Gem of the Sea Solomons Ale

Formerly brewed at Gem of the Sea Brewing
Style: Amber Ale
Vista, California USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Big thanks to Hairofthedog for sending this one my way, doesn’t look like many more people will ever have the chance! Medium orange amber, slight head, faint bread aroma. Some hop bitterness mixed with an odd roasted note and some slight sour flavors. Odd. Not bad, just strange. In the end, the sourness just doesn’t hang.

UPDATED: JAN 22, 2005 (12 oz bottle: Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) This is one bizarre smelling AND tasting beer. It’s both pleasant and unpleasant at the same time, testament to the fact that I like some aspects of this beer and hate others. It tastes very vegetal to me, but also very sweet and malty like "raw", yet-to-be-boiled wort for a dark beer. Mild bitterness adds very little to this beer. I think it’s the finish that is very vegetal, and unfortunately that finish really hangs on the palate. The nose is also very malty and "raw". Medium bodied with a slightly sticky mouthfeel. Medium amber in color, fully clear in appearance, with a small off-white head that recedes to a rim around the edge of the glass. Some patchy lacing. In summation, this is yet another oddball beer from Gem Of The Sea, a beer that certainly falls outside the boundaries of the style, just like their other beers. Maybe it’s like their pilsner and is better on tap? Who knows, and now they’re out of business? No real loss there in my opinion.

(12 oz bottle: Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) Okay, so I saw another bottle in the beer cooler at Hi-Time Wine Cellars and figured I should give this another try. This is a totally different beer this time around, and obviously a fresher bottle. The nose is pleasant, mostly sweet caramel, and minimally hoppy. I get a moderate amount of sugary sweet caramel in the flavor too, well, more sugary than caramel. Fairly mild on the hops, even in the finish. But it’s not vegetal and it’s definitely not like raw wort like the first bottle. This is just a simple, pleasant, easy drinking amber.

Marketed as "Jarhead Red", but there wasn’t any red in the pour. Poured clear and gold with a chunky white head. Sweet aroma. Not much going on. Light hop spice, balanced with light malt. Nothing stands out. Short aftertaste was mellow and sweet.

Cloudy peach color with a small quickly subsiding off white head. Aroma is flowery, yeasty, spicy. Flavor starts with a hint of sweetness abruptly put aside by a sharp grassy, spicy bitterness. Light on the palate with a long dry bitter aftertaste. Not consistant with most other ratings; bad batch??? Guess I'll never know, I won't buy it again.

Orange amber with smallish head, malty sweet aroma, hint of spice. Begins with a sweet caramel maltiness, slightly thin body and finishes with hops that have a spiced taint. I found this to be somewhat interesting with the spiced hops being it’s distinctive characteristic, though not overdone. No too bad, but I had this one after a Red Nectar which was much better.

Weird peanut shell color to it with maybe a touch of sunset and a salt water wash on the top. Has a very sweet, malty molasses maybe aroma backed up with some hopiness. Starts off watery then shows some malt body and then goes back to watery hops. Nothing special.

Clear amber color, decent head formation. Light malty caramel aroma. Bitterness from start to finish, caramel flavor is light, slightly grainy, finishes with a nice bitter bite.

This ale pours with an amber orange body topped by a thin white head with a decent amount of lacing. The aroma is sweet and rich with malt with a very slight hoppy bitterness. Smells a lot like a dopplebock. The flavor is very similar however the hops step forward and show themselves more. Not a real prominent flavor but not bad. Medium bodied and relatively smooth.

Red amber color with a thin head. Oddly sweet aroma, honey, oatmeal and brown sugar. Flavor was also oddly sweet, rich malts, a little hoppiness and a citrus finish - somewhat unbalanced. Smooth, medium body, lightly carbonated and easy drinking.

(bottle) A light amber color. A nice pleasent aroma. The first taste of it didn't appeal to me at all, but after that it became a nice red ale.