I love a good American Amber Ale. They are simple beers. They don’t make a lot of demands on you. Yet they are full-flavored and fairly dependably drinkable. Many dismiss them as throwaway beers, the boring bastard stepchild of the big and bitter IPAs and Double IPA’s that beer geeks love to slobber over. To me they are a pub standard. A fallback in times when I don’t want my beer to grab me by the throat and dare me to enjoy it. You might say they are like an American version of the classic English Bitter, beer for drinking and coversating.
Boulevard Brewing Company of Kansas City, Missouri recently added an amber to their lineup, aptly called Amber Ale. They say it’s a “Midwestern version” of this classic style, presumably to set it apart from its highly-hopped cousin the West Coast Amber. Some would say this makes it sound even more boring. But I’m a Midwesterner born and bred. I would say “uncomplicated.”
What ever you want to call it, I got some and I tasted it. Here’s my notes:
Amber Ale
Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, Missouri
Style: American Amber Ale
Serving Style: 12 oz. bottle
Aroma: Huge caramel, like a chewy caramel candy. Sweet and sugary with a grainy malt background. Moderate floral hops. Hints of licorice. Not overly complex, but big and rich.
Appearance: Copper/Amber and clear. The moderate off-white head stuck around reasonably well.
Flavor: The flavor follows the aroma, but doesn’t come off quite as rich, in fact it seems unexpectedly thin given the rich, sugary aromas. Caramel. A bit on the sweet side, with grainy malt underpinnings. Moderate bitterness balances the sweet caramel, but it’s not highly hopped like many west coast examples. They do call it a “Midwestern” version. Moderate floral hop flavors. Candy. Rosewater. Notes of orange citrus almost like a classic English bitter. The finish is sweet and lingers on caramel. The finish is where the richness comes through.
Mouthfeel: Medium to medium light body. Medium carbonation. Finish leaves a clinging, coating of sweetness on the tongue. Not that this is a bad thing.
Overall Impression: I won’t say that this is the greatest Amber ale I have ever had. I also won’t say that it is a bad one. It’s simple, clean, easy to drink if a tad on the sweet side, and quite enjoyable. At the same time it doesn’t assert itself as anything special either. While I might not go out of my way to get hold of it, I would certainly drink this one again. Another nice pub fallback. I could see this complementing a roast turkey or even a fried pork chop, although you may want something with a bit more hop bite with fried foods.
