Fat Weasel Ale

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: Amber Ale
Paso Robles, California USA

From bottle. Smells almost exactly like Fiddle Faddle or Crunch ’n Munch when you open up the box. Buttery, sweet. Very little hops in the nose. Dull amber clear with light hazyness, topped with thin foamy lacing head. Medium watery body with medium carbonation, mild fizzy burn. Starts with medium malt sweetness, caramel corn, and buttery. Light carbonic acidity with some chalky bitterness. Bitterness kicks in a bit more towards the finish, with a chalky, nutty sweet after. Mediocre at best.

12oz bottle. Filtered, thin orange-yellow color. Thin head. Herbal clove aroma with some sweet malt tones. Interesting that this beer has such a formidable ABV, I would have never guessed by the labeling. Somehow still remains medium bodied and drinkable, but also has a thin soapy sort of mouthfeel. Mild sweet honey tones with some underlying alcohol, there is neither enough malt or hop character to make this into something nice and respectable. Sort of like a really lame Imp. Amber I guess. Certainly fairly priced, this one is just too bland and filtered out to really enjoy.

12oz bottle, purchased at Trader Joes. Pours a bright, clear golden-yellow color; thin off-white head with patchy lacing; a very slight viscosity. Rather bland aroma of overripe fruits, honey, and stale malts; a touch of alcohol, but nothing rough. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: this isn’t much like an amber ale, for starters; more honey and residual sweetness than a biscuity, toasty malt core with a solid bitterness; minimal hops here, lots of heavy, sticky malt sweetness; one-dimensional and a touch of overripe fruit in the background; not bad, but nothing very good to speak of. This is simply a flabby, uninspired, higher-alcohol amber ale; the beer universe has seen far worse crimes. Medium finish: honey, sweet cereal, lasting sticky and stale maltiness.

Poured golden amber, crisp, malty, grainy, little hops, little ice tea, slightly bitter finish.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Trader Joes (Short Pump), 12/8/09
(Bottle says it was brewed by Steinhaus Brewing Co)

Aroma: Somewhat fresh smell of cereal, corn, lemon, grass
Appearance: Pours a clear yellow-orange color with a fizzy white head, some drippy lace
Flavor: Taste is somewhat sweet, lots of corn, there’s not much else there
Palate: Body is fairly light, highly fizzy mouthfeel, you don’t feel the 7.1% at all
Overall Impression: This is an Amber? I don’t see how, but anyway... This beer is a little unusual, first off, the description lists this one as being contract brewed by 2 breweries, and the bottle lists a third. It’s almost like the classic light bulb joke (How many breweries does it take to make a mediocre beer? Answer is apparently at least 3.) Anyway, I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it, but considering the price I can see a certain group of beer drinkers enjoying this for its relatively high ABV and how easy it is to drink.

Bottle split with Pwn3d, Pat, Ryguy and Belushi. Thank Christ himself that we split this 12 oz five ways. A pretty terrible beer. The Fat Weasel pours a clear yellow body. The aroma is extremely offensive with notes of pee and alcohol. The taste is actually not as bad as the aroma hints at, but its pretty horrendous.

Bottle. 12 oz. Awful brew. Smells terrible, tastes sweet and gross. Avoid at all costs.

With pat and Redmond. Smells awful, like tin. Taste is corn and alcohol.. Some sugars.