Amber Eh!

When I picked up a 473mL can of Amber Eh! from Niagara Brewing Company, my first thought was that this beer has two strikes and I haven’t even tried it yet: the first was the tired trope of including a pinup model (this time an impossibly slender lumberjack) on the packaging, and the second was the glaring omission of an apostrophe on the back copy (“Its a Canuck thing”). I mean, my blog is riddled with grammatical errors, but I’m not trying to sell anything to anyone. Sure hope the beer is good.

At 5%, the strength is right for the amber ale style. It had the right look, too, with a ruddy, slightly hazy complexion and a very thick nimbus of off-white head. The aroma suggested a North American style amber ale, given the presence of a fairly assertive piney hops note that lorded over the other elements, namely caramel and bread. The flavour wended a similar path, primarily driven by robust evergreen bitterness, and backed by some maltiness abs caramel sweetness. As well, there was something a bit coppery in the finish that was not at all out of place.

Given my two beers with the packaging, I found the beer inside to be quite appealing. It was surprisingly flavourful, generously hopped, and not over-sweet. 

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.