Sea Dog Amber Ale
Vancouver Island Brewing
- From:
- Vancouver Island Brewing
- British Columbia, Canada
- Style:
- American Amber / Red Ale
Ranked #330 - ABV:
- 5.2%
- Score:
- 83
Ranked #33,787 - Avg:
- 3.62 | pDev: 12.98%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 14
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Mar 16, 2026
- Added:
- Mar 19, 2010
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 10
SCORE
83
Good
83
Good
Ready, Aye, Ready! We’re proud that our brewery’s hometown is also the base of the Canadian Pacific Naval Fleet. As a tribute to our nation’s Naval heritage, and to commemorate our Canadian Naval Centennial, we’ve crafted a unique beer for a unique occasion. Sea Dog is an amber coloured beer with a burst of hops and smooth malt finish. Here’s to 100 years of protecting our waters, our citizens and our sovereignty...Bravo Zulu!
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Rated by souvenirs from Canada (BC)
3.48/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
3.48/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Dark amber and clear. Two fingers of head. Sweet grain, some roasted malts. A bit nutty, more sweet grain, slight toffee flavour.
Feb 28, 2015
Reviewed by IdeaSpeeder from Canada (ON)
4/5 rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Serving Type 341ml bottle poured into a pint glass
Appearance - Amber in colour. Shocking. With a slight brown tinge. Poured with 2 fingers of slightly off white head. A decent amount of lacing is left behind. Head retention is decent, halfway done the glass and there's still some left.
Smell - Roasted malt's and a good deal of nuts and biscuits.
Taste - Follows the nose. Very heavy on the malts up front. Toffee and caramel factor in towards the finish. Lingering nutty taste.
Mouthfeel - Not to heavy, not to light. Carbonation is medium. Finish is smooth.
Oct 07, 2013Appearance - Amber in colour. Shocking. With a slight brown tinge. Poured with 2 fingers of slightly off white head. A decent amount of lacing is left behind. Head retention is decent, halfway done the glass and there's still some left.
Smell - Roasted malt's and a good deal of nuts and biscuits.
Taste - Follows the nose. Very heavy on the malts up front. Toffee and caramel factor in towards the finish. Lingering nutty taste.
Mouthfeel - Not to heavy, not to light. Carbonation is medium. Finish is smooth.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
3.61/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
3.61/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
341 mL bottle from the BC Craft Brewers Guild sampler, currently available at the LCBO (packaged May 23 2013). I used to be pretty big on ambers, but I fear that my palate has moved on because I can't recall the last time I was really wowed by one. Served slightly chilled.
Pours a beautiful, clear copper-amber colour, topped with one centimetre of dense, off-white head that quickly wilts into a soap film and narrow collar. Mild aroma that tends toward the sweet side - caramel and biscuity malts come through nicely, in addition to a slight hint of baker's chocolate that nicely complements the earthy nature of the hops in this brew. Nothing fancy, but it works out well.
No surprises here; this is a straightforward, tasty, malt-focused amber ale. Toffee and toasted, biscuity/bready malts provide the initial burst of flavour, leading into a pleasant nuttiness with a faint wisp of chocolate. The hops are less prominent than on the nose, offering only a modest grassiness that finishes us off, followed by a slight sweetness that lingers on the palate into the aftertaste. Medium-bodied, with a slightly slick feel on the palate that is effectively scrubbed away by the prickly, fairly sturdy carbonation. Fairly drinkable, but I could see the sweetness becoming tiresome.
Final Grade: 3.63, a B grade. While I wouldn't consider it particularly memorable, Vancouver Island Brewery has still managed to generate a serviceable, full-flavoured, sessionable ale in their Sea Dog Amber. This easily outperforms the macro equivalents like Rickard's Red and Sleeman Honey Brown, but I'd still like a little more punch out of the hop bill - this one is a bit malt-heavy, and for that reason I doubt I'd be up for more than 2-3 of these in a sitting. Pretty good with no deal-breaking flaws, and I'd be interested in trying a fresher sample, but this doesn't strike me as a top tier amber.
Sep 24, 2013Pours a beautiful, clear copper-amber colour, topped with one centimetre of dense, off-white head that quickly wilts into a soap film and narrow collar. Mild aroma that tends toward the sweet side - caramel and biscuity malts come through nicely, in addition to a slight hint of baker's chocolate that nicely complements the earthy nature of the hops in this brew. Nothing fancy, but it works out well.
No surprises here; this is a straightforward, tasty, malt-focused amber ale. Toffee and toasted, biscuity/bready malts provide the initial burst of flavour, leading into a pleasant nuttiness with a faint wisp of chocolate. The hops are less prominent than on the nose, offering only a modest grassiness that finishes us off, followed by a slight sweetness that lingers on the palate into the aftertaste. Medium-bodied, with a slightly slick feel on the palate that is effectively scrubbed away by the prickly, fairly sturdy carbonation. Fairly drinkable, but I could see the sweetness becoming tiresome.
Final Grade: 3.63, a B grade. While I wouldn't consider it particularly memorable, Vancouver Island Brewery has still managed to generate a serviceable, full-flavoured, sessionable ale in their Sea Dog Amber. This easily outperforms the macro equivalents like Rickard's Red and Sleeman Honey Brown, but I'd still like a little more punch out of the hop bill - this one is a bit malt-heavy, and for that reason I doubt I'd be up for more than 2-3 of these in a sitting. Pretty good with no deal-breaking flaws, and I'd be interested in trying a fresher sample, but this doesn't strike me as a top tier amber.
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