Almost Heaven Amber Ale
Mountain State Brewing Co.

This might sound crazy, but somehow this beer tastes almost exactly the same to me as Abbot Ale by Greene King in England... one sip brought me right back to the memory of that. Anyway, that means this gets almost the same rating as that, for basically the exact same reasons. This is a very sweet beer, too much like a dessert to want more than one. Extreme caramel and toffee and even butterscotch come to mind. But it's not bad at being that, so if you like that in a beer, this is a good choice.

 

 

A malty, almost woody amber ale. Not enough here for me to reach for another. A taste of days gone by and fits as mountain brewery product.

Served in a 12-oz can less than three months old, which I poured into a styrofoam cup, because that’s all that was available at the Greenbrier River Trail Marathon packet pickup, which is where I got this.

Look: Light amber, with a considerable white head that lingered.

Nose: Very little, but mostly a sour scent.

Attack: A little malt, but mostly sour.

Finish: The sour gets even worse.

Mouthfeel: Thin.

Overall: I don’t like to be hard on a beer or the people that worked at developing and brewing it … still, this was pretty bad.
Maybe the cup had something to do with it, but … the cup was clean, and a sniff and a sip straight from the can had the same sour nose and taste. I’d wonder about bacteria in the brew or the in-brewery preparation, because the beer was served cold and unopened, and less than three months old. I didn’t come close to finishing the beer — it was that unenjoyable.

Upon reading the rest of the reviews of this beer, I’m strongly suspecting production problems with this batch.

 

 

 

Taster at brewery. Dark golden, clear, fine white head. Malty aroma and taste, no toastiness, no nuttiness. Tastes more like a cream ale. Really lacking in the malt department.

Enjoyed a pint while having lunch with Da Boss at the Morgantown riverside brewpub 5-22-23 for $5.50.

Beer was served amber with a nice off-white head with the original pour.

Nose was caramelized malts and not much else.

Taste was a light caramel malt base that was tinged with some grassy and citrus hops which led to a balanced finish.

Mouthfeel was light to medium bodied and pretty refreshing.

Overall a nice beer to have when coming off the hiking trail, decent beer.

 

12 ounce can poured into a tumbler style pint glass .

L: Hazy but translucent copper, some slow rising bubbles visible, half inch off-white head fades to a ring inside of a minute.
S: Light fruit, caramel.
T: Malt and hop balanced, both moderately sweet and bitter, light fruit/floral hops, caramel and woody/nutty malt.
F: Smooth and a bit creamy, medium body and carbonation.
O: Very average, safe option but a bit lack-luster.