Amber Ale
Hilliard's Beer

 

Love this one! I had this on the brewery tour and I'm in love. Probably my favorite from this brewery (which is a must visit if you're in Seattle) it's super tasty and I could drink it all day!

Citrus, Caramel, Bitter, Bready

A bold Amber Ale that has a whole lot of malt backbone, needed as this one is hopped similar to an IPA. Our palates have a great time wading through the toffee maltiness and rind-like hoppiness. Juicy fruit, very bitter, dense herbal tone, toasted bread. Very enjoyable.

STYLE: American Amber Ale | ABV: 5.5% | AVAILABILITY: Year-round

Review from BeerAdvocate magazine issue #97 (FEB 2015)

 

 

I've never written a review before but feel compelled to after getting steadily hooked on this beer over the last few weeks. Usualy I only ever want to drink one or two beers when they are this hoppy but Hillard's Amber Ale is one that I can easily sink a few of. It's a bit annoying because I was quite happy with the cheap generic Swedish lagers but they don't cut it anymore, and Hillard's beers are about twice the price and come in smaller cans.

 

 

The colour is dark amber (25 EBC), the liquid is clear. The finger thick head is compact and off-white; it sinks slowly leaving lots of lacing on the glass.

The smell is hoppy and a little sour-bitter. Red fruits and berries, hints of rye bread and earth.

The taste is smooth and balanced: Red malts, clean bitterness, and floral hops. Some rose-hips and red apples. Medium body. In the aftertaste, the bitterness becomes rather sour, harsh and almost metallic. Rye bread and lemon-lime juice. The finish is metallic and a bit dense.

The carbonation is medium strong, the many small smooth bubbles creates a foam in my mouth. The liquid is smooth.

The sour-bitter-metalic flavours ruins this beer for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not to many Amber Ales are this full of taste, at least the ones I have tried anyway. I have tries all of Hilliards beers and this is their best one I think. There is something very High Tech about all their brews though, not your conventional Craft Style beers. These are all very fresh and crisp tasting. I have no way of knowing this but it seems like a group of dudes from Google, Microsoft, and or Amazon got together to start a brewery...you know very techy, kind of sterile or something.