Amber Ale
Upland Brewing Company

On tap at Nick's in Bloomington.

A - Really hazy dark amber color with light caramel lacing floating on too.

S - Toasted caramel with earthy hops over top. Malt forward on the nose.

T - Toasted sweet caramel base from start to finish while ending with a light earthy bitterness to balance things out.

M - Medium body with light, prickly carbonation.

O - Nicely balanced and easy drinking.

 

 

Reviewed from notes.

Pours a moderate amber color with an off white head and a tad bit of lacing. Nose brings caramel, bread dough, and a bit of a nutty character. The taste is some lightly roasted malt and a bit of bread. Slight caramel characteristics. Good body with moderate carbonation. Drinks fairly well, but there isn't anything terribly unique about it.

Poured into a pint glass. Noticed on the bottle I had that it was bottled in September 2008 --way past its freshness date. A fresh bottling probably would yield a better experience.

A: Nice rich reddish/brown color. Head was short lived, due to the age of the beer.

S: A faint aroma of toasty grains. Not much else I could smell.

Taste: Rich creamy flavors of caramel, butterscotch/toffee, and oak with a nice light dry hopped finish. Taste wasn't bad considering the age of this brew.

Mouthfeel: Nice amount of carbonation. A bit chewy with a slight sweetness.

Drinkability: This was a nice amber not the best I have tasted. I know a fresher batch of this brew would have yielded better results. My fault for not looking at the born on label before I bought it. It looks like they have discontinued it so don't know if I'll have a chance to try it again. In comparison to new Belgium's Fat Tire I would give Fat Tire the edge in a taste off, but not a bad session brew.

On tap at upland brewery. This is a brownish gold color, much like an apple juice. About a finger head that then reduced down to about a thin layer that stayed during the drink.

Smell is grainy and malty. I get a scent of maybe some toffee.

Tastes sweet, with a slight bitter finish, I can taste the malts mostly.

It's a good beer if you're drinking local or going to upland, I'm not going out of my way for it, but enjoyed it.

Picked up as part of a sompler 12 pack while driving from KC to NY stat this summer. 12 ounce bottle, with bottled on dating info notched onto the side of the label (Feb 08) Pours muddy/cloudy darker amber, and an equally darker khaki head. Just spots of lace. Bread infused nose. Middle of the road/respectable amber. Malt/Hops evened out. Not the style of beer I seek out. However its a quality product and would work fine as a sessioner in a pinch. For me this type of brew is best put use in a marinade for pork or chicken...call me crazy...

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Bottled Dec. of 08 according to the label.

It has the look of apple cider. Kind of dull colored with a reddish brown cloudy look. Head was decent with a finger width of creamy off-white foam topping the beer from a moderately aggressive pour. The head receded to a thin layer atop the fluid.

Smell is grainy sweet, malty, with hints of toffee. There is a slight tinge of sour hanging out in the periphery. Hints of dried apricots show up as well.

Taste is sweet malty toffee in the nose which quickly gives way to a sour astringency that kind of dominates the overall taste.

Mouthfeel is adequate with semi-low carbonation and silky smoothness.

Drinkability is fairly good. This beer is not offending anyone, but at the same time isn't challenging taste buds.

nice amber color, a bit of brown color. a massive head settles down to a lacing and a full top.

aromas of nutty, caramel malty vanilla.

a fantastic balance between its nutty, bitter hops and its creamy, sweet malt. caramel and butterscotch.

slightly dry mouthfeel but passes as good.

highly drinkable and about the best damn Upland bottled beer I have ever had.

Pours a somewhat cloudy dark amber color with a huge frothy slowly receding 3 finger head. Smells earthy with pines and malts dominating the nose. First sip is very balanced with the malts complimented by some caramel and citrus notes. Mouthfeel is quite good and well carbonated as bubbles lovingly dance on my tongue. Very flavorful for the style. This is my first exposure to Upland's products other than their fine lambics. I am not disappointed.

A - A firm but small cap is khaki in color, and quickly reduces to a collar and haze. The brew is a ruddy brown/red russet potato hue and it's really cloudy and opaque. This is a really dark color for an amber ale! A swirl brings back a big cap and leaves a small amount of wet lace on the glass.

S - Toasty toffee and caramel. Whole wheat toast with a touch of butter and the slightest hint of apricot jelly. Smells nice and toasty, but it's not very assertive or complex.

T - Lots of hidden hops come out in the flavor! This didn't smell hoppy in the least, but the German-ish noble hop profile is really powerful and somewhat out of place here. Dirty and sandy like a riverbed, and there is an almost "fresh sprig of mint" flavor too. All of the lovely toast and toffee aromas are completely absent in the taste. Tastes a lot like SA lager honestly.

