The Joker likes beer too

So, in the Carney freak show that is the Shmaltz line of carnival themed beers, this one reminds me the most of Batman's arch-nemesis, the Joker. Not the Heath Ledger one, but more like Jack Nicholas.

Appearance - Golden yellow color, with a lighter head. The frothiness of the head sticks to the glass, leaving a visible residue as the head dissipates. - 3.5/5.0

Smell - Really sweet malt aroma. I get scents of honey, maybe some lemon. 3.5/5.0

Taste - Definitely a lager. The malt is really enjoyable, but not as sweet as the smell would elude to. The initial crispness is really enjoyable too. 4.0/5.0

Feel - Smooth and flavorful, with a nice malty aftertaste. Very refreshing. 4.5/5.0

Drinkability - I think this is a great beer for just chilling out. I happen to be clearing out e-mails and this just hit the spot. - 4.5/5.0

On the 4th day of Christmas, Santa Beer gave to me...

a delicious amber from my home state of Washington, the Pike Pale Heirloom Amber Ale! Found in the Pinole BevMo in Cali-for-ni-aye, I was really excited about this beer as the Pike Street Brewery is my favorite place to go in Seattle.

The beer pours a very cloudy, opaque dark orange, with absolutely no head (bah!). Lots of sweet smells in this one, malt and apple cider being the majority of it. Fortunately, not a sweet-esy tasting beer with a sharp malt flavor being dominate. Also, you'll get some cider, caramel and a little sour aftertaste. The brew feels crispy with light carbination. You'll get the full flavor throughout your mouth too, which was nice. I think this is a really good fall beer and decent showing from an amber, but not my go-to amber.

Appearance- 3.5/5.0 - cloudy, opaque, dark orange, no head (boo)
Smell - 4.0/5.0 - sweet smell, malt, apple cider - 4.0
Taste- 3.0/5.0 - sharp malt taste, cider, caramel, sour aftertaste, smooth, hit of crisp sweetness at end
Feel- 3.0/5.0 - crispy, light carbonation, covers your mouth
Drinkability - 3.0/5.0 - very good fall beer, nice showing for an amber, but I like alaskan amber better

Know Your Beer: Amber

For this week's episode of Know Your Beer, let's move down the Beer Spectrum to Ambers. You'll sometimes hear these beers called Reds, given the color similiarity. This type of beer has been known to become a catch-all given it's placement in the dead-center of light and dark beer. The color of the beer will range from a dark golden to a dark copper.

The flavor profile of a amber/red ale tends to focus on malt. You may get hints of the bitterness that accommanies hops, but this will depend on the brewery. Most of these beers are pretty well balanced, so you aren't going to end up with some really extreme flavors. However, this does make this beer generally acceptible for a diverse audience. It's enough of a stretch that folks who like lighter beers are ok with it, while dark beer fans are willing to "step down" the color spectrum a bit.

Expect some toasted malt, caramel, toffee and and nutty aromas, along with the occassional hint of sweetness. These are pretty smooth beers too, so it goes down nice. Alcohol content will be mid 5% to low 6%, with the exceptions that may lower or (ridiculously higher)

I've reviewed a number of Ambers/Reds on here - including Murphy's Prescott Red, Bridgeport Ropewalk Amber Ale, Maritime Pacific Nightwatch Dark Amber Ale, Grand Teton Brewing Teton Amber Ale, Alaskan Amber (one of my favorites), Chama River Rio Chama Amber and the Mendocino Red Tail Ale.

Others that you can find around the place and are good (and will be reviewed eventually) include Full Sail Amber, New Belgium Fat Tire, Breckenridge Avalanche Amber and Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale.

Chama River Menege A Tripel & Amber

Tina and I like to go up to Pendaries, NM (it's a little past Las Vegas, NM) - it's peaceful and relaxing. Especially, when you pack a growler or two. So, one of the last go-arounds, we stopped off at Chama River Brewing to see what they had to offer. We ended up getting their Menege A Tripel & the Rio Chama Amber. One impressed, one did not.

The Menege A Tripel was a strong tripel representation from Chama River. The beer had a very "wheatish" look to it, making the brew seem more like a combination of a wheat beer and a belgium tripel. There is a lot of crisp banana & apricot flavors with a short fruity aftertaste. The beer isn't really that sweet - just enough to get that fruity flavor in there. With a 8.6% ABV, it was strong and fit with other tripels I've had lately (the Kerberes Tripel from Flying Dog was 8.5%).

Look - 4.0/5.0 - The unique blend of a wheat and tripel was intriguing.
Smell - 4.0/5.0 - The banana and apricot flavors are pleasant and not so overpowering that you feel like you snorted a line of sugar.
Taste - 4.0/5.0 - A pretty standard tripel - strong, flavorful and crisp.
Feel - 4.0/5.0 - The lack of being overly sweet was very nice
Drinkability - 3.5/5.0 - The premium charged to get this one counts against it - while the beer was enjoyable, the extra $3 to get the growler make my wallet a sad panda.

