I've been meaning to get around to typing up this tasting for a while now. My brother and I brewed this back in January and I've been drinking it pretty regularly ever since. In fact my half of it is nearly gone. This beer is by no means perfect, nor does it really fit to the style of your traditional American Amber. For one it's pretty modest in the alcohol content (around 5%) and it doesn't have the same caramel like sweetness (at least not as much as your typical American Amber does). But the biggest differentiation is the hop profile. I find most American Amber Ales to often times cross the line with American IPAs, but typically with more malty sweetness. Instead of going with your typical American citrusy hops I went with some nice soft Kent Goldings. I love the soft floral/fruity character that they add to the beer along with extremely smooth bitterness.
Overall I like this beer quite a bit, it's easy to drink and uncomplicated. The body is not watery at all, but I wish it was a touch more full. It's kind of brinking on being somewhat lager like in how crisp it is... not that it's a bad thing... but not what I was going for.
I'm not going to go into a full fledged tasting notes review on this, because this beer doesn't really call for one. But I will give you the gist of it.
It pours a nice amber with a dense head. Smells of bready malt and classic English hops (floral, a touch woodsy and fruity). The taste is smooth and uncomplicated. Easy to drink and refreshing, and a low enough ABV to not get into too much trouble with. The malt character is a bit bready with a touch of toffee and caramel. The hop bitterness is there, but not assertive, and the hop character takes the back seat. Finishes dry. The mouthfeel is crisp and full, carbed it to 2.5 volumes. Overall a nice beer... not exactly what I was shooting for, but may be something I brew again in the future to tweak a bit.
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