Heavy Hearted Amber
Zaftig Brewing Co.

On tap.

Dark amber red pour with sweet toasted caramel aroma with some nuttiness and a slight bit of booze. Flavor follows the nose and finishes slightly on the sweeter side. Big medium body and not a huge fan of most Amber Ales but this is one that I definitely think is better than the current rating and would definitely buy again. This one is really enjoyable.

 

 

 

Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a pretty amber color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of caramel malts, nuts. Taste is caramel malts, nuts, some toffee, hops are present, alcohol is well hidden. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.

Canned on 1/28/21. 12oz can poured into a tulip. Pours a murky and hazy brown; creamy khaki head that fades leaving solid retention and lacing. Some sediment and floaties. The aromas are malt forward. Some caramel and toffee coming through. The flavors basically follow the nose. More caramel and lots of it. More toffee as well. Mild hints of citrus. Mild sweetness. Low bitterness. Strong malt backbone. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of full-bodied with active carbonation. It's sharp, spritzy, slick, smooth and slightly thin.

This is a solid "Imperial Red Ale". I'd call it an "Imperial Amber Ale" because it's simply an amped up version of a classic and traditional amber ale. This one is all about the malts, not the hops, and they definitely deliver in that aspect. It's enjoyable stuff. Not bad at all. I like it and it's better than my "numerical score" indicates.

 

Look: Brown with a tan two-finger head. Visible lacing, visible carbonation (but you need a lot of light to see through the beer)
Aroma: Sweet malt and green apple.
Taste: Sweetish, not cloyingly sweet but pleasantly sweet. Sweet like a good malt, caramel and toffee, but not like a dessert.
Flavor: Nutty toasted malt, fortunately the green apple aroma does not come through in the flavor.
Feel: Medium mouthfeel, medium carbonation. Slightly sweet on the finish.
Overall: A good solid brown ale. I would drink it again. Very flavorful, nice change of pace beer if you, like me, drink a lot of IPA’s. I find the 8% alcohol to be nicely concealed, though I see others have found it overpowering. I could drink these all night.

 

 

 

 

Bottle dated 9/17. Paneled mug.

A: pours a hazy dark Amber bordering on brown with a finger of sandy head. Lots of carbonation visible. No lacing.

S: straight out of the fridge it has some caramel melanoidins. Smells awesome. Improves as it warms.

T: wow, alcohol. Sweet, malty, and heavy. I can't say I liked it at first, but it got better as it warmed. Alcohol remained high.

M: heavy and slick. Carbonation stops it from being unpleasant, but it is kind of cloying.

O: I like easy drinking malty ambers. This is malty, alright, but nothing about it is easy. Heavy hearted is right. Sweet and bready. You really need to be in the mood for something like this. Could use more hop to balance it out.

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 9/26/2016. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy ruby red/light copper color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, citrus zest, light pine, light toffee/roast, grass, and floral/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt and light-moderate citrus/fruity hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, citrus zest, light pine, light toffee/roast, grass, and floral/toasted earthiness. Light pine/citrus peel bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, citrus zest, light pine, and floral/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and light-moderate citrus/fruity hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Slight dryness from lingering bitterness, lightly increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready, and slightly sticky/chalky/resinous balanced mouthfeel that is great. Fairly well hidden alcohol, a small warmth lingering after the finish for 8%. Overall this is a very nice imperial amber ale style. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and light-moderate citrus/fruity hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV. Very rich and complex on malts; pretty juicy and not too bitter on hop flavors. A very enjoyable offering.

At the brewery trying the Heavy Hearted Amber. It poured a deep clear mahogany with thin off white head that is leaving some lace. The scent is faint bitter hop. The taste is more bitter than expected...like a true english ipa. There is a touch of Maple syrup and booze. The Mouthfeel is medium in body with smooth carbonation. Overall it's ok certainly worth a try.

From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This very nice amber pours a luminous
chill hazed reddish mahogany with a nice head of off white foam that subsides
to a thin ring, thin pool, and nice sticky lacing. Nose of rich caramel malts, zesty
hop notes, and subtle booze. Flavors follow the nose but exceed by execution with
caramel notes and light citrus notes touched by brown sugars and spicy zesty hops.
Excellent mouth feel, crisp, refreshing, and finishing sweet with a zesty hoppy spicy
kick to it with warming alcohol. Overall an excellent brew made in the shadow of the
"Evil Empire"---aka Budweiser. Nice

Cheers