ESB?

Ew, Spit Beer?
Extra Sucky Barf?
Elephant Sized Balls?

Sadly, I was unable to attend the bottling of the Novemberfest (and brewing of the Imperial Stout). But so strong is our brewing bond, that one beer was "sacrificed" for my "benefit," as part of my share of bottles. "ESB" was written in Sharpie on the cap. The term Extra Special Bitter was mentioned, but so were the words, "mystery ingredient." Surely it's just hops, isn't it? No straight answer was offered, certainly in an apparent attempt to freak me out. It's true, I spent some of the two weeks of bottle conditioning wondering what they used, but in the end, it's beer, and beer is for drinking. No matter what.

I cracked it tonight, and it looked normal, had the same head as the Novemberfest, and smelled like it too, but with a slightly stronger scent. Upon tasting, I decided it was just hops, or at least some other, presumably edible bittering agent. The first sip was as delicious as the last. It wasn't quite as magical with my pasta as the unfettered Novemberfest might have been, but still a very enjoyable. I suppose if they wanted to get goofy and not use leftover hops, they could have put a few drops of bitters in at bottling time, but it seemed like hops. Maybe they'll tell me, maybe they won't. The bottom line is, I think it was overall somewhat improved over the stock Novemberfest, so kudos, and thanks for the treat!

But if you did spit in my beer, screw you dicks, I'll get you. I'll get you all GOOD.