Midtown Station
Iron Line Brewing

 

 

Poured into a large red wine glass

Look: Dark honey, slightly cloudy, with a 3-finger head
Smell: Like Jesus in a cup. Dates, raisins, crackers, and caramel. It smells sweet and delicious
Taste: Dry, sharp hops in the front and center. Faint sweetness, with a hint of grape on the aftertaste
Feel: Thin. Slight effervescence on the tongue. Clean finish

Overall: Honestly, the taste didn't match up to the anticipation that the look and smell gave me. That being said, it's still a respectable Amber

I was initially disappointed in this because as other reviewers have pointed out it doesn't really fit the style, it lacks the malty taste of the amber ales I am used to and veers more to the bitter/hoppy side of things. However, the more I drank it the more I liked it despite it not fitting my expectations for the style. I will buy this again.

 

Nice looking amber with small head. Light smell of caramel and malt. The base taste is malt. A little nuttiness, a bit of pepper. Quite hoppy with an strong earthy bitterness, but the flavors in the hops are very subtle...pine, just a trace of citrus and tropical fruit. Good bite, fairly light mouthfeel.

 

I got this off the single shelf at the Kroger near the Metro South Sports Plex in Dayton, OH. It poured a clear amber with thin white head that is leaving a nice ring lace. The scent had caramel malt presence. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with malt base. The mouthfeel is lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it's a solid beer.

Look - great amber color with a slight disappearing head and sticky lacing.
Smell - slightly toasted caramel malts with some bittering hops in there, grainy
taste - toasted biscuits with some caramel spread on it but still slightly to piney bitterness
feel - medium body light carbonation
Overall - ok, not something I'd really want again.

Deep orange coppery gold color with white cap.

Aroma of slightly toasted lightly caramel malt with a hint of citrusy hops.

Taste on entry is led by hops which are firmly bitter without the light citrus touch in the scent. Malt returns mid palate with a bit of toasty caramelness but really serve as the horse hops are riding on.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

If someone handed me this in a blind tasting I would've called it an IPA. Mainly because I associate this level of hop firmness/bitterness with IPAs generally. Not a bad beer, rather capable one actually, just not a malty ambery sort of thing.

 

 

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy medium orange/amber color with a 1 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, light pepper, pine, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/roast, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/earthy hops and dark/bready malt notes; with good strength. Taste of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, light pepper, pine, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/roast, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon/orange peel, citrus rind, pepper, pine, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/roast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/earthy hops and dark/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero astringent hops flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy/sticky, and lightly resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.5%. Overall this is a nice basic standard tasting amber ale. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/earthy hops and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the modestly bitter/drying finish. A bit muddy feeling on hop aromas/flavors, but well represented. Balanced Cascade/Bravo hops against Crystal/Munich malts with a bit of roast. A nicely enjoyable offering, and good style example.

 

 

From a 12 oz bottle in a pint glass via Kroger's in Athens Ohio. This decent
amber pours a medium iced tea / light amber color with a moderate head of
white foam that settles to a thick ring, thin layer, and showcases subtle light lacing.
nose of lightly toasted malts and subtle caramel with light herbal hops on the background.
Flavors lightly exceed the nose with a nicely balanced toasted malty flavor with a light caramel
malt and a balanced herbal hop flavor keeping it all in check. Decent mouth feel; medium
body, medium carbonation, and a lightly sweet and herbal hop tinged finish.

Overall a decent session amber ale; nothing to hate and nothing that will knock your
socks off.