Peak Organic Amber Ale

Peak Organic Brewing Company
Brewed at Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Portland, Maine USA

This is an extremely flavorful amber ale. Has the sweetness of an Anderson Valley Amber but has a crisper, more interesting finish. A very solid example of the style.

12 ounce bottle - $1.99 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia. Appearance: Pours out a lightly hazed, amber-brown body with a large, frothy, off-white head. Tiny flecks of lace left on the way down. Smell: Pleasantly toasty nose with some additional sweet-scented hints from the malts. Light notes of harvest fruit interspersed within. Fragrant, zesty spicy hop scents as well. Taste: Largely, you get the nicely toasty taste of Munich malt sweetened with a moderate amount of Crystal malts and a small hint of light brown sugar. Slight background fruitiness. Some buttery diacetyl as well. Hops provide a lil’ zip of spiciness and earthiness and a light, balancing bitterness. Drying finish with a lingering toasty quality to it all. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: This mainly malty amber pairs oh so well with a mid-day Monday episode of the Maury show. Peak Organic Amber Ale... you are NOT the Father, but you are a pretty decent beer.

I’m enjoying one of these right now, and the operative word is "enjoy." Amber Ale is one of those styles that folks lose track of in the pursuit of Imperial IPA and Bigger! Faster! Louder! MORE! in their beers. It’s gratifying that at least one brewery still keeps one in their stable. Lovely orange color with a generous light-tan head. Lacing follows the fluid level all the way to the bottom. Aroma is fruity, with sweet malt undertones to a solid spicy hops presence. Flavor is full, though not quite enough balance for me; the hopping is generous enough that it requires a more solidly malty backbone. Some more caramelly sweetness would firm it up nicely. Fruity as a farmer’s market in the front, then the bitterness cuts through. Finishes dry and crisp. All in all, I like this beer. Is it the best Amber Ale ever brewed? Probably not. But it is a solid example of the style, and I would recommend it if a friend asked, "Should I?"

Unbelivable only 2 people have had this. I bought this over a month ago on the Whole Foods discard (singles) shelf. Pours a nice hearty amber color with a huge golden white head. Smell is toasted bread, biscuits, honey and caramel. Taste is not watery in the least. Shows nutty flavor, caramel malts. Good beer, I enjoyed this one, which I can’t normally say for an amber.

350 ml bottle from Bevmo. Orange amber with a fizzy white head. Deep malty aroma, pleasant silky mouthfeel, malty taste with some citrus notes and a mild bitterness.

Bottle. Poured with a average-sized, creamy off-white head. Body was clear and amber-colored. Powerful aroma of roasted malt, with some hints of chocolate and/or coffee as well. Creamy texture with a medium body, and lively carbonation. Quite a lot of flavor that grew on me over time and as it warmed up a bit... very malty, again with the chocolate, with an average-duration finish. A very solid amber ale that I’d gladly drink again.

Amber with thin white head. Nice hoppy nose with caramel & honey in there too. Medium palate with a semi-dry citric hop finish. Better than expected though it was a little cardboard tasting.

(12oz bottle, best by 9/07) Rocky beige head with nice lacing atop dark amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, nutty, caramel, light roast. Taste is medium sweet, caramel, some nut, earthy. Light-medium body, faint acidity. Is this the amber or the brown?