Alaskan Amber

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: Altbier
Juneau, Alaska USA

Caramelly malt nose, with a tiny bit of banana esters in the background. Dark amber with a medium yellow head; Flavor is like a caramel banana, with some light chocolate in the background.

(Bottle, Stockholm Beer Festival, 6 Oct) Amber colour with small off-white head. Malty, nutty nose with notes of spicy hops. Malty taste with nuts, dark fruit, dried apricots and a balanced hoppy character in the finish. An allright amber ale but lacking something extra.

(12 oz bottle: Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) Not a bad beer by any means, but not very exciting either. With little in the way of hops here, the beer is easily tipped toward the malty end of the scale. That maltiness is caramely and sweet, and while sweet is often a good thing to me, with this beer, the sweetness is quite sugary and cheap-tasting. The beer also has a modest floral character that’s not doing much for me either. The nose is also caramely, very sugary and sweet. Medium bodied and nicely carbonated, but a bit cloying and tiring on the palate. The crystal clear, dark amber color is very rich-looking. The small, off-white head dissipates fairly quickly and leaves no lacing. Alaskan makes some great beer, but this is definitely not one of them.

Herbal, slightly sweet aroma. Poured a fine copper with no head. Overall mouth was very biting, with rather unpleasant hops and a lame-o malty finish (thumbs down for malty finishes. ew). I’m pretty surprised this little beer has as high a rating as it does, I didn’t enjoy it much at all. And we all know mine is the only opinion that should count.

Well it’s been 808 days since my last “Alaskan Amber”, and I personally think that is way to long, so here goes my review after some 2 plus years.

As it sets in the glass a pellucid mahogany color, the head modest in size and it erodes quite quickly, leaving a skeletal coating of lace which is light tan color. Sweet malt aromas dominate the nose that is crisp, clean and fresh to the senses; start is also loaded with malt, sweet, the top middling in its feel to the palate. Finnish is prickly in its acidity, the hops delightful in their modest bite, the aftertaste droughty and long lasting. A quite quaffable brew and I’m glad I found a source for this beer at “Liquid Solutions”.

[1638-20080830] 355mL bottle. Grainy slightly skunky fish malt aroma. Clear, amber orange body with a medium-lasting foamy off-white head. Grainy malt flavour has some weird yeast in it. Medium body. Drinkable, not bad.
(@ Diamond Princess cruise ship; near AK)

Nice malty aroma, slightly sweet. Light bitter hops. Smells like an altbier. Coppery clear with light tan head that dissipates quickly. Medium body with light-med carb - smooth drinking. Muted maltiness up front & a bit of sweetness. Gives way to mild nutty bitter finish and after. Dry and refreshing. A nice beer.

Had this on tap at Pap. The 7 for aroma is the malts. Reminded me of as a kid ridding past the malt house in the back of the Brady wagon. Otherwise not a beer for me.

9/15/05 Had one at the BOB in Phoenix. Missed something in this beer first time arround. More balance in the flavor that gave me a better impression of this beer.