Alley Kat Amber

Brewed by Alley Kat Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Edmonton, Canada

Bottle from a beer of the month club. Pours amber with a red tint and an tope head. Aroma is full of malty notes giving of note of sweet, grainy and a touch of caramel. Flavor is very malty as well with a sweet dark bread flavor to it.

Got this in a monthly beer club box... but this had me a little confused. It says Amber in huge bold letters, but then says that it’s a brown ale right under it. Huh. Anyways, it pours like a deep dark red ale, it’s neither amber nor brown. Lol... and it has a slight coffee aroma. Flavor is really sweet, i mean really sweet and has a faint hint of coffee or dark malts. Zero bitterness. All around one of the weirder bottles i’ve come across. Definitely not a bad drink though.

Poured from bottle into Nonic Imperial Pint. Brownish-amber with thin white head and slight lacing. Aroma of caramel, fruit, molasses and earthy English hops. Somewhat sweet caramel, slight fruitiness, with a nice touch of English hops. Very mild overall, but it does have nice balance. Low carbonation, somewhat thin body. This seems to be relatively true to style for a London-Style (or Southern) English Brown Ale, although 5% is slightly higher than typical. Unfortunately, it is not the most exciting style that is often trumped by Northern English Brown Ales (or American Brown Ales for that matter). That said, it is still nice, albeit mild, and quite sessionable.

Goes down real easy. Smells nice and chocolatey. Smells real good. Tastes real good. I get some carmel, alittle smokeyness... the aftertaste is almost coffee like.

Bottle. Pours with a dark reddish color and a smallish head. First impression is nuts. The aroma profile is all dominated by that. Flavors are more complex, caramel predominates, but there are some spices, some subtle smokiness and some nuts. Very interesting and well done.

Pour of dark cherry tinted brown with a thick creamy head. Aroma is nutty and caramel malted. There is a strong hint of chocolate in the nose. Flavour is interesting and overall malty. There is high carbonation and the taste of chocolate found prevalent in the aroma is tasted. Overall a good beer. This is one of my favourites from Alley Kat.

341ml brown bottle. Pours chestnut brown, throws off orangey highlights. A very full thick creamy cap formed and stayed throughout the glass with some streaky lacing stuck on the glass. Aroma is nutty choclatey malt, a touch sweet (caramel). Flavour is similar to aroma, soft chocolate malts, faint nut. Dryish end, mild carbonation and a light body make it go down failry easily. Good local brown.

Brown bottle, 341 ml, purchased at the brewery on May 23 2008, savoured on June 3 2008; eye: bronze with caramel reflections, clear, no effervescence, good beige head that turns into a tiny ring; nose: malt, light roast, caramel, light nuts, slight floral; mouth: thin, watery, malt, caramel, light nuts, slight hops before the finale, finale in malt with a good presence of caramel, lightly sweet, slightly bitter, average carbonation; overall: correct FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 341 ml, achetée à la brasserie le 23 mai 2008, savourée le 3 juin 2008; œil : bronze avec des reflets caramel, claire, pas d’effervescence, bonne mousse beige qui se transforme en un petit anneau; nez : malt, légère torréfaction, caramel, léger noi, très léger floral; bouche : mince, aqueuse, malt, caramel, léger noix, petite pointe de houblon avant la finale, finale en malt avec une bonne présence de caramel, légèrement sucrée, très légèrement amère, carbonatation moyenne; en résumé : correct