Maritime Pacific Nightwatch Dark Amber Ale

Brewed by Maritime Pacific Brewing Co.
Style: Amber Ale
Seattle, Washington USA

Bottle. Pours deep mohagany with a healthy head and clinging lace. Aroma is strawberry and malt with a touch of peach. Flavor is weak malt with sea water and faint fruit (strawberry and peach). Average mouthfeel. Not bad, but I’ve had better.

On tap at the brewery. Dark colour, somewhere between burgundy and Kahlua. Flavour is complex with smoke and hops prevailing. Spicy finish. A very dark Amber or a very light Porter. A unique character.

Draught Beautiful dark mahogany colour with a clinging, fine & dense yellowish head. Greenery nose (parsley), and sweet malts - lots of them. Some sugar syrup and a touch of tobacco and moccha. Sweet taste, bit of licorice, ripe pears-like flavour. Just not great in any way. Sweet drinking ale. Achilles heel: very watery texture and like body, unsufficiently fed by the dark malts and restsugars. What is known as a "workmanlike" performance: it’ll do the job, but you cannot love it;

Rich deep brown coloring, with very nice ruby highlights. A small frothy head, that is accented by a rich and sweet maltiness, some dark fruits and just a hint of herbal hoppiness. Very nice and easy to drink, well balanced, with a roasted chocolate coffee finish.

This beer is a bit unique in the fact that it is some where in between an amber ale and a porter. It is brewed with pale and crystal malts and a dash of roasted malt throw in to give it just a hint of darkness. It is then hopped with Mt. Hood and Saaz hop varieties, but not as aggressively hopped as other MP products. This makes for a delicious, flavorful, yet very drinkable ale. Ale I enjoyed sipping at the bar in the Jolly Roger one lazy afternoon. The Jolly Roger Taproom is a wonderful little place to enjoy a beer. It only holds 50 people or so, and the whimsical pirate ship theme of the place makes for a fun and inviting place to enjoy a good pint and some good grub off their menu. Nightwatch Dark Amber Ale pours to a deep amber to ruddy brown color with a thick and creamy off white head, and a soft to moderate amount of carbonation. The nose on this beer is very pleasing with a good balance of sweet, nutty and slightly roasty aroma, paired with grassy/citric hop aromas. The palate is soft and full on the tongue with flavors of sweet malt, mild roast coffee, and hints of plumy fruit. Nightwatch Dark Amber finishes with more malt and mild roasty flavor, and then ends with gentle citrus hop flavors that balance of the malt character of this beer. This is a very enjoyable session brew, one that makes for easy drinking and a great beer to enjoy on draught at the Jolly Roger or at any number of beer bars in the Seattle Area. MP bottles as well, so keep an eye out for this one in stores that sell MP beers.

On tap @ Brouwer’s. Poured a deep ruby color. I could still see through it, however, which I think added ore to the appearance of the beer. A big aroma of sweet caramel and some hints of vanilla came from this beer. When I sipped this beer i got a mouthful of a really balanced ale. The malts in this beer come through rather well, there are flavors of caramel and slight roast, with t light hop bite. I would recommend this beer if you can get it.

(12 oz bottle: Bottleworks in Seattle, WA) What must be the Best By date on this label is notched for October, but no worries, this is quite tasty. I’m sampling it alongside their Flagship Red Ale, and this one is a bit better. It’s quite caramely, a bit grainy and somewhat sweet with a modest roasty character, and instead of having the florally hoppy character of the Red Ale, the hops here just contributes a moderate bitterness. Sweet caramel, grain, even some corn comprise the aromatic nose that emanates from the glass. Medium-full bodied, the soft and creamy mouthfeel is very pleasant. The beer is medium brown, ruddy hued, and crystal clear. Off-white head pours to nearly an inch in height, gradually settling to thick, extra-wide donut while leaving a large doily on the glass. I’m impressed with this brewery so far, even the more generic styles are quite competently crafted. The Dark Ale is one I’d put a sixer of in my fridge.

Bottle Pours a clear dark mahogany with a full tan head that dissipates rather quickly. Lots of nice sheeting lacing. A maild dark malt aroma with some woody/grassy notes. Flavor is slightly smokey and woody. More like a brown ale. Lingering slighly acidiccardboardy flavor. Very little op character with soft carbonation and a fairly clean feel.