Howitzer
Red Leg Brewing Company

12 oz can canned 12/19/25 into a small snifter.
L: Pours a deep radiant ruby mahogany color with a 1/4" creamy beige head that recedes to edge froth, very light carbo, full circumference lacing with dots and torn sheeting.
S: Caramel malts, a suggestion of fruit. Simple.
T: Lightly sweet caramel malts, apple, over ripe pear, plum skin, dark fruits bitterness, toasted grains, black tea, it has an orchard halo and a long gently bitter linger.
F: Smooth, silky medium bodied coating mouthfeel with a medium-long semi-dry finish.
O: Very tasty and incredibly smooth drinking. It's kind of fruity and has some bitter notes that arise and stay put then linger throughout the finish. A very easy-to-drink beer with no complex extremes. It is very good or perhaps even excellent.

Modest head production and retention. Very dark color with some haze. Almost more of a brown ale than an amber or red, but overall an attractive beer.

Lovely aroma, caramel malt-forward with notes of brown sugar and pecan, but with some balancing pine, pepper, leather, and grass from the hops. A touch of estery yeast expression as well.

Drinks lighter than the aroma, and with less overall flavor. It's quite drinkable for nearly 6% ABV. The mix of flavors don't quite work for me: nuts, prune, cola, and banana, with the caramel from the malt coming in secondary and the hops tertiary (their prominence almost entirely restricted to the back third). It's not a bad beer, but it's not quite up my alley. I could easily see myself enjoying this one at the brewery, but I wouldn't likely order it on tap or pick up a sixer.

12 oz can from Cullen
Into wide mouthed glass.

Pours a very saturated dark burnt ruby color with a thin creamy head. Not much lace as it's swirled.

Aroma from the can yields sweet nutty brown bread, caramel, and fig. Aroma from the glass yields subtle nuttiness and Quad-like sweetness.

Flavor is pleasantly sweet with notes of persimmon, fig, and molasses. Behind all of that, there's toasted malt, nutty brown bread, mild smoke, cream, and grass. It has shades of Quad. It's like a Quad-lite.

Feel is crisp and semi-creamy, with some starchiness. Moderate to high carbonation. No alcohol.

Overall, a pretty awesome amber ale that despite it being an old can still tastes pretty fine. I'd have it again.

 

 

 

Got in a trade with beergoot. 12 ounce can into pint glass, canned on 1/16/2019. Pours fairly hazy deep orange/copper/amber color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, citrus peel/zest, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of nuttiness, roast, peppercorn, pine, wood, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. A bit malty/muddy aromas, but not overwhelming. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/fairly earthy hops, and dark/bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, citrus peel/zest, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of nuttiness, roast, peppercorn, pine, wood, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, citrus peel/zest, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, nutty, roast, peppercorn, pine, wood, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/fairly earthy hops, and dark/bready malt flavors; with a solid malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Slight lingering chalky/resins. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.9%. Overall this is a very good amber ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/fairly earthy hops, and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mildly bitter/drying finish; great soft feel. Feels like Cascade/Centennial. Juicy, lightly dank/earthy hops; balanced dark/bready Munich malts. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Pretty generic and underwhelming; but very enjoyable and well made for the style intent.

Presents a deep, dark amber body topped with a frothy, sticky head. Crisp, honey-sweet aroma. The taste is an amplified version of the aroma; honey; light cereal grain presence; fairly decent hop bitterness to counteract the sweetness. Medium body; crisp with some heavy residual sugar prickliness; fairly sweet overall.

A pretty good and flavorful amber ale. It may be a bit too sweet for some, but is certainly worth a try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A - Served on tap into a standard pint glass, Howitzer Amber is a cloudy brownish-red, with a good looking off-white head.

S - Aroma is of sweet malt and honey. Fresh baked bread also comes to mind, along with the smell of over-ripe peaches.

T - Luscious and smooth. Malty sweetness combines with very mild hop bitterness to create a very pleasing flavor. I can taste a slight bit of licorice and even banana, along with some fruit juice-like flavors, such as grape and sweet apple, as well as a faint hint of caramel.

M - Medium to full body...leaning towards the full side of things. Does not feel heavily carbonated and goes down oh so very smooth.

O - A very flavorful ale, and certainly a twist on an Amber. Low hop bitterness makes this ale a malt-head's delight. This one is for the U.S. Army Field Artillery. Cheers.