Rush River The Unforgiven Amber Ale

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

Not as good as the ipa, in fact I would almost call this an ipa over an amber or a pale ale if it were paler. Strong dry hopped character. Still tasty and even a little chewy, just not mind-boggling good, but better than session or above average ambers. Not up there with House of Homebrew amber.

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

Courtesy of Phishpond. Pours a hazy amber with a nice head and nice lacing. Good carbonation. Aromas of malts, bread, slight caramel and hops. Taste is malty up front with a slightly sweetness then some hops.

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

Pours a cloudy amber orange colour with an off white head. Taste is firm and slightly hopped, with caramel, bready and lemon notes. Aroma is semi-fruity with biscuity notes and grapefruit.

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

June 2007 bottle date; Sampled January 2008
A somewhat vigorous pour produces a one-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head that sits on top of a lightly hazed, amber colored brew. The aroma is a mix of citrus hops (dominant note) and softer malt aromas. This smells of orange blossoms, tangerines, a hint of pine, crystal malts, touch of caramel and a fair amount of toasty grain in the finish.

Lightly sweet with ample hop character that provides a sharp tickle of the taste-buds from the get go. A biting bitterness up front seems to disappear for the most part by the finish. Sharp, citrus oil notes provide notes reminiscent of oranges and grapefruit. There is also a substantial malt character here, though it plays a secondary role to the hop notes. This has a toasted malt / biscuit like note in the finish as well as a caramelized malt note that contributes a touch of fruitiness and accents the citrus-like hop notes. A hint of diacetyl seems to contribute a touch of fullness and an ever-so light dusting of butterscotch (this really is quite minimal though). The yeast also seems to contribute a soft fruitiness here that becomes more noticeable as the brew warms up a bit.

A nice example of an Amber ale, it is clearly hop focused (similar to a Pale Ale), but has just enough malt character to be just worthy of the Amber moniker. Clean malt and hop notes shine at first in this beer, but in a surprising move the yeast notes actually show up as the brew warms up a touch; this is surprising as I was expecting the standard, ultra-clean, almost signature, American ale yeast here, but the yeast used here actually contributes a touch of character. A tasty brew that I could easily quaff a few pints of at the local pub.

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

The appearance is a murky orange but certainly not amber. The aroma is faint with hints of citrus and some vanilla. The flavor is slightly bitter with some caramel showing. I also detect some hints of lemons and peaches. This is more like a Pale Ale to me. Overall a decent session ale.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Quite a good brew here. I had a few of these on draught at Stella Blues in Eau Claire; before, during and after a wonderful entree-sized bowl of gumbo. The amber body is hazy and the light, white head yields good retention and lacing. The texture is creamy and the flavors are lightly-sweet caramel malt with a firm hop backbone. The finish is crisp and full.