Owyhee Amber Ale
Beer Valley Brewing Co.

 

 

Decent amber ale. cloudy amber with small creamy beige head. Mild malty aroma, more malt in the taste, with dry finish. Just OK, nothing special, but I really these guys as brewers.

 

 

Pours a murky orange-brown with a foamy beige head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Small patches of lace slowly drip into the remaining beer on the drink down. Smell is of toasted malt, earth, and slight citrus zest aromas. Taste is much the same with flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of earth bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is an above average beer that is drinkable, but it's fairly boring for the style in my opinion.

 

 

 

To preface this, I am absolutely shocked about the high level of praise this beer has gotten. I developed an impression of it independent of seeing anything on this site, and I'll write my review according to that.

I popped this bottle open at a party last night. I was moderately intrigued by the smell, which was very sweet and malty. However, I was utterly dissapointed with the taste. Sickly sweet, cloying, and heavy, I choked down the first couple sips. I'd say the body on this beer is really far on the high side of the spectrum for the style, reminding me of a scotch ale or sweet porter: not refreshing or crisp at all. Though I noticed some complexity to the malt profile, I also noticed this slight 'soggy vegetable' taste that I've come to associate with certain commercial breweries. All in all, I ended up pouring out the rest of the bottle as I had some homebrew on tap that was much more enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice sudsy orange appearance in the tall goblet. Soft, mineral-water flavor. Barely detectable aroma, and just a hint of caramel in the nose. A beery mouthful. Maybe it would be better on tap and ice cold. Fairly bitter in the aftertaste. Hops are kind of dirty tasting.

So easy-drinking is goes down almost unnoticed. Seems like the classic Amber-- muddled flavor and not very interesting. 22 oz bottle from Beer Revolution in Oakland.

 

Poured from tap into pint glass at Nano-brew festival PDX.

This is a seriously good, very drinkable amber ale. Pours with a lovely amber/red hue but with very light head and lace.

Nose is very English/German, lots of Munich malts. Gives of a very lager-like aroma with a good dose of yeast (bread dough) notes. Confirmed on palate: very lager like, but not that metallic note that one often finds in lagers. Very richly flavored on the palate though lacking in complexity.

Texture is medium with good grip and a nice finish, slightly drying and tannic. Not too sweet.

Overall a very good, very easy to drink amber that I would recommend as a good 'session' style ale.

Served in straight pint glass. Poured a clean, clear, reddish amber color with over an inch of foamy khaki head that OK retention and good lacing.

The aroma was hop forward, much moreso than most of the style, with a nice malt foundation. The flavor was also hop dominant, piney and some citrus, with some malt sweetness on the finish.

The body was fairly typical for the style,medium and a little sticky. Drinkability was pretty good, if you're in the mood for a medium body, easy drinking brew, this would be a good choice.

Overall, a nice little brew. A bit hoppier than I look for in the style, but enjoyable nonetheless. Worth seeking out.

On-tap at Beachwood BBQ,

A: Pours amber with a nice white head, lots of concentric lace.

S: Sweet caramel, syrup, an attractive sugary smell.

T: Great depth of caramel flavour in this. The malt steals the show and is delicious. I liked how the hops really stayed in the background. So many times with ambers, you get an IPA with a little more malt and the flavours clash. Not here.

M: Smooth, medium-bodied, soft carbonation.

D: Quite surprising, a very good amber ale, one of the best of the style I've had.

A: poured a opaque amber with a thin white head that left decent sticky lacing

S: molasses, malts and sweet sugar aromas up front with hints of nuts and caramel.

T: malty nutty flavor with slight hops, caramel, and booze.

M: medium body with light carbonatio and a light bitter finish.

D: decent beer from beer valley and went down good but probably will not seek out more of this.

Serving type - 22 oz bomber into pint glass

A - Pours a nice, semi-cloudy copper. Leaves a medium lacing around the glass.

S - Faint malt, hops, pine, grassy-type grains

T - Slight caramel-like, toasty malts, with faint, herbal hops, and some cereral-like grains in there as well. Pretty decent flavor profile, but could use a bit more of it IMHO.

M - Nice, medium bodied mouthfeel that offers the ideal texture for this style of beer.

D - Highly sessionable, probably the strong point here. This is easy-drinking for sure.

