J.R. Brickman Amber

Brewed by Brick Brewing Company
Style: American Dark Lager
Waterloo, Canada

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

The last of the "Founder’s Series" left for me to rate. This series has been a success for Brick, quality-wise...let’s hope it’s profitable. A nice malty premium lager...a bit sweet, I was expecting sweeter actually, but that’s just fine. AS it warms, the "craft" taste comes to the forefront, and the beer begins to shine - other reviews have it right, this is much like the Creemore I remember! Carbonation could be softer, that’s my only issue with this beer. Nice that we have a solid microbrew lager like this to turn to, but too bad it has to be dressed up like it’s something special when a brewery does their duty and makes something decent without cutting corners. Would definitely recommend it.

bottle: What more can I say? KingofCastle has slammed his review over the Green Monster. A damn nice beer. Beautiful amber colouring accompanied by a sweet and hoppy aroma. Great malty flavour are rounded out beautifully by the hops. Good call on replacing the bastardized Creemore King. Give this one a try!

bottle: Just read pootzboy on this one, he has said it all & recommended this one to me. Thanks to Lord Beamish for the 2 free bottles! Want a replacement for your Molson-destroyed Creemore? If you like sweet malts like me, get all over this. Nice hop balance. Mouthfeel & body is medium, finish is mild but not weak. Great product for a lager, will be enjoyed by ale drinkers like me.

Originally rated July 2006. This one is the last for me to try of the three Founder’s Series... unless they add some more (which I would not mind). It pours a clean amber colour with a nice creamy slightly off-white head. Retention is excellent and lacing left is pretty good. Big fruity aromas with heavy grain and cereal malt and mixed with some caramel and butterscotch. Reminds me a lot of the other two brews of this series. Smooth creamy mouthfeel, steady carbonation all over and lace following the glass all the way down. Mild caramel at first taste, but not too sweet with some nice flowery bouquet. Then the bready malt kicks in with some mild hoppy bitterness, to then finish with some light nuts and butter aftertaste. A pretty good beer, just like the others, but still think I prefer their Pilsener a slight notch.

Purchased J.R. Brickman Amber and Pilsner as a bundle offer at LCBO. Had this one first. This one pours amber (duh!) with a thick, nice lasting head. Aroma was pleasant, very crisp. Taste was nice; kinda robust and easy drinking at the same time. Malt and hops are pronounced and finish was clean. Had that caramel/toffee taste similar to the Honey Red I had a while ago as well, a little sweet but I still liked it.

Nice amber colour with a light, white head. Mild aroma of hops and grains. Taste is simple with sweet malts and caramel, bitter hops and grains. Simple and effective beer all-around. Brick does a good job of keeping it simple and produces another pleasing produce.

Bottle - sampled at an Ontario Craft Brewers event. So Brick is returning to their "craft beer" roots, eh? Let’s see how they’ve done: Pours a rich golden amber with a small white head. Aroma is very fresh but mild, with notes of hay and caramel malt, and a faint hint of the butterscotch that pootz mentions in his review below. Flavour is very fresh and well-balanced, with mellow, sweet malts and an unassuming hoppiness in the finish that starts to linger as the beer warms. A very pleasant surprise - it’ll be interesting to see is this return to form succeeds, or if the punters have been too turned off by the bland yellow lagers that Brick has been brewing for the last decade or so to give this a second look.

Bottle- My second of the new three beers in the Founder’s Series. Pours deep orange, with a thin but stable ring of off white foam. Aroma is super spicy, mild nutmeg, chestnut, spicy malts, sugars, and hops. Taste is very, very spicy for the style. Sweet malts come in second place adding balance to the spice. There’s some mild hops here too, but this one is mainly spicy. Very nice. Pootz mentions the Creemore, and I agree, but this one seems to be more robust. If I had to have this on tap, I would not be upset at all. Keep it up Mr. Brickman!