Hargreaves Hill ESB

Extra Special Bitter - ABV 5.2%

Well represented on the taps around Melbourne and it is easy to see why, I also recently found it in bottle form at Purvis Beer in Richmond. The noises I made as I spied the name written on the non-descript bottles stacked amongst some of Australia's finest caused the other people in the shop to hurriedly move away from me. God I'm lonely...

Anyhow, this nymph of a beer pours with a towering white head which never fully dissipates, atop a murky body of muddy brown. The nose is dominated by fruity hops, notes of ripe passionfruit backed by rock melon and a cleansing mineral quality.

Drinking this beer is like eating a bowl of passionfruit yogurt, it has a fantastically creamy mouth feel with medium levels of carbonation and a robust fruity flavor. The afore-mentioned passionfruit is to the fore, this is well balanced with the perfectly prickly bitterness which leaves the mouth feeling cleansed. Stone fruit flavors linger on the palate long after.

The ESB has translated well into the bottle, I can only hope to one day find it on hand pump. Can be found on tap at many good establishments of note, including The Sherlock Holmes in Collins St, Mrs Parmas in Little Bourke and the Great Northern in North Carlton. A word of warning though, quality seems to vary from keg to keg, I've had it a couple of times where it has seemed a completely different beer. When it's on the mark though it will turn your tastebuds into a church choir singing songs of praise. In my opinion this is Hargreaves Hill's magnum opus.