Overall - IMO, not as flavorful as some of the other Ambers out there, but by no means a bad one. Rather quaffable, and this brewery does have some other, fantastic offerings, that are more worth seeking out.

Pours a slightly cloudy amber color with a nice tan head.

Aromas are faint. Light pine hops and an grainy note similar to grape nuts.

Taste is pretty bland. Not much here other than light sweetness, some cereal grainy flavors, and a faint pine hop crispness on the finish.

Mouthfeel is ok, light feeling, but the carbonation is pretty good.

Drinkability is decent. This is a pretty uninteresting beer, not much here to like or dislike.

pours a clear copper-red with a medium off-white head, and good lacing.

smell is of pear, caramel, and earth.

taste is smooth, sweet malt, and caramel, ends smooth, and a little on the sweet side.

overall not that bad of an amber ale, a little too sweet for me, but others im sure will like it.

I bought a bomber of Owyhee Amber Ale at a grocery store. Poured into a pint glass.

Pours a shiny copper color and clear. Little one-finger head foamy head is not particularly resilient.

Smell is a soft sweet aroma, like dates or raisins.

Taste is a caramel malt flavor with a mild grass flavor and sweet vinegar bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and very smooth.

Very drinkable very sessionable amber ale. I'm not much on the style, but this may be the most palatable amber I ave ever had.

NOTE: The name Owyhee: "Owyhee" and "Hawaii" are two different spellings for the same word.

From BeerAdvocate Magazine Volume II, Issue I:

What is in the name? Owyhee is a tributary of the Snake River and flows through one of the most sparsely populated areas in the US, hence the wildlife art of the label.

Stunning clarity with a pale copper hue. Quickly rising foam drops a substantial amount of lacing on the glass. Clean malty aroma shows mild toasted grain, hint of caramel and crisp hay bales. Big on smoothness and creamy as this beer flexes its medium body to the max. Lots of complex maltiness, heavy biscuit and dried grass with tones of toasted bread and mild caramel in the back. Clean palate with little from the alcohol or yeast. Hops come through enough to keep this beer balanced.

The maltiness is lovely with pleasing complexities. This is the other side of craft beer that is not talked about enough--easy drinking session beers that are all about flavor. What a spectacular amber ale to be had.

22 oz. bottle:

Pours amber with a thin off-white head that slowly becomes a wide patch. Traces of lacing stick.

The smell is of caramel, light toast/biscuit and a hint of pineapple.

The taste is of sweet caramel with soft tropical (pineapple) note. Mild tea-like spiciness mixes in in the finish to give the sweet maltiness some balance.

It has a medium, somewhat oily, slightly buttery, body.

A malt-forward, easy-drinking amber.

Pours a cloudy amber color, some carbonation, little fizzy off-white head, with some sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with some hop notes, spicy, and some caramel. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, some hoppyness, spicy, with lots of caramel. Medium body. Drinkable, a nice little Amber Ale.

slightly grassy hop aroma. Sweet malt underneath with a little bit of diacetyl.

Color is nice amber with a good head that leaves solid lacing. And it is VERY clear.

Flavor profile is largely base malt (2-row) and some medium crystal. I think there is a hint of roast malt in there for color and it adds just a bit to the flavor. Hop bittering is pretty subdued but apparent. It isn't sweet but it is definitely malt dominant. I get some fruity/estery yeast effect too.

Medium bodied with a kind of aggressive carbonation level.

Overall a decent session beer.

Picked up a bomber from BevMo in late November for $3.49.

Beer poured amber wih an off white head that has sustained well. Nose is toasted malts. Taste is predominated by the toasted malts finishing with a metallic hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is crisp and clean like a lager. Drinkability is good except for the metallic finish.

Pours clear amber with a thick off-white head. Sweet caramel aroma with earthy grain. More caramel malt in the taste. A nice roasted malt, honey, and earthy, pine hop flavors blend well. Bitter metallic finish detracts a little. The earthiness also does not go well with a red ale.

Aroma: Citrus like almost piney. It's not a punch you in the face smell but it's there to be noticed.
Appearance; Amber in color, clear, very crisp.
Flavor: Almost grapefruit taste. Hoppy and some what bitter after taste.
Mouth feel: A lot of carbonation here. Still some of the bitter after taste hangs in there.
Overall: A nice crisp and clean beer. Low alcohol beer and shows it's characters very well. I don't get much of the malt taste you would probably find in an ale. I think the hoppy citrus flavor come really through. Great session beer.

