Ambear Red Ale
Cameron's Brewing Co.

Ambear is labelled as a red ale, yet tastes nothing like a red ale. Nor does it taste like an amber for which the beer name toys with. In my experience, Ambers typically have a hint of vanilla finishing sweet and smooth while Reds have a hint of caramel finishing either richer like caramel or a tad dry like pecan. Ambear is unique and improperly labeled in my opinion. Ambear is like a red-coloured IPA containing that dreadfully bitter grapefruit skin taste, a hallmark of the IPA genre. A similar example: St-Ambroise Black IPA by McAuslan Brewing calls itself a black or dark beer which coerces those of us dark, stout or porter lovers, but you can’t mask that IPA bitterness…. the same goes with Ambear. At least Ambroise warns you ahead of time.

Poured 473ml can into a pint glass. A three finger light tan head on a clear dark reddish brown. The head diminished to a thin layer. Some fine lacing.

Biscuit and caramel malt smells. The taste follows the nose. Lightly citrus hopped. a mild hop finish.

Creamy mouthfeel. Medium body and carbonation.

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL, from my favourite The Beer Store on Goyeau St. in nearby downtown Windsor. My eighth beer from the Oakville, Ontario brewery, and first for 2025.

 

 

Look: Chestnut brown with hints of red. Two finger beige head settles down to a froth across the top in 5 minutes.
Smell: Sweet whole wheat bread and malt
Taste: Very sweet, and malt heavy, a little bit of almond, earthy.
Feel: A bit astringent on the top of the palate, smooth and medium bodied.
Overall a solid B, nothing stands out, but something I could see myself enjoying again.

 

 

 

 

Had this from a standard 473 ml Canadian pint can. It is red as advertised, primarily tasting of malt (though not especially sweet) and some hop. It's a decent example of the style, but it's not a style I drink frequently.

 

 

 

 

I brought back a can of this from Toronto whilst there for business. It poured a clear amber with thin white head that is leaving a spotty lace. The scent had hints of sweet malt. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it was a solid beer.

 

I am not going to mince words here. This (so called) beer is absolute garbage. It lacks any style, tastes like dirty water, in the mold (mold, how apropos) of Rickard's Dark.
Certainly one of the worst beverages I have tried and most of it went down the drain.

Old school Ontario small brewery beer. It really more a porter in flavour and cream ale in body and also differs from the original with less hoppy character. Gateway beer

Purchased as a 473 ml can from the LCBO, served well chilled in a pint glass.

This beer is enticing from the pour - a deep mahogany red in the glass with a tan head. The initial aroma I detected was actually of red berries – but this dissipated quite quickly and turned to malt, and grain.

On the pallet this beer was not a typical red ale for me with flavours of chocolate, espresso, and sweet maltiness. Well balanced hops made this quite an enjoyable pour.