Red Emperor Amber Ale
Fish Rock Brewery

 

Pours a very browney ambery colour, in fact it's exactly the hue I would call 'amber', perhaps with a slightly reddish tinge - this is presumably why the name, and for some reason I had thought after the first one I had that this was a red ale, but I guess I was wrong. No head, although there is a steady carbonation running up the middle, just not feeding into any foam at the top. A bit flat, but otherwise everything's in the right place.

Pleasant fruity smell with a slight hint of brown sugar permeating on the nose. Fair hint of hops as well and quite well rounded, with a good balance between the sweet and the bitter. My nose is a bit congested though, so allow for a certain margin of error. It smells quite good though, bodes well for the taste.

Taste is a little bit weak, although the same characters that attracted me to the nose are there. I think the main problem lies with the mouthfeel, which is very thin and watery. Front palate has a slight sugar 'n' spice feather touch but it doesn't last long, the mid palate introduces hops which stay to the end, but not in any bold and imposing way. It's a fairly well constructed palate, the flavours are there and in the right sort of order, but overall the whole thing is a bit thin; the flavours don't stretch the imagination, and the finish is bitter but bland. Maybe it's my months of drinking every IPA I can lay my hands on, but this seems like it's trying to have a bitter finish, but not quite making it.

Really though I just can't get past that dismal mouthfeel. There's just no body to this beer, it's like malt and hops were dissolved slowly into water. The characters would be more impressive if there were a foundation on which to stand, but they're falling through the cracks. Drinkable of course, but disappointing.

Pours a dim sort of orangy golden color with lots of white creamy head that is positively clinging to the glass. Usually 'amber ales' are darker than this, but whatever. There's a very faint aroma of yeast and nondescript sweetness. The taste is fairly sweet, with no bitterness to speak of, and not much flavor other than that. It's very 'clean'. Finishes somewhat dry. Mouthfeel is a little creamy with some carbonation scraping. This is very much like a macro lager, as opposed to an amber ale. Overall, if I wanted a macro lager, I'd get one, they're much cheaper. I won't be looking for it again.

Poured bright and clear with a golden color and a single-finger of slightly off white head which had a small amount of lacing down the glass. Fruity aroma that gets most its character from the hops. Nice crisp taste with a solid malt body and good citrus hints. Finished with a pleasant bitterness. Would definitely pick up some more of these in the future, goes down great and is very refreshing.

Amber this aint! This is more like an American Pale Ale as it pours a slightly cloudy light golden colour with a good compact white head which left plenty of lacing. Amora is predominatly hop driven; citrus and spice. This on a solid malt background. Flavour also predominantly hop driven; grapefruit and passionfruit with a clean bitter finish. Mouthfeel is very pleasant; carbonation relatively light and complementing the flavour.

Quite a surprise.