Great Lakes Independence Ale

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Red-amber with good, creamy head / Nose of malt, dry hops and citrus / Light to medium body, crisp and hoppy, with good malts and finish / Flavors of toast, burnt spun sugar, and grapefruit / A very fine pale ale.

Like their Elliot Ness with a firmer hop backbone. Vastly superior to the EN in my humble opinion. Very nice indeed.

good american red ale, was expecting a more malty beer, but this baby was for the hop lover. very citrusy, strong hop aroma, nice flavor balanced well by the malt. a little caramel and chocolate find their way. good crisp finish with that awesome hop presence.

Just had this last night on draught at Dexter’s Pub: Poured a well carbonated amber colour with small white head. Decent amount of sticky icky lacing circling the top of the glass. Aroma is decently hoppedas well. I love that fresh floral aroma of a West coast style amber. Some subtle biscuit but noticeably hoppy taste with a touch of spice near the finish. Really nice beer. Looking forward to this in sixers hopefully sometime soon."

Allegedly the original Burning River recipe. If that’s true, they really should switch it back! Darker than Burning, with a whispy head that left lots of sticky lacing. Major hop aroma. Really snappy in the nose. Picked up a little bit of darker malt aromas, too. Sweet, rich body with nice carmel and a little dark fruit. Nice balance on the palate, overall. The hop profile really knocked me out. Floral bouquet that leads into rather gritty, bitter flavors. Long herbal finish that was just ever so slightly green. Yummy. Should really bottle this.

Draft. Poured reddish amber with a big foamy head. More hops than expected in the aroma, with a nice bready/caramel backdrop Incredibly drinkable with a smooth malt flavor backed-up with decent hoppiness. Perfect carbonation - not nearly as syrupy as a lot of ambers. Very nice example of an underappreciated style.

Dark ruddy red body with a light, quickly disapating head. The aroma is rich in sweet carmalized hops. The nose is vey hoppy, there is a slight malt flavor in the end. The finish is nice an clean. This is another brewery only beer. Shame really, it is pretty good.

Draft at Dublin Pub in Dayton. Bright but dark copper with a pleasantly rolling bubbliness. Nice rich caramel malt forms the basis of this, but there’s also a nice crisp hoppy bite to bring it together. Yummy. (#3576, 7/4/2009)