Marin Albion Amber Ale

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Larkspur, California USA

22 oz bottle, from BevMo La Jolla. Pours clear dark ruddy amber with a large off-white head and tight lace. Toasty, caramel malts, hints of ripe fruit, a bit dusty and includes plentiful floral hops. Mostly toasty malts with a light caramel sweetness, generously hopped with tangy, earthy and herbal hops. Light to medium body and easy carbonation.

Flavor is very light, much more than I expected. Still really easy to drink, but hard to make it through an entire bomber by yourself without getting completely bored with the beer. Lots of toasted sweet cereal maltiness, full of caramel, with some piney hop resin, but the flavor is there and gone, it hits you immediately and then has no finish. This beer goes absolutely nowhere.

(22 oz bottle: $3.59 at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) When I first poured the beer, it had a really promising start. I smelled hops without even lifting the glass off the table, so I immediately got to thinking, wow, a true West Coast amber, where hops is king. Well, not quite. This is a pretty damn light-flavored beer actually. It’s lightly sweet, grainy, toasty and mildly malty with a short-lived finish. I do taste the piney hops, but even with the subdued malt backbone, the hops and bitterness are pretty mild too. It has a nice flavor, just that it’s short-lived and the light-medium body is surprisingly thin and watery. Carbonation is soft and gentle. Grain, toast and pine in the nose. Dark amber / light brown in color, very hazy, no transparency. The creamy, light tan head pours to an inch in height and very slowly settles to a thin, but not filmy layer. Ringed and patchy lacing blankets much of the glass. Overall, this has been fairly disappointing because I tend to like Marin and Moylan’s beers, but also because that initial hops in the nose was so promising. Were it not for the pleasant toastiness of this boring beer, I probably would not have finished this bomber.

(cask conditioned at the brewpub) deep amber, almost brown. Generous head with nice lace. Malt aroma. Flavor is malt, hints of caramel, enough hops for balance.

22 oz bottle: I found this at Keg N bottle liquor right down the street from SDSU. I felt a little lucky to have had the chance to try this amber ale since not many people have rated it and its not as available as the other offerings from Marin . Lets begin, at first i notice a fair share of hops and carameled malt aroma while also noting some signs of soap as well. The contents poured with a huge fat head that took forever to dwindle down in order for me to take a sip. Color was amber red with a few specs of sediment inside. The flavor is a bit old and flat( estimating that this has had one year of shelf life or more) and holds a semi sweet malt character reminiscent of caramel. A shadow of hops and minor tasting of mandarin become apparent in the finish that is somewhat bitter and dry at the same time.

A very basic amber ale, like many others very indistinct. Crytal and caramel malt notes with some sweetness. Some malt Astringency with a vegetative and chalky mouthfeel. BORING and off.

Pours brown/amber with thin head. Aroma is a bit sour with vinegar and some carmel malt showing through. Bleeeech. I hate that taste. I got a bad bottle. All I taste is awful metallic sourness. I hate to do it but I gotta dump this one. And I usually get such good quality from Marin.

Body is a dark amber, with a thin cream head. Aroma is caramel, hops, crystal malts. Definitly differant, very fruity with raspberries, strawbeerries, very very malty and nice. The hops in this beer keep it in check, and it comes through very solid.