East End Brewing First

While at the new East End Brewing Company location, I picked up a growler of First, the first beer brewed at the new location. The beer pours a cloudy dark amber color with a lofty and frothy cream colored that leaves behind some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, caramel, pine, pepper, and hints of smoke. The taste is smooth and dry at the same time with plenty of toasted toffee, caramel, light smoke, and lemon. The finish brings out a peppery spice in the back of the throat and some pine as well. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This was a rather bitter and hoppy amber ale, and I loved the light touches of smoke. I’d highly recommend that East End make this a regular in their lineup.

Nectar Ales Red Nectar

Another beer I ordered at the new Federal Taphouse in Harrisburg was Nectar Ales Red Nectar. The beer pours a red color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, pepper, and toasted malts. The taste is dry with caramel on the front end and balancing light grassy hops. It finishes a little sweet. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I’d say this was a rather pedestrian red ale and wasn’t memorable at all. It was pretty dry and mostly unbalanced, as it was too dry and then finished too sweet.

Mountain State Brewing Almost Heaven Amber Ale

The final beer I tried at the Mountain State Brewing in Deep Creek Lake, MD was the Almost Heaven Amber Ale. The beer pours an amber color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of caramel and grass but is very faint. The taste is smooth and creamy with lots of caramel. Light grassy hops with a pepper spice balance the malt profile of the beer and make it easily drinkable. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. For an amber ale, this was decent and easy drinking, but not too intense or exceptional.

Kirkland Amber Ale

My buddy Jack brought over a bottle of Kirkland Amber Ale from Costco for me to try. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy off-white colored head that leaves a hint of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, caramel, and a hint of cardboard. The is dry and roasty with hints of caramel and a bit of nuttiness on it. The finish has a hint of cardboard that lingers before some nice malts come out and clean up the flavor. The alcohol content is 5.7% ABV. I wouldn’t say I was a huge fan of this beer with its cardboard like properties to it, but it also wasn’t terrible. The roasty nuttiness of it helped it along with a bit of caramel sweetness.

Alaskan Amber

I picked up a bottle of Alaskan Amber in California and shipped it home to myself. The beer pours a a red tinted amber color with a foamy off-white colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lots of caramel, toasted toffee, butterscotch, and fresh grassy hops. The taste is smooth and sweet with plenty of caramel on the front end, toffee, and butterscotch. The malts then transform into a dryer grassy hop with a light finish. The alcohol content is 5.3% ABV. This is a quality made amber ale and the variety of sweet malts was quite enjoyable, especially with the butterscotch accents. I highly recommend this beer for all of you amber lovers.

Bell's Amber Ale

In my mixed six-pack that I got from Al's of Hampden, I grabbed a bottle of Bell's Amber Ale, mostly based on the recommendation of my roommate Adam. The beer pours an amber color (duh!) with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of lots of sweet caramel and toffee. The taste is sweet and smooth with a large mouth presence. There is a lot of caramel and toffee flavors in this beer. There are some hints of some toasted caramel as well as the beer finishes. The after taste lingers a bit with some fresh lemon and orange flavors from the hops. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. If you are looking for a beer that is somewhat sweet with good helping of toffee and caramel, this is your beer. It is very enjoyable and not overly sweet, as it is nicely balanced with some citrus notes.

Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale

Another beer that was in the Duck-Rabbit sampler pack was the Amber Ale. The beer pours a golden-amber color with a lofty foamy white head. The aroma consists of caramel malts with sour hops and a hint of orange citrus. The taste is malty and sweet, with caramel providing the backbone. The beer finishes with a sour hop taste with bits of yeast on the outside of the tongue. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. Duck-Rabbit has provided a solid performer in the Amber Ale category. It was overdone, but also not too experimental. Either way, I'll still drink it again and enjoy it a lot.