Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
San Diego, California USA

Pours a dark amber color from the tap at the brewery. Sweet with sugar on the aroma and loaded with hops in the flavor. Would be solid with food.

Pours deep, clear amber into a shaker. Off-white head quickly recedes to skim surface. Malt and mild pine aromas. Sweet pine and resin upfront. Full-bodied with a lasting grapefruit finish. Very nicely balanced throughout.

Bottle, 22oz, at the European Beer Festival, Copenhagen. A clear, copper beer with a small off-white to beige head. Caramel, fruityness and citrusy hops in the aroma. The flavor is on the hoppy side with caramel sweetness to balance it. Somehow dryish, and a finish with caramel and lots of hops. Another pleasant amber, but it fails to bring out the great enthusiasm. (080912)

bottle, nut brown color with frothy tan head that fades, aroma of hops, caramel and some fruit, flavors of sweet caramel, grapefruit,pine, and lemon, and a bitter malt finish

Crystal clear copper color with a tan head. Good caramel sweet aroma with floral hop. Medium body. Rich caramel sweet flavor with earthy spices, and a tasty floral hop bite in the finish. Nice amber here.

In short: Lots of earthy caramel, lots of floral and citrusy hops hops. Good beer. Amber Ale? Whatever. Barley Wine Light to me.
How: Bottle 22oz, cool bonus from kegbear, thanks a lot Craig. Consumed fresh a few weeks after receiving it
The look: Partly cloudy redish-amber body topped by a medium beige head with low retention
In long: Nose is tree roots and caramel. For a so-called Amber Ale the body is surprisingly full, almost decadent. Lots of caramelized malts with strong earthy notes. Finish has a whole lot of floral hops that I didn’t detect on the nose. Earthy tree roots from start to finish along with strong citrusy notes. This would almost qualify as a Barley-Wine Light if such a thing existed. But a Barley Wine Light makes as much sense as a wooden fireplace.

Thanks to Dkachur for this! Pours opaque and deep amber/red/brown, nice full off-white head with very nice lacing. Aroma of roasted and carmel malts, with a balance of hops. Flavor begins with nice smooth roasted malt and finishes with a nice hoppy (pine/roasted nuts) Light to medium bodied. Throughout there is a nice balance between the malt and the hops, neither is too overpowering.

Amber with a small white head. Weak aroma of bready malt and citrus hops. Dry fruity flavour with balanced malts and hops.