This Extra Special Bitter Scarlet Lady Ale from Stoudts Brewing Company, delivers a great brew at 5% ABV. I really enjoyed reviewing this ale as I found it to be quite good for my palette. The pour was from a 12 oz bottle into a pint glass and poured a dark, reddish amber color with an off-white head.

The smell of this one was pretty muted but I did get subtle hints of caramel malt and really no hop smell. It was a very crisp, light smell. I was expecting a moderate amount of carbonation with this type of brew but was underwhelmed by little to no carbonation after the pour.

The taste of this was outstanding. It was a bit sweet at first but the finish gives you a nice impression of the bitter hops. It was truly a great balance and offset between the two. There was no lingering bitterness and only a very minimal after-taste, which is expected. The warming of the beer really brings out the nice malt and hop flavors. I recommend taking it easy with this one to enjoy the full affect of the brew.

I was quite impressed with this one by Stoudts. I didn’t really expect this taste coming from an ESB, but the surprise was spot-on.

Overall: 8/10