Category Archives: American Amber / Red Ale

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, Fort Point Beer Company, USA

Fort Point Westfalia

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Brewery: Fort Point Beer Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.6%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 16 IBUs. Malts – Bohemian Pilsner, Vienna, Chocolate and Carafoam. Hops – Hallertau. Nuremberg inspired Red Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Westfalia packs rich, caramel flavors into a rounded, mahogany body through a colorful blend of creamy malts. Traditionally fermented at cooler temperatures, Westfalia’s rotbier style showcases a layered malt profile that creates a smooth, satisfying mouthfeel, perfect for any meal or enjoyed on its own. Inspired by a trip to Nuremberg, Germany, Westfalia imports an exemplary red ale to audiences closer to home.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, canned on 1st August 2018, ‘westy4life’. Poured into an Epic pint glass.
Appearance: Clear copper reddish brown colour with a just over one finger off white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: A bit light on the aroma, light roast, caramel, plum, red grapes and toast.
Taste: Sweet malts, roasty, toasted bread, caramel, raisin, plum and maybe a touch of lemon on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: Aromas were a little weak, while taste was probably too sweet for my liking. The roasty toasty bits did balance out the sweetness a little, but not enough.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Against The Grain Brewery x Moonzen Brewery, American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, USA

Against The Grain x Moonzen Cock Of The Wok

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Moonzen Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 5.9%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: Collaboration brewed and bottle at Against The Grain

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A collaboration. Ancient Chinese proverb states: “Man with hole in pocket feels cocky all day.” So true… as true and righteous as this auspicious red ale brewed with Hibiscus and Bai Jiguan Oolong tea. Against the Grain and Moonzen collaborate to celebrate the Year of the Fire Rooster. Tso good you’ll frip out!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.75
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 650ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear copper amber colour with a slightly less than two finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tea, sweet lychee, flowery with hints of biscuit malt (note: I do not know what hibiscus or Bai Jiguan tea smells or tastes like).
Taste: Sweet fruity like raspberry, light floral tea with a hint of biscuit malt and bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: Taste was a nice mix of fruity and floral. Carbonation was on the light side though which made it a bit tea like/watery. But still, it’s easy to drink and good on a hot day.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American Amber / Red Ale, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point California Amber

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Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.5%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 51 IBUs. ESB-inspired ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Our California Amber takes its inspiration from traditional English ESBs. Four types of malt gives it a bold complexity, and our proprietary yeast strain lends it a fruity, madeira-like richness. However, it’s the American hops that give this ale a distinct bite and floral aroma that have earned it just about every major beer medal.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.54
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 16321, meaning that it was bottled on 16th November 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear dark copper colour with an orange-reddish hue and a slightly less than two finger cream head that had great retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: A touch light but there’s caramel malt and pine with hints of fruit and herbs.
Taste: It’s exactly what I expected from the aroma with sweet caramel malt, toffee, pine and fruit with a bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A decent amber ale that I’d drink again, but not sure I’d want to pay for it.

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2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American Amber / Red Ale, Baird Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, Japan

Baird Red Rose Amber Ale

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Brewery: Baird Brewing Company
Country: Japan
ABV: 6%
Style: American Amber Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Richly fruity & malty, yet crisp & dry.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 330ml bottle, packaged on 24th May 2016, to be enjoyed within 12 months. Poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: A clear copper amber colour with a one finger off white head that had pretty good retention and eventually settled to a nice thin layer while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Malty, caramel, tea leaves and maybe a touch of honey. But it’s all really quite light.
Taste: Sweet biscuit malt with touches of caramel, wood, breadiness and lemon here and there.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Mouthfeel was great with nice crispness and tingly carbonation, but the aromas were too light and I really had to search for them. Taste was normal and drinkable. Not bad, but not quite my type of beer.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, New Zealand

8 Wired Sour Poppy

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7%
Style: American Amber Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Continuing on with all things sour, delicious and boundary pushing, this time we decided to mess with one of our core range beers. So we gave Tall Poppy the sour treatment. The recipe is pretty much the same as the original beer but using natural, live cultures we dropped the pH to a level similar to nice, tart orange juice. The result is quite spectacular and very refreshing. Cheers.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no discernible best before date (unusual for 8 Wired). Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy copper red colour with less than a half finger off white head that dissipates quickly and leaves no lacing.
Aroma: Not very strong, but there’s lychee, grape, pine and some light sourness.
Taste: Sour, strong fruit lychee followed by grape, orange and maybe some berries.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I liked it better than the Tall Poppy which is was what it was based off of. But as per the ratings, not many others seem to have agreed with me. The recipe is supposed to be quite similar but what I like about the Sour Poppy is that it loses the booziness and caramel malt that I was not too fond of in the Tall Poppy and replaced it with sour fruitiness which I preferred. However, still not the best from 8 Wired.

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