Ambrata Ovest Amber Ale
Birrificio Gjulia Agricola Artigianale Friulana

Bottle 0.33L.
Hazy golden-to-orange body with an average, frothy, off-white head, mostly diminishing with some lacing, though.
Moderate malty (caramel) and light-to-moderate hoppy (orange) aroma with notes of spices.
Moderate sweet and light-to-moderate bitter flavour; average-lasting bitter and acidic finish with some notes of bread.
Light-to-medium body with oily texture; soft carbonation.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a lightly hazy, medium orange amber with a big four finger off-white head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of candi and lightly biscuit malt, grapes, apples, light stone fruit and Belgian yeast. Flavor is candi malt, light stone fruit, apples, pears and cantaloupe. Finishes with some light grassy hop bitterness and lingering fruit esters. Medium bodied with light creaminess. An interesting take on a Belgian style ale. Has typical malt and fruit flavors, but finishes with a moderate hoppiness that comes as a surprise, but a pleasant one. The Belgian yeast fruit flavors and compelling and leave a very nice lingering aftertaste that plays against the hops; somewhat like a hybrid of a BSPD and a mild Belgian IPA. I like this quite a bit. This bottle was over the sell by date, but glad I took a chance. Would definitely seek this out fresher.

Haven't had much success with Italian beers, but this one is a whole 'nuther story...

I really liked the orange and copper glow to the beer, it even had a gradient or change in color intensity from top to bottom, unique indeed. The smell was, to put it lightly, weird. I'm not sure how to categorize it...just weird. Mouthfeel was medium- to full-bodied and the taste was a good representative of the style. I really enjoyed this beer, it truly puts me on notice there are probably a few more good Italian beers to still discover.

Served from an 11.15 ounce Euro-brown bottle into a nonic pint glass. The bottle has one of those extra-wide crown closures with a plastic seal in the cap. The label has a "best before" date of January 2018 (currently July 2016).

A moderate pour produces a short-lived frothy head of about an inch. This settles down to a creamy layer of continuous froth that clings to the edges. The beer is a hazy yellowish-brown with light carbonation.

A strong aroma of DMS (cooked veggies) is perceived, suggesting Munich or Vienna malts. The flavor is fairly sweet and quite complex, with malt-dominant notes suggesting molasses cookies, brown sugar, and a sweet tang of apricot. A little booziness sneaks through, along with a hint of cooked veggies. The mouth feel is rather frothy, with a lingering bit of bittersweet fruitiness.

This is a tasty and fairly unique beer with complex flavors, and is well worth a try. I purchased this as a single for $3.28.

3.75 3.75 4 4 4

Reviewed on July 19, 2016

From notes taken 06/18/16:

Consistent semi-opaque orange amber with delicate light-tan head of moderate retention. Smells like wet paper and alcohol at first, soon gives way for light whiffs of cooked green vegetables and, later, tart dark fruit. Tastes sweet in the balance, like caramel, brown spirits, champagne grapes, and dark fruit, but in a way that melds well with still-substantial rubbery, papery, almost rindy bitterness. Reminds me in some ways of a Braggot. Medium-bodied, low carbonation after resting for a few minutes. Fairly warming.

Reviewing this again late 01/30/18 and early 01/31/18 from same four pack some 19 months and more later. It was approaching its best-by date.

Appearance the same, about, still quite pretty, although weaker and filmier head. Smells much more fruity upfront, leaving caramel a distant second and everything else nearly impossible to detect if there at all. Strawberries, raspberries, honey, sweet red and white wines. Palate is less fruity than aroma, but perhaps more fruity than fresher counterpart. Both ways, that's a good thing here. It is still loaded with caramel, some vinous character, and some dark fruit along the lines of certain berries, with brown spirits present again but more well-hidden. All the other flavors save the slightest bitterness near the end are gone, no paper, no rubber, not even rind, just nondescript dryness. Medium-bodied, medium carbonation, much less effervescent than expected based on the tasting I just did of a similarly-aged Gjulia "IPA" a couple hours before. Doesn't seem all that warming, so maybe it did lose something or maybe my palate is oversaturated or overstimulated as it is. Overall, this beer has improved remarkably with age. I can see that letting it go much longer might have ruined it though, just turned it into an overly acidic and sweet mess. If I was going to completely re-rate this based on this aged bottle, I'd call it 3.75/3.75/4.25/3.75, with an overall of about 4 out of 5.