Mickey Finn's Amber Ale
Mickey Finn's Brewery

Serving: On tap, 4oz sampler
Served: 7 April

Appearance: Crystal clear copper color with a soft soapy head. Nice carbonation present even in the sampler glass. Leaves some lacing.

Smell: Soft, sweet malt notes with a hint of light caramel and fresh baked bread along with a pinch of spicy hoppiness.

Taste: This one goes down smooth and easy due to a simple malt backbone, approachable bitterness, and just the faintest assertion of hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium body and medium carbonation. Very drinkable.

Overall: An entry-level craft beer, which makes sense for it's being the best seller on the menu. A beer that goes down easy and has more flavor than the macros, but not something that'll knock your socks off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey I like this beer....Its a hoppy little amber. The beer poured a clear copperish amber with thin slightly off white head that is leaving a spotty lace. The scent has slight tones of malt and bitter citrus. The taste is a push of bitter citrus hop that is not over powering but definitely is present. The mouthfeel is a medium body beer with good carbonation. Overall it is a taste beer!

I've probably drank more ounces of this beer than any other craft beer in the entire galaxy. No lie. I must clarify: Since 1994, I've lived in three different homes, all probably within 15 minutes of the brewery. Other craft beers come and go, but Mickey Finn's Amber Ale is always awaiting my return ... like the prodigal son.

It is far from the best beer I've ever had (I highly doubt it's even in my top 50 or even 100). But, it comforts me like an old sweatshirt on a rainy Saturday afternoon. And, like a good friend, it keeps seeking me out. My local Jewel Grocery Store actually sells 12-packs of it!

On with the review:

A: Very pretty. A nice Amber (imagine that), crystal clear. Nice head and great lacing.

S: Floral and malty.

T: Slightly bitter, but surprisingly well balanced. The floral scent is still present - maybe too much so.

M: Medium bodied with perfect carbonation.

O: I'm probably biased, but I give this a thumbs up. It fits me like a comfortable, sensible, pair of walking shoes.

 

12can into pint. Bottom of can : 3470

A: Off white one finger head sits on an amber body with slight clarity. The retention is fairly good, lacing is light and spotty.

S: Rich malt cleanses the aroma, with good underlining hop profile. Medium intensity for the style.

T/m: Out of the can the hop flavor is not as powerful as the amber malts, from draft the hops have a better hold. The mouthfeel is nice and creamy and lingering taste is projected quite well.

O: A really nice offering from Finn's, one that is well suited for their flagship.

A-nice amber color (go figure) with a white head that quickly disapates

S-Roasty malts that dont totally differentiate it from other ambers

T-The score says it perfectly. Average. Less than Fat tire, better than others. Roasted malts that fade quickly. Average

M-Medium body and very smooth

O-Average. Enough said

Pour - orangish-red in color with a quarter inch of white foam on top that fades to a slick of tiny white bubbles spreading across the top of the beer.

Aroma - grainy, biscuity, caramel, honey and maltose. No real hop character detected, much more on the sweet side as far as aroma goes.

Taste - lots of maltiness in that first sip, my tongue is coated in a medley of caramel, toast, honey crisp and tangy sourness I can't quite get my tastebuds around. Some residual sweetness in the finish, pretty easy going down and no complaints.

Overall - fairly straightforward amber ale. Nothing to write home about but certainly nothing to shy away from either. Perhaps the success they've had with this canned offering will lead them to can one of their other beers.

Would I buy more of it? - not likely. Too many others I'd rather spend my money on. No offense to the brewery.

A: such a pretty pretty shade of orange. one of the best shades i've seen with a great head to go along with it.

S: smells like citrus & malt. nothing overly impressive.

T: the citrus taste is nice but the malt and caramel that take a minute to come through are great. good combination of citrus and malt.

M: light body with good carbonation. i possibly would like the mouthfeel more if it were summer and not 25 degrees at my place.

D: if i had the chance to hit up Mickey Finn's i would order this as well as try out their other brews. its a good session brew and could see myself spending a night out drinking this.

Served in a shaker pint glass at the brewpub.

Somehow, after many visits here, I've never had their standard amber. Boom: It pours a clear copper-amber topped by a finger of slightly off-white foam. The nose comprises orange zest and peel, mandarin oranges, light caramel, and a slight hint of pine. The taste runs relatively similarly, with a bit more citrus-based bitterness and a light sourdough character pervading the aftertaste. The body is a rather light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a wet feel. Overall, a nice amber, nothing close to amazing, but it goes down really easily.

Served in a Mickey Finn's pint glass at Mickey Finn's

This beer is served with an amber color of course with a coarse foam finger of head on top that doesn't last very long. The smell is of a nice citrus hop presence with a nice amount of brown sugar. The taste is clearly of citrus hops upfront followed by a caramel body and finished off by a buttery partially burnt biscuit flavor. The body is rather light, but it is a rather palatable and quite nice drinking very good beer.

Poured from a 12 oz. can into a pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a tangerine copper color with a bubbly white head. Decent retention, and some carbonation bubbles up from the bottom of the glass.

Smell: Slightly toasty malt on the nose. Some underlying caramel sweetness. Soft citrus and floral hoppy notes are present as well, but very soft.

Taste: It starts out with a caramel malt sweetness, presented with some toasted notes as well. The flavor transitions to a general bitterness. Most of the taste comes in the form of a grapefruit hoppiness, with some general bitterness closing out the sip.

Mouthfeel: This is where the beer breaks with average, in a bad way. I notice how watery the mouthfeel is right away. Whether it wants to be crisp or creamy I can not tell, but it is lacking in this department.

Drinkability: Not terrible, but really just a slightly below average amber.