2.6 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
Purchased 6-pack from Trader Joe’s to try, not expecting much. Poured bright golden with a foamy head. Aroma is light, dominated by malt and yeast. Very smooth. Sweet malty flavor upfront with some light but pleasant hops at the finish. Quite drinkable for the price.
2.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 3/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 12/20
Honey gold with thin white head. Aroma was floral, malt and bread. Flavor was the same.
2.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20
Bottle from Trader Joes - Short Pump on 04/11/2009. Clear golden body with a small white head. Sweet honey and bready aroma. Sweet honey and bready flavor with a bit of caramel. Medium light body with moderate carbonation.
3.1 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 13/20
6-pack from Trader Joe’s in Albuquerque...brewed by Schell. Poured bright amber with little head that dissipated quickly. Sweet aroma with little hoppiness and much maltiness. Sharp quality at the front with sweet malt. Not much flavor on the back-end. Although it wasn’t complex, I really liked it for a contract brew.
2.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20
The bottle that I picked up at the Trader Joe’s in Orland Park, IL, indicates it was brewed by Schell, not Firestone, and has a 7.1% ABV. It pours a clear light yellow (amber?) with a two-fingered white head. It has a sweet, grainy aroma with a touch of lemon. The flavor is sweet and grainy with alcohol and an oily, earthy bitterness. I’d be interested in trying a Firestone version... not that it seems it would be better, but I’m curious as to whether it’s the Amber Ale of the two.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
This amber ale is a hazy light yellow in color, with a fleeting thin white head.
Sweet grainy aroma.
Slightly sweet with just the smallest detectable amount of hop bitterness.
Slick mouth feel.
2.4 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20
12 oz bottle at Bier Stein. Light yellow pour with a thin white head. Sickly malt aroma with a sickly sweet flavor to it. Not much of note going on here.
3.1 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
Bottle. Pours amber, with a thin white head. Aroma is slightly sweet malt and grain, fairly weak. Flavor is similar, with quite a bit of semi-sweet malt flavor, and a bit of corn. I guess this goes into the quasi-malt-liquor category (7.2% ABV, no hops, golden, dominated by semi-sweet malt), but the malt flavor is actually pretty decent. Not bad for what it is.
|
