Bar Harbor Special Amber Ale

Brewed by Bar Harbor Brewing Company (Atlantic Brewing Company)
Style: Amber Ale
Bar Harbor, Maine USA

Bottles 650 and 563 . Hazy amber with moderate sized offf white head. Dark fruity, malty aroma. Full creamy body with nice non-cloying sweetness followed by a dry crisp ending. More like an English Barley Wine to me. Unbelievably even better than Cadillac Mtn. Stout. My second visit to the brewery. Just my luck to be flying home one day after the no liquids on airplanes rule. 11/23/07 Trade with atpayne. thanks. Bottle #917 2006 bomber. Rated without looking at old notes first. Came up with almost exactly the same rating. The Mouthfeel is incredible. Highly underated. I still wish I had more.

This beer ought to be rated higher as it is really exquisite. I got 4 bottles (2007) from the brewery (only available on site) last summer and I wish I had bought more. It’s a dark amber color with a cloud like white head and leaves thin lacing on the glass. The aroma is sweet and malty with some holiday spiciness to it. Flavor is much the same. I was told the recipe changes every year so I will have to revisit this again in years to come. This beer, along with the Cadillac Stout, make this brewery one of Maine’s truly unknown treasures.

2007 Bottling of the Special Amber. Bottle #250. Pours a gorgeous amber golden color with a thin to moderate white head. Aroma is delightful clean blend of sweet malt and some delicate spicing. Flavor is fantastic, a punch of sweetness up front with very clean crisp bite. I’m a hophead, and there’s no hop profile in this beer at all...but I dont care, it’s delicious! I should have bought a case of this, and in fact i’ll have to go back to do so. The 2007 edition i’ve been told by the brewer was made to have a dryer finish than last year. It seems to finish very clean and dry (for an amber). This is the best amber i’ve tried yet, and it’s really too bad this beer isn’t more widely distributed (only available at the brewery). They’ve got this nailed down as well as all their beers.

Pours from the 22 oz. bomber to a reddish orange, with thick off-white head that lingers well into the glass and leaves good lacing. Nose is malty sweet with a hint of hoppiness. Mouthfeel was of this full-bodied beeer was complex, almost bittersweet, as the malt and hops collided. Flavor was more of the same, and this all led to a long, pleasant finish. The unique thing I noticed about this beer was that unlike many qualitly beers that taste better as they warm, this was actually better served cooler (not ice cold). Still one of the more enjoyable ambers I’ve had.

Who says amber beers can’t be any good? This pours a gorgeous, clear blood-red body underneath a large, pockmarked yellowish-tan head. The aroma is richly malty, cake-like, a bit of spicy hops in the background. The flavor is obviously that of a larger beer, rich, but not cloying malt with faint, but balancing hop bitterness. Excellent beer.

2006 edition - Bottle 632. Pours deep amber/red into a shaker. Tan ultra micro head leaves sheets as it slowly recedes and retains a 1/4 inch throughout. Bread, fruit and slight soap aromas. Creamy with upfront roasted caramel and a lasting bitter finish. Drink fresh -- does not age well...consistently deteriorates over time.

2008 vintage unnumbered because they grabbed it out of the cellar at the brewery and gave it to me in September with the promise that I would let it age until Christmas. I kept my promise and it is my first beer of 2009. Just a really great amber ale. Malt and sugar play very heavy in the profile, but that is fine with my tastes. Hopefully with their bigger brewery they can brew this more often.

Pours a cloudy amber color with a thin offwhite head. Very good aroma and flavor of spices, candied fruits and hops. The body is light to medium with a creamy texture and lively carbonation. Solid, I wish that more amber ales would be like this one.