has become the flagship beer of many brewers in the United States and Australia, although most of these beers can trace their roots directly back to the British brewery Fuller, Smith & Turner. The original of the style, Fuller’s ESB, is brewed in Chiswick, west London; no British beer has won more prizes from the Campaign for Real Ale in its annual Champion Beer of Britain awards. See campaign for real ale (camra), fuller, smith & turner. It was named Champion Beer of Britain in 1978, 1981, and 1985 and Best Strong Ale in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, and 1991, and received a silver award in the Strong Bitter category in 2002.

Fuller’s ESB (5.5% draught, 5.9% in bottle) was first brewed as Winter Beer in 1969 and became a regular beer under its current name 2 years later. It is brewed with 90% Optic pale malt, 3% crystal malt, and 7% flaked maize and has a rich coppery amber color. The complex hop recipe includes Challenger, Goldings, Northdown, and Target. The beer is late-hopped in the kettle with Challenger and Northdown, and then dry-hopped with Goldings in the fermentation vessel. Goldings are also used for further dry-hopping in the cask. Fuller’s ESB is brisk, with 34 IBUs of bitterness, and many writers have stressed the rich orange fruit character of the beer, with one writer likening it to “liquid Cooper’s marmalade.”

The finished beer shows a profusion of rich malt, orangey fruit, and peppery hops on the nose, with a full-bodied attack of juicy malt, orange peel, and bitter hop resins on the palate. The complex and lingering finish is beautifully balanced between malt, hops, and tangy fruit, finally becoming dry with a bitter hop resin note.

Though Fuller’s zealously guards the name ESB as a trademark in the UK, the beer has become the inspiration for hundreds of beers called “ESB” brewed worldwide, and the style has become particularly prevalent in the United States, where it is a mainstay of many brewpubs. While ESB is now widely considered a distinct style, the parameters have broadened well beyond the original, so that colors between straw and copper, and hop character varying between moderate and strong, are now included. It’s generally agreed that the style is malty and fruity, showing sweetness mid-palate, drying to a clean hoppy finish. Most examples have ABVs between 5.5% and 5.8%, which is considered strong in the UK, but not particularly so elsewhere. The annual judging at the Great American Beer Festival now recognizes both English and American variants of ESB, with the latter featuring citrusy American hops over the earthier English varieties.