Brewery: Element Brewing Company
ABV: 7%
Serving method: 16-oz pint poured from a 25-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown
Ok, so maybe I bought all the different Element beers at the same time. They've just got so many bottles of them there, what was I supposed to do? Leave them behind? I just couldn't do that.
Extra Special Oak is Element's take on the Extra Special Bitter style of brewing. Since you might not know (I didn't), "bitter" is the name they use in England for pale ales. Extra Special ones are bitters that have at least 4.8% ABV, and this one clearly qualifies there. And the "oak" part comes because I believe that this beer is aged in oak casks. That makes a lot more sense that using oak in the brewing process. I am not positive about that last part though, so don't go around telling people that this beer is aged in oak casks like it's a fact.
ESO smells like beer. I can't pick up on any specific scents, but there's probably oak in there, and possibly some vanilla. I am just not sure what oak smells like. Maybe I'll go outside and smell some acorns or something. Probably not though. It has a light brown opaque color and not much head when it's poured, and the head disappears quickly.
The first taste of the ESO gives a slight feeling of carbonation, but not too much. There are some hints of some kind of spice, and then a taste of vanilla at the end. The beer doesn't have a strong aftertaste, and despite being called bitter, there really isn't much of a bitter taste.
Final thought - Extra Special Oak is a good beer, but I prefer Element's other offerings instead. I think it's definitely worth a try, especially if you like pale ales. I will stick to my dark beers though.
-Jon
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