SKA Brewing ESB Special Ale Review

This beer review is for ESB Special Ale by SKA Brewing. SKA Brewing is regional brewery based out of Durango, Colorado and as you can tell by the name of the company, all of their artwork and some of the beer names are are tribute to SKA music.

I originally had this beer in 2012 and it in this world of hops, hops, and more hops, this beer is refreshingly malty. However, it also seems that because of our IPA focused world, they no longer make this beer. Well, at the time of writing, it was not on their website .

Appearance

Crystal clear with an orange, amber hue. Off white head with average to below average head retention.

Aroma

Baked whole wheat, bread yeast, leather, bisquity, caramel, cream soda, strong cedar, lightly smoky, earthy floral quality. Black pepper.

Taste/Flavor

Has a smooth earthy bitterness, malty flavors, balanced . The toasty, bread, and cedar flavors come out more in the flavor with a tinge of bitter orange peel.

Mouthefeel

Smooth texture with average amount of carbonation. The bitterness comes off as crisp.

Overall

A great English-style ESB with some interesting bready and earthy flavors not common in many other beers.

Recommendation

Drink it if you can find it!

Recommendations are on a 3 point scale: “drink it,” “you decide,” and “don’t drink it.”

Disclosure: SKA Brewing provided a sample of this beer and a few others at my request. However that does not influence this review.