Clear red colored beer with a tall tan colored head.

Smell is sweet and malty with a slight smoky aroma. Good bread aroma to this one with a slight herbal aroma. Faint pine from hops and a lot of chocolate aroma from the malts.

The taste starts out dry and stoutly hopped with a malty aftertaste. Long lasting bitter snap this is a refreshing beer.

Mouthfeel is good.

Quite a likable beer here not super complex but willing to please.

My first observation was a strong release of carbonation. Upon popping off the cap, a steady surge of foam arose upwards through the bottleneck like magma. Score one for active bottle conditioning. Next comes a sweet maltose aroma with fruity, almost strawberry esters, and a very accommodating flavor of nutty toasted malts. Throw in a clean finish and a big chewy mouthfeel and this one scores high marks for drinkability.

Owyhee is named for a region of Idaho not far from the eastern edge of Oregon where this amber ale is brewed. The beer is light amber though not fully clear due to active yeasts. It delivers a skillful interplay of specialty malts and is mostly sweet with nutty accents. The hops regimen shows judicious restraint.

This is the kind of beer you could drink every day. It's a thoughtful session ale that's engaging without being overly assertive in any direction.

The Owyhee Amber ale poured the color it should based on its name, with a 1-2 finger foam head and some wicked sea foam lacing.

The smell was malty - bready like and gave off what the smell an amber would. It was moderately hopped and finished with a good bitterness. It was pretty crisp and had a good malty backbone that gave off caramel and bread malts. Overall it was a good ale.

Another beer from brentk56, from another nice trade, thanks mucho! - and the clear amber ale poured nicely into the Corsendonk tulip. Plenty of ivory head and sticky laces.

Lots of woody and earthy aroma, for an amber ale. Also a bit resinous in the quaff, with a subtle pop of chocolate toast. Easy sipping, lowish alcohol brew. Recommend giving one a try, especially if someone pops!

From a 22 oz bomber that I picked up at Belmont Station, where they carry the full Beer Valley line.

A: Moussy, full head with excellent lacing and retention; beautiful amber color and lots of carbonation. One of the best looking beers I've ever seen.

S: Strong biscuit malt matched with tea-like hop aromas. A good hop-malt balance that one looks for in an amber; slight sweetness, similar to candied fruit.

T: Lots of sweet malt (including some very clear hints of chocolate) up front gives way to herbal hop flavors and a nice, lingeringly bitter finish. Flavors of candied fruit, English breakfast tea, lemon, and grass. The malt sweetness is consistent across the palate and gives a really nice backbone for the different hop flavors (earthy, herbal, citrusy) to play around.

M: Again, the balance is beautiful, and it's fairly full bodied for the style. Given how carbonated it looks, I would have expected more spritz in the finish, as it ends feeling a little slick.

D: A near-perfect, slightly strong session beer.

Overall, this is one of the best ambers I've tasted--a beautiful example of the style with excellent balance and a complex set of hop flavors. Seek this one out.

A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces an almost three-finger thick, light tan colored head. The beer is a dark red stained, amber color that shows a clear, reddish copper color when held up to the light. Fruity hop notes mix with a toasty, biscuit malt like note in the nose. A pronounced aromas of berries, almost a strawberry note, some touches of sweet citrus, some red grape aromas, and lighter malt notes of pale-toasted grain and whole-grain crackers are noticeable in the aroma.

Lightly sweet tasting with a light berry flavor (at least compared to the note in the aroma), something a bit like citrus spiked cider, and some lightly herbal, steeped pine needle flavors all seem to mostly come from hop components. The malt steps up towards the finish with chewy, whole grain bread flavors, and a distinct, lightly toasted biscuit note that lingers nicely on the tongue in the finish. A light hop bitterness contributes throughout and contributes a clean bite towards the finish. Nicea and quaffable with a lightness that doesn't get thin and a persistent touch of carbonation.

A nice Amber ale that has a nicely noticeable hop character and some distinct malt notes, neither of which dominate or are overwhelming. Nice and easy drinking and a good example of the style; so it is not all that exciting.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