NOTES: Draft @ Sweetwater Brewery with Abba’s Brew as my local host
STYLE: ESB
ABV: 5.6%
APPEARANCE: Cloudy amber with orange highlights
HEAD: Aggressive, off-white head that fades away respectably
LACING: Thin rings of lace that slowly drip back into the beer
NOSE: Subtle and muddled. A clean, pale malt biscuity aroma and a slightly citric, slightly piney hop profile. Everything is thoroughly blended so it’s hard to detect individual notes.
TASTE: As maddeningly balanced as the nose. I hate to say this…but it tastes like “beer”. Sweet caramel and the slightly acidic, bitter tang of citrus hops in the finish. Clean, smooth, and thoroughly unremarkable.
MOUTHFEEL: Medium-bodied. Medium-carbonation.
DRINKABILITY: Just writing about this beer is making me bored. I suspect reading about it is even worse. Look, it’s a drinkable, tasty beer. There’s just nothing particularly distinguishable or interesting about it. Would I drink it again? Sure. Would I care if I didn’t? Probably not. I can see why the Motor Boat was originally Sweetwater’s flagship, then was discontinued, and then was resuscitated. Even the brewery doesn’t know how it feels about the beer.
RATING: 2.5 Hops
perhaps your first clue should have been the fishing moniker….noone cares what they’re drinking while they’re fishing….
Actually, I think it refers to something else. At least if Sweetwater’s other beer names (Donkey Punch, Happy Ending) are any indication. The label also has some choice quotes like “Our titillating version of an ESBBBBBBBBBBBBB!” and “Dive in with your eyes wide open!”
Sweetwater has never been a brewery known for their subtlety.