Sheltowee 502 Amber Ale - Bluegrass Brewing Co. - East St. Matthew's

secondtooth

Indiana

3.28/5  rDev -3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Deep amber, with average head and no lace.

Aroma shows off the malts -- biscuit and graininess. Unremarkable.

Flavor is equally biscuit-like. Kinda sweet and syrupy. I wanted to find something else in there, but sadly, this one is quite forgettable.

Complexity is just not there. Very average.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2011 13:33:06 | More by secondtooth

Arsenal0328

Indiana

3.75/5  rDev +10.9%

04-19-2013 05:26:45 | More by Arsenal0328

Dapperticus

Kentucky

3.25/5  rDev -3.8%

02-01-2013 04:57:26 | More by Dapperticus

mwar

Kentucky

1.25/5  rDev -63%

11-30-2012 14:15:33 | More by mwar

bzach

Indiana

3.5/5  rDev +3.6%

10-16-2012 07:17:14 | More by bzach

t0rin0

California

3.5/5  rDev +3.6%

08-24-2012 01:44:07 | More by t0rin0

Tone

Missouri

3.68/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear, amber/copper color. 1/4 inch head of an off-white color. Slight retention and slight lacing. Smells of sweet malt, slight bread, hint of chocolate, hint of hop, and a hint of pale malt. Fits the style of an American Amber / Red Ale. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of sweet malt, hint of roasted malt, hint of pale malt, hint of hop, and a hint of chocolate. Overall, good blend, balance, and session-able, but weak appearance.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2011 21:04:40 | More by Tone

Brent

Kentucky

4/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bluegrass' 502 Amber, along withe the Hop-a-Lot, both part of the four-beer Sheltowee lineup of private label beers for the Liquor Barn chain, are outstanding values. Poured amber/red. A bit sweet, but not off-balance. Smooth malt notes predominate with a mellow finish. An excellent session ale.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2010 13:22:49 | More by Brent

mikey711

New Jersey

3.38/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Much thanks to BEERchitect for this extra.

Its orange with a quickly disappearing head. Lacing is still quite good though. It smells very malty, mostly caramel, with a touch of grassy earthiness, but not too much hop character. The taste is slightly sweet and light. Again mostly a light caramel sweetness dominates. The mouth feel is slightly grainy and a bit watery. There some smoothness present to this. A great session beer that I would love to have while out in the hot sun. Could easily drink a bunch of these

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2009 23:35:58 | More by mikey711

LordFinley

Kentucky

3.95/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pours a transparent golden orange with a thick yellow head slowly dissapates small craters before finishing with a rough Shellowtee trail surface.

Smell: Bubbles put off a tart smell of amber.

Taste: On the pallette the beer has a faint citrus taste but the most flavor is in the light amber aftertaste that lingers in your cheek.

Mouthfeel: Not very much carbonation, nor is it thick at all. Easy on the throught.

Drinkability: Goes down easy. Especially refreshing on this saturday afternoon outside.

Overall: I was attracted to this beer by the name. I go to red river gorge a lot and noticed that shelltowee is on of the trail names. The box even has the backround information on the 269mi trail that covers the entire Daniel Boone National Forrest. I love a beer with background!!

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2009 00:26:57 | More by LordFinley

OldSchoolGamer

Ohio

3.23/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Another very exclusive Sheltowee beer. Their IPA is really good, so lets see what they can do with a Amber Ale:

A: Pours a definite amber color. Semi-cloudy. Small head that dissipates rather quickly. No lacing is present.

S: Smells pretty malty. Some earthy malt smells, sweetness, and not very hoppy.

T: The earthy malts do come through in the taste. Semi-sweet. A touch of honey and wheat. Pretty weak overall. Hops are pretty nonexistent and seems kinda watery.

M: Pretty light mouthfeel. Finishes very clean and watery. Sort of a dry finish. No lingering bitterness or taste.

D: Its an easy drinking beer. It is a tad dry in the finish. Other than that, you could probably substitute this for Killians as an all night session amber ale. Not the best tasting beer, but drinks rather easily.

Overall, this beer is pretty middle of the road. There is nothing offensive about it, just seems a little lacking in all departments. Their IPA is much better, but this is worth a try if you can find it.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2009 19:53:44 | More by OldSchoolGamer

Cresant

Kentucky

2.78/5  rDev -17.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured this 12 oz. brown bottle into a DFH shaped pint. Bottled Dec. 08. The body was clear and light amber in color. The modest khaki head left splotchy lace.

Smell was faint. Whole wheat bread crust. Peanuts?

Taste was lightly tart and equally sweet. Nutty, walnuts? Well balanced. Quick finish made this very easy to drink.

Mouthfeel was thin to medium in body. A light prickle of carbonation gets your attention.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2009 15:31:44 | More by Cresant

Gouxman

Kentucky

4/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The third installment in the Sheltowee line from Liquor Barn. This beer is supposed to be a mimic of New Belgium's Fat Tire.

This Amber ale is light in color and in body. The malt base is minimal with almost no hop characteristic. An excellent session beer to be enjoyed in quantity. A great beer to try to convert domestic drinkers to craft brews.

The recipe has be altered though giving the beer a stronger malt characteristic and a richer body. Though still a lighter bodied amber ale, the added malt gives this ale more flavor and makes it much more enjoyable.

Try the Gloomsucker Black Ale if you can....

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2009 16:31:16 | More by Gouxman

Spidey13

Kentucky

3.18/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Sheltowee 502 Amber Ale pours a slightly hazy orange with a small white head. The nose is very nice, with a lot of sweet caramel and hints of citrus.

The taste is very light, with hints of toast and caramel. There is some brief hop bitterness at the end but it quickly disappears. The beer seems a bit watery on the flavor as well as the mouthfeel, which is thin with medium carbonation.

Overall, I wasn't really impressed with this beer. No bad flavors; just not much flavor at all.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2008 03:40:41 | More by Spidey13

BEERchitect

Kentucky

4/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A little over a year ago, the Sheltowee IPA and Golden Ales began to show up on the shelves of Liquor Barn, a Kentucky beer retailer. Now, the Liquor Barns have apparently commissioned the Bluegrass Brewing Company to add two more beers to the Sheltowee arsenel--the 502 Amber Ale and the Gloomsucker Black Ale.

The Amber ale is best described as moderate and very drinkable. It pours with a copper-amber hue that could be a little bolder on the amber and illudes to lighter toasty, malty character later in the aroma and flavor. The beer carries a nice foamstand and light lacing that lasted the session. Quite bready, malty, with light toast, caramel, and yeasty-fruity notes (although subdued). The moderate hop flavor and bitterness blend well with the yeasty spiciness and never offends the drinker. Light pine and citrus notes give a balance to the sweetness. Malty and rich in the body with a smooth, bitterness that lingers into the finish. A great sessionable beer that pairs well with pizza, pasta, and any other bready, starchy plates.

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2008 14:56:36 | More by BEERchitect