Lakefront’s IPA, this is a perfect beer to balance out the hophead in me.
ABV: 5.7%
Grade: A-