Gastown Amber Ale
Granville Island Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours amber/red. Small, slightly off-white head that dissipates quickly. Little carbonation rising.

Aroma is musty, medicinal. Malts. Not enticing.

Taste is honey, oak, wet grass and malts.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and cleansing.

Overall, this is OK, but nothing to be sought out. Not particularly drinkable or desirable.

 

 

 

Good dark amber with a thin cream coloured head.
The nose it the best quality on this beer. Malty, brown sugar, cotton candy, honey and some mild citrus hops.
Some nice balance between sweetness and bitterness. Creamy mouthfeel with alot of roasted malt and brown sugar flavour. Easy to drink making this a good beer. Not great, but not at all a bad beer.

Split with mjyoung.

Appearance - Copper brown coloration, typical of Amber ale. Head was present right after pouring but dissipated quickly.

Smell - Not much except for the subtle smell of malt and some sourness aroma that reminds me of ginger.

Taste - Light malt flavor, somewhat flat. Sour and relatively unpleasant aftertaste. No hint of hops whatsoever.

Mouthfeel - Not bad. Maybe slightly on the flat side.

Drinkability - Smooth, not much problem except for the aftertaste.

Split with bbb099

A: Pours a nice amber hue, very little head (1/2 finger, and dissipated quickly) and no lacing to speak of.

S: The smell is a little paradoxical as the sweet and bitter notes hit at the same time, but it smells a bit shallow, no real depth to the flavor.

T: Very weak. Not a whole lot of flavor at all, but you do get a hint of malt and something which I expect was at one point hops.

M: It's very thin and flat. It's much more reminiscent of a soda than a beer.

D: If I could stomach the taste it would go down quite smoothly and dangerously on a summer day.

All in all I was quite disappointed by this beer. I bought it after being told it was a solid American Amber, but perhaps I've been spoiled by the excellent local microbrews.

This beer pours a clear dark amber hue, with one finger of soapy light tan head, which leaves some random webbed layers of lace around the glass. It smells of mild caramel malt, and earthy, leafy hops. The taste is sweet caramel and biscuit malt, a bit of dark sugar, and more leafy, earthy hops. The carbonation is moderate, the body decently weighty and smooth, and it finishes with a raisiny malt flourish, tempered somewhat by some weedy hops.

A fairly solid amber ale - with a decent hop offset. It's nice to be able to try Granville Island's beers in typical publican joints.

A clear deep amber/copper color with a off white head that has some retention and leaves little lacing.

Smells a bit of roasted malt, caramel and little fruity. Smell is quite faint but nice.

Tastes roasted malt, coffee, brown sugar, toffee with a bit sour bitterness. Smooth mouthfeel with quite some carbonation and a light body.

Roasted pecan with unconstrained splotches of pomegranate and butterscotch; this combination of colours makes for a lovely appearance that is most definitely worthy of continuous eye gazing. Despite the shade being dark, transparency is still permitted. Its surface is barren in the center because the circumference seems to have a tight, unyielding grip on what limited foam was offered up.

Here's hoping the delicious smelling aroma is sign of a delicious tasting beer. The smell of scorched caramel, sugary toffee and a fruit-endowed ale yeast make a mighty convincing case to take a sip and find out right away. Although capable of being a little off-putting (nearly sour even) at times, the scent of dried cherries and figgy pudding is almost reminiscent of an English-style Old Ale. Mmmm.

Very nice. I was hoping to find the dried fruits, roasted nuts, caramel and toffee in the taste and I did! The beer's flavour almost resembles a toffee sponge cake or caramel glazed tea cake. There's lots of biscuits and obvious hints of figs, dried cranberries and dried cherries. The sugary fruits and sweet caramels compliment wonderfully. This is really malty, it is the taste of pastries and there is a strong notion of caramelization.

And all these caramelized flavours unfold nicely on the tongue; that gratifyingly sweet sensation of toffee combines with the sugary taste of dried fruit and both meet the crushing bitterness of resiny hops head on to make a rather entertaining mouthfeel. Like the trailer that convinces you to go see a movie, the flavour in each sip lingers only so long so that you are coerced into taking another sip.

I'm beginning to wonder why Granville Island beers aren't given a little more respect. Nothing I've tried from this brewery has been spectacular, much less out of the ordinary, but every single offering thus far has been extremely well brewed and exceedingly tasteful for its respective style. Despite what the brewery says, I'd consider this more than just "a darker shade of pale"; it's one of the best Amber ales Canada has to offer.