M - Super-carbonated, light bodied, but gritty and sandy too. I like grit and sand textures in a beer, so this ain't bad. The problem is the overwhelming carbonation.

D - This looks pretty and smells decent, but then falls flat on it's face. Where is smells toasty and sweetly malted, it tastes like a bad bottle of SA Boston lager. This is just a cluster-f*ck of odd flavors and over-done carbonation. Not good.

I really liked this amber. It came out in the glass with a nice copper color. Not much head, but good lacing. It had a very pleasing scent, nice and clean with a great malt/hop balance, and kind of reminded me of a fruit and nut chocolate bar. Good taste, again a very nice malt/hop balance. It goes down smooth and is well worth a try.

Poured from a growler into a pint glass.

A-cloudy brownish red color, with about one finger of head, small amount of lacing

S-very malty, bit of hops

T-much the same as smell with a little bit of toasty carmel thrown in.

M-very creamy, maybe a little to much carbonation

D-I will definatly pour another glass

This must be one of those beers thats really dependent on the batch from the reviews i'm reading. I personally really enjoyed the pack I picked up.

Poured a light brown slightly orange color with about a finger of off white head. Minimal lacing.

Smelled pretty typical of an "amber" ale whatever you want to make of that.

Tasted slightly sweet on the tongue at first and then the malt character really came out and spread its wings followed by a clean, subtle hop finish.

It was drinkable enough that I had 3 in one short sitting. A relatively "soft" amber ale.

Ver bad ale all around. An orangy-cloudy appearance topped by a dirty grey head. Musty, slightly sour aroma. Drank like thin near beer, Somewhat sweet, thin, with little body or hop bitterness. Just blah.

This is one of the reasons I usually avoid anything marketed as amber ale. The brewer put such little effort into this ale, one wonders why they even bothered.

Hazy peach body is topped by an immense almond head. Excellent retention and creamy and chunky lacing. Nice looker. Aroma is underwhelming, with grassy hops and grainy caramel maltiness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and a bit overcarbonated. Taste is well balanced with a grassy hops bitterness melding well with the toasty caramel maltiness. Nicely drinkable, but not a lot of excitement here.

Pours a light tan, but is mostly egg white and spongey. Leaves some light, and equally spongey lacing. Lots of tiny suspended yeast particles to give the beer a slightly hazey affetct for what is usually a more clearly perceived beer style. The aroma is a light creamy malt aroma with hints f caramel flavoring and Pilsbury biscuit dough. The taste makes me think of Mishawaka Brewery. Very syrupy in its malts. But a very nice balanc eof medium bitterness and medium caramel and toasty amber malts. Smooth and mild bodied makes this a very sessionable beer.

Upland Amber arrived in a pint glass, dark rust colored and lightly hazed. The head was creamy and dense, tan in color. The lace was thick and sticky.
The smell was nutty, sweet malt, caramel, grassy hops and faintly grainy.
The taste was nutty and earthy with sweet caramel malts, a faint bitterness, and a bit of grassiness with a lingering grainy twang.
The body was medium-light and the carbonation was moderate.
This is definitely a sessionable beer. I did not find it to be earth shattering, but respectable Amber and another solid offering from our friends at Upland.

Appearance- Poured from 12oz. bottle to pint glass. Makes one inch head, leaves a pretty decent amount of lacing as it goes. Dark brownish-ruby color, a light cloudiness shows off its richness

Smell- Mostly of sweet malts, a little alcohol harshness comes through too which was surprising

Taste- Most of the taste is the sweet caramel malt, leaving very little bitterness in the aftertaste. A good creamy sweetness throughout. Although not complex, it is enjoyable.

Mouthfeel- Probably the highlight of this brew is the mouthfeel. It has a creamy yet light feel, juicy in the mouth, and still crisp. Really enjoyable and what would draw me to this beer again.

Drinkability- Pretty good, I'd say. Nothing crazy going on here with this brew, just a tasty/sweet amber ale that's refreshing and easy to drink, which is good enough reason for me to but it again.

My first review. 12 oz. bottle, bottled on date September of 2005. From a mixed micro case.

Pour produces minimal head. Nice ruby color. Fairly murky. Leaves a decent amount of lacing on the pint glass. Tastes nice and malty. Don't know what it is about this beer, but I love the way if feels on my tounge and the way the feel of the beer stays in my mouth, if that makes sense. Taste is nice and refreshing, but at the same time not exciting enough to have more than a couple before moving on to something else.