Drakes Amber Ale

Brewed by Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
San Leandro, California USA

On tap @ Drakes poured a clear dark amber with a small lingering amber head. Aromas of carmel and light fruitiness. Palate was light bodied and crisp. Flavors of carmel, bread and light fruitiness with a crisp lightly bitter finish.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of aspidites. Clear, orangey brown with a tall, dense and handsome off-white head leaving laces. Fruity, berry-like nose. Rather light in body with fresh and fruity accents, some dry caramel and an odd, ashy edge. Not much bitterness. Not your typical American amber, and not really that hot. 310507

Bottled. A hazy amber beer with a lazing orange head. The aroma is sweet malty combined with notes of caramel and a light touch of dusty hops. The flavor is sweet malty with strong notes of caramel and lighter notes of hops and alcohol - a bit like caramel ice cream topping.

Bottled. Amber coloured. Unclear. Dense light brown head. Sweet and light grassy aroma. Is a bit bland iMO. Fruits and light sweetness with some vague herbal notes in the flavour. Medium bodied. Light dry. Vague bitter and light medical end.

12 ounce bottle purchased from the Davis Food Co-Op. Aroma is very pleasant. Moderately sweet, chocolate malty aromas present with some light floral spicy hoppy notes. A bit of brown sugar is also in there as well. Mmmm, smells good. Mostly transparent dark amber/light mahogany body with a rather frothy light tan head. Very attractive. Lightly sweet malty start, which quickly becomes quite cigar tobacco-like in terms of flavor. This then becomes quite creamy with a leathery, roasted, and toasted maltiness later. Some mild coffee flavors are also present with a small amount of floral hops late. I’ll tell you what, this is the benchmark of amber ales. This is what any brewer should strive for. Unfortunately, too many brewers mail in their amber ales for shit. This is dope.

Bottle: Clear amber color with a small off-white head. Roasted malt aroma of light chocolate and mellow coffee notes. The flavor is iced coffee with a bit of sweetener, but the kind where you can taste the grounds. It makes this a not too sweet amber ale and closer to a porter. Not bad. Thanks Jordan.

Bottle from Marcus. Clear amber with a small off-white head. The aroma is sweet with lots of caramel, toffee and tea, some citrus in the back. The flavor is all tea and astringent caramel. Medium/light body is thin and lifeless.

Clear amber pour with nice orange and yellow outlying hues. Thin but sturdy cream colored head, easily roused up. Looks quite oily on top, looks very tasty. Pleasant malty aroma. Light hops present do not deride from a soft and sweet bready malt approach. Light to medium intensity notes of cinnamon, leather and a smack of potpourri round out what seems to be a well constructed aroma. Flavor has signifigant hop bitterness. Somewhat spicy malts and perhaps an inadvertant spice level; tastes Autumnal. Toffee readily discernable keeps this from spinning wildly out of control and ties in nicely with the malt. Finishes moderately dry, light, with an accentuation on the malt backbone that keeps this quaffable, despite bold shortcomings in the flavor. Palate is unorganized, light-to-medium in body, syrupy, static. Quite a nice amber until mid-mouthfeel. I would like to revisit this.