Category Archives: American Amber / Red Ale

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, New Zealand

8 Wired Tall Poppy

Tuesday, 13 September 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 60 IBUs. Malts – Pale, 3 shades of Crystal, Munich and Wheat. Hops – Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe and Amarillo.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Every now and again you just want to have it all, so in this spirit we created Tall Poppy. This ale is not afraid of standing tall among other great beers, and head and shoulders above mass market mediocrity. It is intense, with a sharp and fruity hoppiness backed by a complex, caramel-like malty structure. The best characteristics of an American style IPA collide with a rich Amber Ale. The result is a beer that is big yet refreshing, bold but balanced. Cheers!

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle from batch # 65 with a best before date of 25th January 2017, poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear brown colour with a reddish hue and a just over one finger beige head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong caramel malt notes with some dark fruits like plum, prunes and raisins. There is also a touch of pine and earthiness.
Taste: A touch of booziness hits first followed by everything in the aromas. Caramel, dark fruit, prunes, plum and raisins. The finish gives a touch of tea, coffee, pine and citrus.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: More amber ale than IPA in my opinion. But it was overly boozy and caramel-ly on both aroma and taste for me to fully enjoy it.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, Brasserie du Comté, France

Bière du Comté L’Ambrée Bio du Mercantour

Wednesday, 3 August 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brasserie du Comté
Country: France
ABV: 5%
Style: American Amber Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) (in French) Bière ambrée de fermentation haute. L’utilisation de malts torréfiés confère à l’Ambrée du Mercantour une couleur rousse. Les nombreuses bulles sont fines et la mousse, blanche et homogène, subsiste sur quelques millimètres. Le nez est doux et dégage des notes de caramel. En bouche, les arômes de malts torréfiés viennent s’ajouter aux notes de fruits rouges et de biscuits. Elle offre un bon équilibre entre saveurs sucrées et une fine amertume. Un dépôt de levure riche en vitamines et gage de qualité se forme naturellement dans la bouteille.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date sometime in 2017 (I forgot to record the actual date) and poured into a small plastic cup (all that was available at the hotel).
Appearance: It poured a hazy bronze colour with a huge three finger off white head with good retention and lacing.
Aroma: Caramel, apple and pear.
Taste: Similar to the aroma, there was caramel malt, apple and light berries. However, there was also some alcohol taste creeping through on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I’m not a huge fan of Amber ales, but I liked this. My only critique would be the unfortunate alcohol taste coming through on the finish.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), 55th Street Craft Brewery, American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, Taiwan

55th Street Amber Ale

Friday, 27 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: 55th Street Craft Brewery
Country: Taiwan
ABV: 5.5%
Style: American Amber Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brewed with dried longan.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 330ml bottle bottled on 2nd March 2016 and poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy amber/dark copper colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice streaky lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, fruity, plum, longan, raisin and some light caramel.
Taste: On the sweet fruity side with plum, prune, caramel and surprisingly only light longan.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: This was an ok Amber Ale. Carbonation was too low for me, and its a little bit on the sweet side. Longan could also be more prominent in the taste.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Pataskala Red X IPA

Saturday, 12 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.3%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 75 IBUs. Malts – Red X. Hops – Amarillo, Cascade and Mosaic.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Pat-ASK-ala? Pata-SKALA? Pa-TASK-a-la? While those in the know favor the third pronunciation, no matter how you say it, this is a unique red IPA. The beer was first brewed in September 2015 to support music and arts education programs in Pataskala, Ohio, where Stone co-founder Greg Koch grew up. People there loved it, so we added the beer to our seasonal lineup, and the Pataskala name stuck. The deep crimson hue is courtesy of a fairly new special German malt variety by BESTMALZ called Red X. Appearances, however, only tell so much. Heavily dry-hopped with Mosaic, Cascade and Amarillo hops, the beer is incredibly citrus-forward, rounded out by notes of biscuit and toffee from the malt bill. The result is evocative of red IPAs yet different. And as luck – or perhaps skill is the more appropriate word, to give our brewing team their due – would have it, it’s quite wonderful. We think you’ll find this unusual red IPA to be quite deliciously satisfying, no matter how you choose to pronounce it.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.64
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled on date of 1st December 2016 and enjoy by date of 10th September 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear deep ruby crimson red colour with a big three finger puffy tanned head that had pretty good retention and nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical fruit aromas with mango, passion fruit and peach leading the way. Some orange, pine and lemon creep in towards the end.
Taste: Wow, sweet sweet candy orange (think orange gummy bears), followed by some biscuit malt before finishing with bitter grapefruit, citrus zest and pine.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied and medium carbonation.
Overall: I really liked its appearance and aroma, but taste wise, it was too sweet for me at the beginning. The bitter finish was nice but could not cover the over sweetness at the start.

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

New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale

Sunday, 21 June 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: New Belgium Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 5.2%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 22 IBU

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Fat Tire Amber Ale perfectly balances biscuit-like malt flavors with hoppy freshness. Named in honor of a storied bike ride through Europe. Fat Tire cruises with Belgian imagination and inspiration.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.8

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with an enjoy by date of 19th July 2015 and poured into a pint glass.
Appearance: It poured an extremely clear deep copper colour with a one finger white head that dissipates quickly.
Aroma: Slightly weak aromas, but there’s biscuit and bread like notes, slight caramel and also a touch of apple.
Taste: It’s quite similar to the aromas. I get biscuit malts, caramel and some apple juice. I’m not really getting that much hops.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and medium to high carbonation.
Overall: This was decent and easy to drink but not amazing. I wouldn’t actively seek it, but if I could find a fresher bottle, I’d try it.

words of another dreamy traveller