Pyramid Broken Rake

Brewed by Pyramid Breweries
Style: Amber Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Lots of toasted malt in the aroma with light smoke and a mild earthiness. Deep amber color, sizable khaki head and minor spotty lacing. Full bodied amber ale, nice malt content. Surprisingly good smoked feel as well. Flavorful with malt tastes ranging from sweet to nutty. Wood and smoke backed up by mild hops, sort of tangy. Good seasonal brew from Pyramid.

Huge malt aroma, nice amber appearance. Flavor and taste are rather average. Not my favorite amber.

Really sweet and off balanced. Kind of expected from Pyramid. Thin body. Not my style.

Bottle from Dilly Deli. Poured a reddish brown color with a moderate fizzy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate tart citrus malty aroma. Medium body with soft carbonation. Medium bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Good drinkable brew.

5/3/5/3/10 Sampled at the brewpub on October 18, 2007. Lasting white foam head with a deep orange body. Nose of vanilla, Seville oranges. Good malt base but unexceptional. Somewhat like Sleeman’s Amber… or something?

A freebie from Frankenstein. Pours an attractive ruddy caramel shade, with a really unique aroma. Caramel, bready yeast, cookies. Quite pleasing. The flavor supports the nose, and has a hint of citrus to go with the sweetness and yeast. A pretty good session beer that deserves a better score, in my opinion.

Looks nice in the glass - everything else is just about as plain and mediocre as can be. Somewhat malty, somewhat sweet. Looks very nice in the glass, truely a stunning amber ale. The flavor is a wet biscuit malt, thin backbone with a slight sugar cookie twist. HAving just finished a Lagunitas Imperial Red, the deficiencies in this drink is heavily pronounced. Drinkable and a good bargain but not something that I would want to have a lot around. Just too plain and thin bodied.

11-Oct-07 (12 oz bottle, Enjoy by 20-Dec-07: Purchased 20-Sep-07 for $7.99/six-pack at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) Creamy, light-tan head provides a quarter-inch cap for the gorgeous, clear, deep-copper body. Head retention is aided by a significant amount of early carbonation action, but even once the bubbles stop rising, the head holds its own, settling into a wide ring for the duration of the session. Patchy lacing consists of a few tall columns, one of the more unusual designs. Floral hops is easily the most prominent aroma with a caramel maltiness somewhat in the background. Likewise, the flavor is dominated by the floral-tasting hops, but worse, there is a distinct impression of overhopping with noble varietals that are more suited to subtle influence. Toasty and caramely malts contribute an almost cloying and artificial sweetness which seems to be enhanced by the floral hops. Neither are enjoyable and the combination makes it pretty tough to get through even a 12-ounce bottle, let alone an entire six-pack. The aftertaste is downright unpleasant and unfortunatey, long-lasting. Body is medium with no thinning in the finish, carbonation is light-medium, and the beer doesn’t feel refreshing on the palate at all. In fact, a Crest and Listerine duet is the perfect chaser. All in all, I think the recipe needs to be re-evaluated.