Fire Station 5 Fire Boat Amber

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

A nice clear amber with a fairly thick head. Aroma is strongly malty and inviting. Flavor is malty with metallic hints and a surprising but not unpleasant bitter overtone. A little thin but smooth and satisfying, this ale is definitely worth at least sampling. I am glad that I bought a six pack. How could I resist the name? I love firefighters. They are real superheroes.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Well, I guess this will be my 900th review and I must admit it isn't that special of a brew but it is a new one to review. The aroma is sweet and a bit malty with some caramel overtones that pick out. The appearance is a reddish-amber that is typical with a fuzzy and white head on top that diminishes quickly to a sticky lacing. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied and actually pretty good considering and the palate is full and wet-like. The flavor is malty, sweet and of caramel as well as some very slight smokiness with an aftertaste that at least isn't all that bland and a finish that is clean and wet. Overall, a very drinkable amber ale for sure but is just your run-of-the-mill brew and one that is just a drink and don't think beer; very unoffensive and a bit bland and not very memorable but good for your basic grocery shoppers who want something a little different...

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 7

Well, shame on my for not doing my homework with this one.

Meaning? Only in that if I knew that this was the "house brand" of the Fred Meyer's mega-supermarket chain, and that it was contract brewed by somebody down in Portland OR, I probably would not have bothering to pick up an overpriced sixer of this while in Port Orchard, WA.

But I didn't do my homework, and now, half-way through the sixer, I might as well post some of my thoughts re: this rather dull-ass beer.

This is not really a horrible beer, per se. It doesn't have much in the way of technical faults, and there is nothing here that screams "foul...!!"

But that having been said, it is a very dull beer. Rather sweet and "fake" tasting, esp. in the finish. Looks and smells okay, I suppose, but when it comes to the flavor profile and the mouthfeel (esp. the too-sweet backend)? Ugh, not good. Not good at all.

Somewhat drinkable, oddly enough, but not exactly what I would call a quaffer, by any means.

More likely to cause sleep from boredom than sleep from over-indulgence, me'thinks.

A dull contracted brew for some quasi-Beer Marketing Group, for the Fred Meyers chain of mega-supermarkets. Nothing more.

ZZZzzz

Music: Nasum's "Grand Finale"
//TB