2 AROMA 2/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20This beer comes across as odd, very different tasting from any other beer I’ve tried. There’s a nice bit of bitter hops flavour. However, it leaves me with an unpleasant (sort of sour) aftertaste which I do not care for. I also find the aroma to be unpleasant. I can’t say this beer is boring or bland, but I don’t think it’s very good.
3.4 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Sept 2006: This was bought in the UK, part of a JW Dundee’s Craft Beers of America Pack.
It poured beautifully into a Berliner Kindl 0.4 Litre straight glass, large creamy head on a clear amber body of liquid.
No great smell, its smell and taste reminded me of a Dusseldorf Alt, which as a lager: shouldn’t but that was my thoughts.
Delicate mouthfeel and drinkable, not what I was expecting, but overall, I liked it.
2.9 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20
26th August 2007
Warning! Early amateur rating! Brown lager! Malty with a very subtle fruit note. Sweeter malt finish.
3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 12/20
UPDATED: SEP 29, 2012 The High Falls Brewing Company, the maker of the JW Dundee’s line of beers, has really put me through the ringer lately. Having bought their mix pack, I find most of the beers are average in quality, and their Amber Lager is no exception. It certainly drinks like a lager, though, as it’s pretty direct and an overall simple beer. It’s by no means bad, but there isn’t anything special about it, either.
POUR, COLOR AND AROMA
I’m not sure why they decided to name it “Amber Lager” since it’s really more of a straight brown or light-red hue rather than a dark gold. I was a little perplexed upon first pouring this beer since it looks more like apple cider than beer.. It forms a small layer of head, most of which dissipates, but there is definitely a lingering effect throughout. There is also heavy carbonation action which slows down as the beer is drank.
As for aroma, there isn’t anything distinctive to it. It’s a bit stronger smelling of hops and malts than your average lager, but not in a pleasing way. Of course, I’d much rather whiff this beer than Bud or Miller.
TASTE
I can’t remember a beer being as inconsistent in taste as JW Dundee’s Amber Lager. It starts out with a strong hoppy flavor, but soon becomes flat and watery. This beer has a bit of a bite to it, but not in an appealing way such as with Sam Adams Boston Lager. It’s just very bitter and not very pleasing to the palate.
As the beer is drunk I notice its taste continues to flatten. It’s as if it’s watering itself down, like when you put an ice cube into soda and by the end it tastes like soda-flavored water. This brew is seemingly doing such a thing to itself if that makes any sense.
At least it finishes very clean and is fairly smooth throughout the life of the beer. Lightweights and novice drinkers will probably find this much more appealing than the average beer snob.
BODY
As a lager goes, Amber Lager is definitely fuller in body than your run-of-the-mill American lager, but as a craft beer it’s fairly average in weight. It’s not extremely filling, but if you were looking for a beer you could go through quickly and easily this might not be your best choice.
FINAL THOUGHTS
JW Dundee’s Amber Lager is one of the strangest beers I can recall drinking. How can a beer’s taste change so often in just 12 ounces? I’d certainly prefer it to any mass-market brew, but as a craft beer it has a long way to go to become impressive. As an inclusion to the JW Dundee’s mix pack it’s certainly drinkable, but not very memorable.
2.2 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 8/20
Serving: 12 oz. bottle.
Appearance: Clear amber color with a small, off-white head. Poor head retention.
Aroma: Caramel, butterscotch, and apple notes.
Flavor: Follows the nose with caramel, some butter notes and apple. Clearly some brewing errors here.
Palate: Medium carbonation with a medium mouthfeel and a short finish.
Overall: Pitiful. Not recommended.
2.1 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 8/20
Pours amber with a tan head. Smells of caramel, diacetyl, some fruity hints. Tastes fruity and buttery with some vegetal notes.
2 AROMA 3/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 3/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 8/20
UPDATED: NOV 7, 2010 I couldnt even finish the bottle. All I could taste was a gross butterscotch flavor. It also smelled sort of like rotten apples.
2.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 10/20
Overall Impression:
Another one of the beers from Dundee that was pretty boring, nothing memorable here, just a semi-decent beer.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 12/20
Bottle. Pours a amber color with a decent head that fades. Taste is of caramel, malt and some hops. Fairly sweet with some bitterness. Similar aroma. A very nice beer, that is, satisfying, easy to drink and rather enjoyable.
2.3 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 4/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20
Bottle. Pours a copper with a finger or so of dense head and aromas of caramel and apple juice. Flavor is a watery mix of caramel and apple juice concentrate. Life is too short to drink beer like this.
2.5 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 11/20
Amber color no head. Caramel and malt aroma. Flavor is weaker, watery taste. Nothing special, decent cheap beer.
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