Kennebec ESB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Among the approximately 2 cases of beer that I brought back from Maine were two bottles from the Kennebec Brewing Company -- their Pale Ale and ESB. After the Pale Ale left a lot to be desired, I didn't have much hope for the ESB.

However, this is slightly more interesting than the Pale Ale. Apperence and smell still both average, but at least the ESB retains something of a thin head after a few minutes. Aroma: rather hop-nuetral -- which is exactly not what an ESB should have....

As far as the taste goes, my initial impressions of this were slightly postive -- I was leaning towards a 3.0 rating, to be honest. But as the beer warmed up a bit, not only did the beer not further improve in flavor, but actually got much more dull. I wanted to enjoy this beer, but the same faults of the Pale Ale were prevalent in the ESB -- a dull mustiness in the flavor profile that made drinking it rather tedious.

I suspect that fresh off the tap, both the Pale and ESB might be more interesting, but at the same time, I suspect that no amount of freshness would wholly help these beers if the recipes/processes are sub-par. Much room for improvement.
//TB