Lucky Enough Amber
Cellar Brewing Company

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Cellar Brewing Company's Lucky Enough Amber last week for $1.89 at The Lager Mill. I'm still on the fence about this brewery, but I thought I would give their Amber a try, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks ok, I don't really understand it and it's not too eye catching. It poured a nice caramel color that took took on more a brighter amber color when held to the light and it had two fingers worth of creamy light tan head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This was a pretty good looking Amber Ale, I have no complaints at all.

S- The aroma starts off with a lower amount of high sweetness with the malts being the first to show up and they impart a sweet malt, toasted, and bready aroma with some light caramel and toffee aromas showing up in the background. Up next comes a pretty fruity aroma with stone fruits seeming to stick out the most, but there's some dark fruit like aromas in the background along with some doughy yeast. Towards the end I get a slight aroma of earthy hops. This beer had a nice aroma that was definitely on the malty side.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness followed by the malts being the first to show up and they impart the same aspects that they did in the aroma with the toasted and caramel malt flavors sticking out the most with some nice biscuit like flavors showing up in the background. Up next comes a nice but slightly lighter fruity aspect with no single fruit sticking out the most. On the finish come the hops which impart a earthy and slightly spicy flavor and a lower amount of medium bitterness that lingers just a little along with a fruit, toasted and caramel malt like aftertaste. This was a nice tasting beer and I found the taste to be more balanced than the aroma.

M- Smooth, a little clean, slightly crisp, medium bodied with a higher amount of low carbonation. This beer had a decent mouthfeel, but I wish it was crisper with a little more carbonation.

Overall I thought this was a nice beer and I thought it was a solid example of an Amber Ale, the aroma made me think that this was going to be a very malt forward Amber Ale, but when I got to the taste it turned out to be hoppier than I expected and I thought that brought nice balance to the taste. This beer had nice drinkability, it was smooth, a little clean, slightly crisp, not too filling and the taste did a nice job at holding my attention, I think I could drink a couple of these, but the taste might wear on me after that so two would be my limit. What I like the most about this beer was the balance in the taste, it was pretty good and both the hops and the malts were represented nicely. What I liked the least about this beer was the mouthfeel, it wasn't bad, but I wish it had a little more carbonation so it would be a little more crisp. I might buy this beer again when I'm in the mood for the style, but it isn't something that I'm always going to keep in the fridge and I would recommend giving it a try. All in all I liked this beer and I thought it was a solid Amber Ale, it delivered most of the things that I want from the style and it ended up surprising me with some nice balance. It's not my favorite Amber Ale, but it is now my favorite beer from Cellar Brewing Company. Nice job guys, this one was pretty solid, keep up the good work.