Hook & Ladder Ember Amber
Hook & Ladder Brewing Company (No. 2)

 

 

 

pours out a crimson hue with a thin light tan head and minmal lace. light malty aroma...you can tell that this is a blend. cocoa and vanilla hints. the taste is rather lackluster with the golden ale character still showing off diacetyl and the brown only giving it more buttery and marshmellow notes. it has a cereal characteristics...maybe rice krispie bars made with cocoa or chocolate puffs, etc. whatever. medium bodied...smooth, clean and a bit crisp mouthfeel. the slickness i've been experiencing so far with these H&L offerings seems to be somewhat muted in this concoction. reserved drinkability. i'm bored with this.

overall...with having the brown yet to review...i was wholly underwhelmed with this "black and tan". or amber...or whatever the brewer was trying to accomplish. good causes aside, brew a beer that is worthy of the charity.

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a dark amber color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is malty, some sweetness. Taste is also malty, some sweetness, easy drinking and refreshing. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an interesting and quality brew.

 

Appearance: Light brown in color, small head recedes to a ring around the edges.

Smell: Barley malt , light caramel and a soft cereal grainyness.

Taste: Follows the nose closely, caramel malt, sweet grains. Little to no hops, tea like and mild. Ho hum, but nothing out of place. See it more as an Amber than a Black n Tan, though it is a blend.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied.

Overall: A decent beer overall. Mild and easy enough to drink.

poured chilled in an ale glass

A: copper orange color; small head, rather inert; bits of lacing left over
S: brown sugar, raisin
T: orange, brown sugar, sweet; unlike other reviewers I didn't mind the taste at all; it's not complex, but I didn't have high expectations in this area either

overall, a decent sessioning beer.

Let's see two beers I didn't particularly didn't care for, blended together as a black and tan. Good idea? Appears a dark amber murky brown hue with alight beige head forms fine speckled lacing. Let's take a smell of it...some malty dark roasted malt layers with herbal hops cooking in the back end. Actually like biscuit dough and yeast cakes is what I'm getting in the smell. A malt driven slightly sour dough bread flavor with some dark roasts and pale cocoa driven malt kicking the backend of this beer. I'm okay with these guys I'm a nurse and they are firefighters donating toward local burn centers for anybody out there who has seen a bad burn victim believe me you'll never argue with this foundation/fundraising group. Does that concept make this a better black and tan, of course not, but it is what it is a contract brewed charity driven beer label brewed in Wilkes Barre PA and the actual company is based out of Maryland.

Poured into a pint glass from a 12 oz. twist off bottle, this beer shows a clear golden amber with a half inch of shell white foam. Decent retention and lacing as the carbonation keeps a steady cap on the glass.

Watery caramel notes on the nose mix with some earthy hops along with some roasted grain. Hop presence improves notably with warming.

Roasted notes and a bit of brown sugar are in the forefront in the flavor initially. This segues to a rather thin body on the swallow as there is a steep gradient between the initial taste, where the brown ale is dominant, to the finish where the lightness of the golden ale component is dominant. Drinks a bit like a Schwarzbier in that sense. This too becomes more muted with some warming and exposure. A bit wishy washy on the feel but fairly drinkable once you become accustomed to it.

Note: 5.2% and considered a 'Black & Tan' by the brewer as this is a blend of 65% Golden Ale and 35% Backdraft Brown Ale. Regardless, it drinks more like an amber give the light texture and notable sweetness.

My fiance picked this up for me at Cost Plus in the create your own six pack thing.

Appearance- dark amber color, little head

Smell- bready malt, kinda average and plain aroma, nothing really stood out for me

Taste- some sweetness, bit of malt

Mouthfeel- light to medium bodied

Drinkability- ok, I would drink it again. Definitely not bad

Pours a clear and dark amber ale, almost brown, with a faint off white head.

Aromas are faint, some nuttiness and breads. But not much going on here.

Taste is dry, with a light nutty flavor. There is a touch of sweetness, some caramel, and an underlying creaminess. Finish has a little crispness, and a light mineral hop bite.

Mouthfeel is a little prickly. It feels pretty full though.

Drinkability is ok. This is pretty boring, but it's not bad. While drinking this I kept thinking that the brown ale component of this might pretty good. But this just tastes to me like a brown ale that has been watered down a bit.

12 oz bottle poured into a Sierra Nevada Imperial Pint. No date or info. 65% Golden Ale, 35% Backdraft Brown Ale.

A - Amber brown and clear in color with a low off-white head. Poor retention and virtually no lacing on the glass.

