Real Ale Brewing Company's Phoenix Double ESB

ESB's, or even their "double" variants, are generally not terribly exciting. But Real Ale has become a solid brewery (I heard rumblings of quality control and distribution issues two or three years ago), so I'm looking forward to trying just about anything they put out.

Pours a nice deep copper that's about 50% opaque, with a small light tan head that fades to a sheet.

Smells mild and malty. Almost no hops, and not terribly malty, it just smells like a mild beer.

Much bigger punch than I thought it would have based on the smell. The solid bitterness grabs you, and at first it's indistinct but it gets grassy in the aftertaste. The malt holds up as well, but it's not heavy.

Good beer. Still not sexy, but solid and drinkable.