As noted in the sign up post, I decided to highlight beers I have liked. I know this sounds very surface but a lot of my personal life/hobbies revolve around it. We are homebrewers and I have – as of today – 4,591 unique check-ins on the app, Untappd. I keep track of all beers and rate them there. So, without further ado – V!

We went to New Orleans for Spring Break this year and attempted to hit most of their breweries. While I didn’t think too much of the vibes at The Courtyard, this ESB surprised me! In fact, we got there right when they opened and the bartender said the lines for that keg were somehow frozen. This makes no sense to me but whatever. We ordered a couple other things and then by that time, the lines had thawed enough to pour.

An ESB is an Extra Special Bitter, which is, in fact, not bitter at all; at least, not in the ways you’d think based on, say, an IPA. BJCP describes it as:

An average-strength to moderately-strong British bitter ale. The balance may be fairly even between malt and hops to somewhat bitter. Drinkability is a critical component of the style. A rather broad style that allows for considerable interpretation by the brewer.

I think they tend to be on the malty side and not usually my favorite style but not one I’d avoid either. As is evident from my choosing it, this one was great! We both thought it deserved a 4 rating, which again, is high for us.

New Orleans really only had two great breweries but this one I’d put in the solid “good” category.