Ithaca Amber Ale

Formerly brewed at Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Amber Ale
Ithaca, New York USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Pretty average amber ale. The bottle I tried was slightly watery. It had some decent malt work. Nice amber color. Flowery and fruity nose. But missing the wow appeal that the other raters found.

The appearance is somewhat pale amber and isn't that impressive. The aroma is neutral, but slightly fruity. The flavor is almost of grapefruits, with a smack of hoppiness. The finish is on the bitter side. Admirable.

I’m one of those guys that likes to have milestone brews. I choose this one for number 600 in honor of a fine day with PsychProf, and in honor of a brewer not afraid to challenge what can be a bland, banal American amber style. PyschProf, brownalegirl, and I stood around in the kitchen trying to guess the fruit of this one’s fruitiness, which tells you what its main distinguishing characteristic is. ’cranberries!’ she said and I follow her, cranberries sweetened with apple, perhaps. There is a toastiness to the malt, too, and some delicate handling of spicy hops that works very well. A top notch amber, to be sure.

Either this isn’t a chracteristic amber or I found an amber I actually like. Honey golden with great flavors balanced very well with a slighly oily mouth feel. The hop spice cuts through what I usually find to be a style too sweet with malt.

Growler from the brewery. 2007 version. Light chestnut brown with a moderately thick beige head. Aroma of flowery hops, walnuts, and a slight fruitiness. Pretty hoppy for an Amber, slightly citrusy upfront with pine tar in the finish. Sweet nuttiness throughout, with just a hint of roastiness, though that may be a combination of the nuttiness and the pine playing tricks on me.

This amber's got a hop/caramel aroma. The flavor is nicely balanced with hop flavor and malt, the bitterness isn't severe. Very pleasant.

Aroma remeniscent of an English Pale Ale. Big head that shrinks to nothing quickly with minimal lacing. Body color is just as adverstised, amber. A nice hoppy beer upfront with the malts coming through in the long finish.

sweet, very sweet. not much hop in this, nor is there much aroma. it’s a "drink all night" beer, because it’s not very interesting and it won’t get you very drunk, and that’s the best that can be said about this one.

This was a surprising beer. For me it was the tremendous attention given to the malts. The caramel presence was huge and it was countered by a some hops and a fruity flavor. The combination of apples/caramel in foods is normally great, and it works as well in this beer. The hops are limited in the finish, a twist that works pretty well. Decent floral aroma and a pretty caramel-ish color. Pretty good.