S - The aroma bursts with sweet honey and pale base malts with a bit of bready, darker malts. A straight-forward aroma with no hop nose.

T - Crisp hop flavor that barely stands out. The malts disappear into the background while that honey sweetness is knocked back a bit in the flavor.

M - Incredibly sharp carbonation that bites the whole way through. A light body and a dry, very slightly bitter finish. Thin overall.

D - A mediocre beer at best, the harsh carbonation bothers me the most. It's so damn filling! Besides that, there really isn't much to behold here. It's all bland. I would never turn it down but its another Hook and Ladder I wouldn't search out.

This is ok and pleasant, with at least some character, but it's very simple and slightly on the sweet side. The bottle says it's a black and tan, a blend of their golden and brown ales.

Dark amber, slightly brownish, it has a small off-white head soon dissipating to a foamy ring and some wispy hints of weak lace.

The aroma is a mix of light, simple elements: mild toasted grain, hints of caramel, grapes, yeast, mineral.

The taste is light whole wheat, slightly musty, apple, light mineral and caramel/brown sugar. Elements are subdued, not meshed particularly well, simple a,d it's a bit on the sweet side with little bitterness. However, it's pleasant, has at elast some character, and is only slightly onthe seet sidel, almost getting a dryish finish.

12 oz bottle poured into a zotten glass - fridge - 2009

Appearance: A copper colored, transparent ale has some carbonation, and builds the ivory head rapidly. A 2" head develops quickly and shows good retention. Some lace remains behind.

Smell: Bready biscuits and caramel base malt. Slight nuttiness of almond and buttered english muffins.

Taste: A nicely balanced beer that is bitter and malty at the same time. Biscuits are sweet with a hop bitterness that takes over the finish.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth and balanced with good carbonation and sweetness.

Drinkability: An all around approachable, sessionable brew that could be consumed all year round. Not a barnburner, but a solidly crafted beer.

Pretty polished bronze color, active carbonation producing little head.
Milled malts of biscuit, caramal and hints of darker roasts in the nose.
Malty on initial bite, lingering sugars woth a slightly metallic twange. Bitters pain the back sides of the tongue upon the beers departure.
Pretty solid, if not down right quaffable.

Poured into a pint glass, very thin head formed, disappeared quickly. As advertised, it is an amber color, but the whole "ember" bit...not understanding it. I expected to taste a roasted malt out of this beer but it is pretty plain. I have had darker, fuller black and tans before. The hops are practically non-existent and I feel like I'm tasting a generic, mainstream beer. It's light enough to throw back a few of these, but I'd rather not. Definitely not my favorite from Hook and Ladder.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: It had a light white color head that quickly faded out leaving no lacing behind. Its body was a deep amber color with very good clarity.

Smell: The aroma had a light sweet malty character with just a hint of hops coming through.

Taste/Mouth feel: Its flavor was much the same as its aroma with a big malty body and some mild hops. Its texture is smooth with light carbonation, a medium body and a sweetish finish.

Notes: Overall it's not bad at all but it's also not a standout either.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

This is a blend of their Golden and Backdraft Brown. I just had the Backdraft Brown, and I'm smelling and tasting much more of it than the Golden in this "black and tan."

Pours a dark amber. Small head, decent retention, thin lacing.

It smells like Backdraft Brown, just with pale malts instead. Watery chocolate, grains, caramel, complete lack of hop character. Yeah, just like Backdraft Brown.

It tastes like Backdraft Brown, except with a lager-y grain aftertaste. The pale malt backbone, however, provides more character in Ember Amber. I don't want to say depth, so character will have to do.

Body is pretty thin, pretty light and watery texture. It's a decently smooth drinker, though, and mostly inoffensive.

Pours a dark amber color, good clarity with some bubbles rising to the top. Two fingers of light beige head settle pretty quickly leaving only a thin lace and minimal stick on the sides.

Smells of some pale malt, caramel, a bit of grain. I really don't get much in the way of hops.

Taste has a biscuity, pale malt base with a touch of caramel sweetness. Also has a bit of a grainy bite and an earthy, woodsy sort of flavor in the finish. I'd actually describe the finish as being 'dirty' in flavor, as it feels sort of ashy and tastes a bit bland and earthy. Really no hops to speak of. I also start to get just a bit of cocoa powder in the finish, the only real brown ale sort of character to speak of.

Mouthfeel is a light medium body with a somewhat chalky/ashy finish. Carbonation is appropriate and it's decently smooth.

There really isn't much too this. Not much flavor, and really no detectable hops to even provide some balance. Could use more caramel sweetness and just a minimal hop profile to balance it out a bit more. Bland is the best word to describe it.