Alty Amber

Tasting session 19

Beer 1 Choices: American Pale Ale, American Amber Ale, International Amber Ale, Helles Bock

Beer 2 Choices: Berliner Weisse, Oud Bruin, Fruit Lambic, Flanders Red Ale

Score: 2/2

Beer 1 things to look for:

American Pale Ale: US hops, less sweet than Amber

American Amber Ale: US hops, caramel malt notes

International Amber Lager: neutral profile, possible bitterness,

Helles Bock: Bock booze character, malty with noticeable bitterness

Notes:

The sample had a toasty malt aroma, but that didn’t eliminate anything right off the bat. After my first sip, I determined that there wasn’t enough alcohol for it to be a Helles Bock (AKA Maibock). American Pale ales often exhibit some detectable malty/bread crust/caramel flavor, but the high level of nutty/toasty/caramel present in this sample ruled it out. US Amber vs Intl Amber was a little challenging, especially in this case, since there wasn’t any in-your-face American hop character (pine/grapefruit/cannabis). Some American Ambers have that heavy hop character, but this one had a more subtle bitterness, so I couldn’t rely on that distinction. The biggest difference that I’ve observed in this side-by-side is that there is more richness and fullness to the US Amber, whereas the Intl Amber has a lighter body and is more of a poolside easy-drinking-lager type of beer. It is a lager after all. Without having the two side-by-side though, it can be hard to make an assessment. My experience drinking the two styles is what really helped me out here. I decided that the body and malty richness were too high for IAL, so I chose American Amber. 

Fun fact: Alaskan Brewing Company describes their Alaskan Amber as an “Alt Style Ale”. I feel like this is a totally fair and on-point assessment based upon its balance, low ABV, characterful malt, and lack of dominating American hop character. If you don’t have access to fresh Altbier, I think this beer is a great way to get the gist of what an Altbier is about. Similar to Kölsch though, this lagered ale differs in its character quite a bit depending on which brewery made it. This beer is much more like Schumacher’s nutty/toasty/rich malt-focused Alt vs the dryer and more hop focused Uerige Altbier.

Beer 2 things to look for:

Berliner Weisse: clean lactic sourness, very sour

Oud Bruin: like Flanders Red but more malty

Fruit Lambic: complex/funky sourness, fruit character

Flanders Red Ale: acetic sourness/complexity, malt character

Notes:

My first impression after a sniff test was that this was a Fruit Lambic because there wasn’t the dark fruit/toasty character that indicated it to be a Flanders or Oud Bruin. Also, the sour character in the aroma/taste was very Lambic/Gueuze-like; complex, earthy, and not overly acidic. The presence of fruit character helped to rule out Berliner Weisse [which is often fruited or sweetened during service, but not classic base Berliner Weisse we get tested on], so I chose Fruit Lambic. This Fruit Lambic was a Kriek, a blend of Lambics in which a portion gets fermented with cherries. The cherry character really popped out, especially as the sample warmed up, so that helped too.