Desert Amber - Sonoran Brewing Company

Mustard

District of Columbia

3.53/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: 12oz. brown bottle; "best before" warning -- in this case 09/04 -- notched on the label's left edge.

Appearance: Pours a mildly hazy, mandarin-orange hue; thick, batter-like head; copious, lattice syle lacing; stellar head retention.

Aroma: Nicely of sweet caramel malt and orange type citrus.

Taste: Firm, biscuity malt profile upfront and throughout; light to moderate hop bitterness in the finish; slightly sweet; spicy, woody, herbal hop flavors; hints of grain; medium bodied with a relative smooth mouthfeel.

Notes: Plebian.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2003 05:49:12 | More by Mustard

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.48/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

This beer shows a brilliantly clear, full amber color and is topped by a thin, wispy pale tan colored head. The aroma has a sweet caramel note to it up front that is followed by a hint of diacetyl (mostly a butterscotch note), which is floowed by a bit of sweet malt character. The diacetyl is fairly light, but it does dominate the aroma. I also detect a bit of hop character in the form of a herbal spiciness.

The taste is sweet with a good malt character; I get notes of toffee, caramel, and a toasted note towards the end. There is a buttery diacetyl note here, but it is fairly subtle, despite being evident; perhaps it even adds something to the complexity of this brew. This beer is not bad, it is almost even better because of the diacetyl. This is not an overly flavorful beer though, a stander amber offering.

Serving type: on-tap

02-13-2006 18:14:51 | More by Gueuzedude

arizcards

Arizona

3.95/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Picked up a sample at the Cost Plus World Market for a $1.49.

This amber colored brew has an interesting cloudiness to it. A nice generous head came with the pour leaving a nice lacing. Nose is of sweet malts with a hint of spice. Reminds me of a year end holiday brew. Taste is good, sweet malts with a nice little spicy hopped finish. Mouthfeel is OK, nothing out of the oridinairy. This is a very drinkable beer. I will need to remember to serve some during the holidays.

Serving type: bottle

09-12-2004 20:03:53 | More by arizcards

ppoitras

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle obtained via trade with nvsblman. Thanks for the opportunity...

Poured into a pint glass, formed a big ol' fluffy inch of slightly off-whitish head, made of big bubbles which shrunk rather quickly down to a small layer of foam. Slight lacing, but what does form stays put. A slightly cloudy amber in hue, with a slight malty aroma. Flavor is a well-balanced combination of light malts and hops. Excellent drinkability, this one has "session" written all over it.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2004 22:09:51 | More by ppoitras

marc77

California

3.43/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

Bright amber hue, with excellent clarity. Thick, fluffy cream white head leaves rough, frothy lace. Waft of mild floral hop and dilute caramel upfront in aroma. Banana ester hints. Fairly tame aromawise. In flavor, the dominant malt component is a combination of light lovibond caramel and toasted pale malt. Rather lightly bittered, thus leaving ample, but pleasant residual sweetness. Pronounced floral, nectar like hop flavor. Devoid of citrusy notes, and I like that. Trace bubblegum esters add a slight candyish edge to the malt character. Meek in body and shy in dextrins. A notch above watery. Finishes clean, with fading notes of maltose sweetnened biscuit. Nearly a fine amber, but not quite well rounded enough. With a fuller body and more assertive hop bitterness to offset malt sweetness, this could be outstanding. As it is, it's an innocuous, tasty brew that grew on me. Pleasant.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2004 09:16:27 | More by marc77

RoyalT

Ohio

3.53/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance – This one poured a beautiful, slightly-hazy orange with a very good head that fell into volcanic pits on top of the beer.

Smell – This has a very well-balanced aroma. The malt base is toasted with some good caramel notes, and the hops are light and fruity.

Taste – Wow, the flavors came out bigger than I had thought from the nose. They are true to those observations, though. The sugary caramel malts lay down a terrific base of support for the complex hoppy notes. The light orange in particular was very pleasing.

