Prohibition Ale
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers

Prohibition AleProhibition Ale
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From:
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
 
California, United States
Style:
American Amber / Red Ale
Ranked #52
ABV:
6.1%
Score:
86
Ranked #19,222
Avg:
3.82 | pDev: 12.3%
Reviews:
352
Ratings:
1,002
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 31, 2023
Added:
Aug 27, 2002
Wants:
  38
Gots:
  221
Prohibition Ale is the first beer we bootlegged back in 1997. Anything but traditional and now a GABF winning brew (2013–American Amber/Red Category), Prohibition pours a deep reddish amber hue, with a fluffy tan head that leaves a beautiful lacing on the glass. A lush, complex aroma teases the senses with juicy grapefruit, citrus, pine, spice and candied caramel malts. Mouth-feel is creamy, with a silky, medium body and modest carbonation.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Jason:
Photo of Jason
Reviewed by Jason from Massachusetts

4.17/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Presentation: 12 oz brown long neck bottle with a silk-screen painted on label, devious eyes are on the neck and a shady looking couple are looking for a real "Speakeasy". No freshness date to be found.

Appearance: Very deep and dark reddish amber hue, a well observed clarity shows that the beer has some carbonation left after a semi-vigorous pouring that left an unwavering light tan cake like head in its wake.

Smell: Intense hop aroma with a bold caramel malt to keep it in check. Oily hop of fresh pine, tree bark and grapefruit rind in the nose, straight-up sweet malt aroma pokes through with hints of dark caramel and toasted biscuits. Handful of fruity esters gives off a mild fig and raisin aroma.

Taste: Muscular medium body, crisp flavor with a smooth mouth feel. Carbonation is at a moderate level, hops circle around the malt as it plays around with the flavor. Suggestions of pumpernickel, caramel and toasted biscuit show how deep the complexity can get with this ale. Fruitiness is fresh and is doubled with a mild warming alcohol, tastes of pears and raisins. Pungent hops stay dominant but do not strangle the malt in anyway, the pungency varies from pine and spruce to grapefruit and peppery herbal flavors. The actual hop bitterness is sizable and puckers the palate. Caramel seems to push to the finish as well as the toasted flavor which shows a borderline roasted character, the hop bitterness is everlasting.

Notes: An elaborate multi-leveled complexity that jumps from hops to malt several times and touches upon the fruity esters as well, beefy in the hops and a perfectly level malt that leaves everything in balance to a point. A must try, this is what beer is about.
Aug 27, 2004
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.87 by Beergod420 from Michigan

Jan 31, 2023
Photo of maddogruss
Reviewed by maddogruss from New Jersey

3.35/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Poured this from a bottle.
A: pours dark amber body with small, white head with OK retention and lacing.
S: citrusy, hoppy smelling beer; subtle alcohol notes; somewhat medicinal
T: sweet, flowery tasting beer; fairly balanced hops and sweet, toffee taste; somewhat medicinal aftertaste
M: a little thin, but somewhat crisp; decent
D: nice feel and taste combo; average beer, but decent
May 09, 2022
Photo of Spaz138
Reviewed by Spaz138

1.24/5  rDev -67.5%
look: 5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
Fuck this beer. It’s not bad for an ipa but I fucking hate when breweries call a beer a style I.e. amber when it has zero things in common with that style. Amber ales are malty , this is hoppy as any ipa I hate false advertising
Sep 20, 2021
 
Rated: 3.5 by NickMunford from Wyoming

Jul 17, 2021
 
Rated: 3.96 by avisong from Virginia

Apr 14, 2020
 
Rated: 3.52 by Ice_Cream_And_IPAs from New York

Jun 23, 2019
 
Rated: 3.93 by heymikew from California

Jun 03, 2019
Photo of GratefulFC
Rated by GratefulFC from Arizona

3.89/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Pours a nice rich amber. Smell is malt and caramel. Taste is malt, caramel, raisens, vanilla, nuts, amber.
Jun 01, 2019
 
Rated: 2.58 by Oh_Dark_Star from Washington

May 10, 2019
 
Rated: 3.79 by Kdouble from Tennessee

Apr 21, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by eldoctorador from Chile

Apr 04, 2019
 
Rated: 3.94 by Eychung from New York

Jan 27, 2019
 
Rated: 3.04 by antman27 from New York

Jan 23, 2019
Photo of ChaseRCalkins
Reviewed by ChaseRCalkins from California

4.16/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25
I dont usually rate beers over 4 but I was pleasantly surprised by this beer. I'm not sure how I hadn't tried this beer before.
L: darker than I expected for a red/amber described beer. Almost 1in of head of tan color. Beer almost brown in color out of the tap.
S: I'm recovering from a slight cold so the smell wasnt hitting me as strongly as normal but notes of caramel and citrus came thru
T: one of the better new beers I've tried in months. Very deep complex flavor of roasted nutty, caramel, citrus, and pine came through and left a light hoppy finish, much less hoppy than most red ales
F: very light to medium body, smooth finish. Could be much heavier honestly but a very easy beer to drink
O: easily top 5 beer for this category that I've had. Had to log on and rate it when I was on a date with my girlfriend lol
Jan 03, 2019
Photo of marmotzero
Reviewed by marmotzero from California

4.67/5  rDev +22.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
The can says "boldly hopped Amber Ale", which at first glance flashes warning signals in my mind of the worst aspects of American brewing. Sometimes American brewers will take a bad execution of a particular beer style, add a big truckload of hops to hide the taste, and then try to pass it off as innovation.

In fact, this beer is really not that hoppy, and it's quite good. It has a nice body, and a complex flavor. This brewery should probably re-think their marketing ... but I would recommend this!
Sep 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.83 by BeerMan247 from New York

Aug 11, 2018
 
Rated: 4.13 by HaoleBoy from California

May 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.93 by Branlott42 from Missouri

May 08, 2018
 
Rated: 4.18 by Kelly10359 from New Jersey

Apr 30, 2018
Prohibition Ale from Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 1002 ratings