Full Sail Nugget Special Red Ale

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Hood River, Oregon USA

Pours a transparent orange amber with a spotty-lacing froth of light tan head. Aroma of lemony grapefruity, slightly soapy hops with a touch of pale malt. Body starts fully carbonated and lightly sweet with some sticky resiny hops toward a crisp, bittersweet, slightly earthy finish. An average amber.

Reddish colour with a beige head. Sweet malty aroma with fruity and vague toffee notes. Malty, sweet flavor with a light hoppy grassy note.

Bottle: Mahogany color with a creamy tan head and decent lacing. The nose is earthy and metallic with a light faded dusty hop note and a chewy spicy caramel malt note. The flavor is tangy with some creamy caramel and light spongy spicy hops. A creamy tail and a lasting earthiness. Nugget, eh? I like nugget.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, off white, mostly diminishing. Body is clear dark amber. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain, cookie), moderately hoppy (grapefruit, resin, flowers). Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation. Just another hop-centric brew, but pretty decent in the mouth experience...well balanced and a pleasant texture.

Aroma of sweet malts and citrus? hop. Color approaches ruby red or ruby orange, and the white head didn’t stay long. A bit thin. Seems to start with malt, develops a different malt character, finishes with a decent amount of bitter, but the a lightly roasted malt flavor sticks around. Not a dry finish.

Picked up a 22-oz bottle via trade with chriso420 at the Belmont Station in Portland, Oregon. Pours a clear dark golden amber brew with an average off-white head that slowly dissolves to a fine film. Nice lacing. Aroma of roasted caramel malt, toasted oatmeal cookies, with a touch of earthy flower hops. Taste is medium bodied, lightly carbonated with flavors of sweet caramel malt, citrus zest and an earthy hop bitterness. Finish is dry with a green vegetable aftertaste.

This amber ale pours a deep copper color from a 22oz bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is malty, hoppy and a touch bitter. A medium bodied Amber. Malts are caramel and toffee, not too sweet. Hops are grapefruity and piney. Probably more of an imperial red than an amber, the malts aren’t as sweet and the hops are fairly aggressive for an amber. It seems to fall more between an amber and an American Strong Ale. Kind of nice really. Good balance. Decent carbonation, Nice step up from an amber. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Bottle. Average creamy off-white head that mostly diminished. Fair lacing. Clear flat body with an amber color. Aroma of caramel, elderflower, herbs, citrus, grapefruit, peach and fruit. Medium bodied with an average carbonation. Light to moderated sweet and bitter flavor. Light dry and sweet finish.