Mouthfeel – This one is short of medium-bodied but very dry and refreshing.

Drinkability – This was definitely a lighter version of the style, but would make a nice session ale.

Comments – This was quite a treat for me, since it is brewed down in AZ and not available here in Seattle. Thanks to Gusler for care packaging this one up to me.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2004 03:26:23 | More by RoyalT

ElGordo

Oregon

3.25/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Showed up in the January BOTM shipment. Pours a hazy orange-amber with a creamy white head. Nice lacing, surprisingly enough. Sweet, malty nose with a hint of hops. Notes of orange, honey, sweet malt, and mild hops on the palate, with a lingering light, citrusy hoppiness on the finish. Not bad, and not nearly as bad as the pale ale from this brewery that was also included in the shipment.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2004 04:13:50 | More by ElGordo

moulefrite

Massachusetts

3.15/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Amber color-yes. Very minimal head. Rather simple in both aroma and flavor, yet the mouthfeel is crisp and refreshing. Melon like fruit flavors with simple hop and malt undertones. Somewhat dilute but an easy to put down session style amber. Perhaps a nice amber for the days when it is 120 in the shade. Buy it if it does not exceed 5.99 a sixer!

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2004 00:20:09 | More by moulefrite

jdhilt

New Hampshire

2.5/5  rDev -26.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours with a white two-fingered head, fades slowly and leaves a good lace. Light-medium carbonation and light bodied. Pale amber color, nearly clear. No nose, maybe because this was another one that was frozen solid. Brewer has this with "a distinct malty note", I know the malts are there but the hops dominate. Hoppy after taste.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2004 23:33:27 | More by jdhilt

hungryghost

District of Columbia

3.05/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Uh-oh, month after the 'Best before' date. Hope I don't die tonite.
Good, nearly clear copper color, very little head. Miniscule amounts of lace and sediment.
Caramel aroma with a small amount of hops.
Tastes ok, the hops are here but barely. Slightly sweet.
Kind of feels flat in the mouth. I like the lable.
Maybe the extra month it took to drive it out to the east coast killed it...

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2003 04:49:26 | More by hungryghost

beerguy101

California

3.48/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Medium gold color, small white foamy head. Aroma is malty, fruity and sweet. Medium bodied amber. Rich, smooth, sweet malts. Subtle spicy hops. Well balanced. Very drinkable beer. Mouthfeel is round and full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet. Nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2003 02:55:42 | More by beerguy101

Dogbrick

Ohio

3.6/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

From Hollingshead Deli in Orange, CA. Pours a rich amber with a medium and foamy off-white head. Thin lacing and decent retention. Aroma is spicy (cinnamon is my guess) with a caramel undercurrent. Flavor is fairly sweet malt and caramel. Finish is hoppy enough to keep it from being too sticky-sweet. A little off-balance but not too shabby.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2003 08:17:49 | More by Dogbrick

Gusler

Arizona

3.43/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

The beer is a slightly murky golden amber color, the head large and frothy leaving a fine thick sheet of lace to coat the glass. Slight floral tones upper most in the nose, malt and nicely sweet, quite pleasing to the old honker. Butter sweet at the start with a middle of the road mouth feel, the finish is spicily hopped, purposeful in its acidity, dry as a bone aftertaste and a real nice session beer, but still not the best offering from this brewery, in my humble opinion.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2002 12:07:10 | More by Gusler

hyuga

North Carolina

3.63/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a large foamy head that leaves a thick lace as it goes down. Light amber color. Many aromas present in the nose, dominated by malt, along with a bit of fruitiness and a very slight biscuit-like aroma. On to the taste, medium hop bitterness up front with a clearly malty finish. Wheat/grain and biscuit flavors are present. Very slight citrus flavor. Fairly good malt and hop balance, but a bit more hop character than I expected from an amber ale. Very drinkable though, great all-around balance.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2002 10:08:03 | More by hyuga