The Rio Chama Amber was the disappointment of the pair. The aroma from the beer was...unique, but in a bad way. It was bordering skunky and that prevented much of any good scents from being detected. The beer had a slightly bitter taste and mild, lingering aftertaste. I had to keep drinking it to avoid that aftertaste from sticking around. This beer had to be served cold cold cold, which is where it had the best taste (and that's saying something).

Look - 3.0/5.0 - A standard amber color, nothing to write home about.
Smell - 2.0/5.0 - Yikes, skunky.
Taste - 2.5/5.0 - The bitter taste was nice, but then had a lingering aftertaste that wasn't terribly enjoyable.
Feel - 2.5/5.0 - Lingering aftertaste...bleh.
Drinkability - 2.0 - Very disappointing - they have enough beer there that I can avoid this one.

On a side note - I'm part of the Albuquerque 20/30 Club and we put on an annual charity event called the Equestrian Cup. This is the first year we would get local breweries to add their beers to the tasting menus (normally just really good food and wine). We asked Chama River and they denied us saying "We have given enough this year."

All I wanted was 2-3 kegs to have to feature their beer and market themselves...didn't think I was asking for that much. Anyway, if you go there, talk to them and tell them you want to see Chama River beer at the Equestrian Cup!!! That, or if you know someone who can make something happen, I'll owe you a beer.

Alaskan Brewing Co

You can't go to Alaska and not have some Alaskan Brewing Co. I think it's actually state law, but you'd need to check that with Sarah Palin - she'd know.

Alaskan Amber was definitely my favorite of the bunch. It had a smooth malt taste with a really nice copper color and light body. Didn't have much of an aftertaste. Weighing in at 5.2% ABV, it's pretty standard for a good beer. Don't expect any bitterness with the Alaskan Amber though, as it only has 18 IBUs. The true first time I had this one was at a lodge where my wife and I went to a crab fest. Basically, all you can eat crab (I had about 3+ of those deals on the plate) and all you can drink Alaskan Amber. Here's my lovely wife posing with the delicious beer and crab.

Also had the pleasure of trying a number of other Alaskan Brewing's offerings.

The Alaskan Brewing White was a pretty refreshing white ale - same light citrus taste as you would expect with a white ale. It's definitely sweeter than other white ales, but it didn't get to the point of "sweetesy". A very tasty brew, especially if you happen to running around Ketichan and it's 82 degrees (never expected to get a tan in Alaska...)

The Alaskan Brewing Summerale is a new "regular" beer for Alaskan Brewing from what the bartenders were telling me. Got to try it at the Red Dog Bar...talk about a dive. Sawdust was all that covered the dirt floors. Plus, there was this old guy on the piano in there who called you a cheap bastard if you didn't tip him. We had just got back from salmon fishing...with no beer and the Summerale hit the spot. Just a little spice in it, but overall light and thirstquenching. Similar ABV and IBU profile as the Amber - 5.3% abv and 18 IBUs.

The Alaskan Pale Ale was ok - it had a nice crisp taste, but lacked much bitterness or hoppy-ness. Oddly, there was a sweet taste at the end, which surprised me. Only 24 IBUs in this guy...apparently in Alaska, only IPAs are allowed over 25 IBUs. Must be state law...

Lastly, the Alaskan Brewing IPA (which did have over 25 IBUs in compliance with Alaska State Brewing Code 25.123(b)) was pretty good. It had the characteristic sour & bitter flavor you would expect in an IPA. Like the Pale Ale, it had a light sweet taste at the end.

Best Gift Part Deux - Grand Teton Brewing Teton Ale

The 2nd brewery that I got this past month from my Beer of the Month Club was Grand Teton Brewing Co out of Victor, Idaho. Never been to Victor, Idaho, not sure if I'm really planning on it, but after trying some of their beers through this club, I may just have to swing into town.

The Teton Ale, which is Grand Teton's Amber ale, is a pretty good showing from the great potato lovers in Idaho. It's got a sharp malt taste to it, very characteristic with what you would expect out of the amber. There is a really nice, smooth taste and ultimate finish, with very little bitter taste (only 24 IBUs). Just shy of 5.0% abv (4.98%...not sure why we can't just round up, but oh well), it's a little on the light side on how many you will need to start considering going to Jiffy Lube (see the Spaten Optimator review for that one...).

Would definitely recommend the Teton Ale - I also got the Old Faithful Ale as part of my shipment, but we'll get to that one later.

Bridgeport Ropewalk Amber

One of the things I've noticed since starting this beer blog is that there are a number of beers that I have seen quite regularly, but never bothered to try. The Bridgeport Ropewalk Amber Ale is one of those beers - it's circus-y label stands out enough to draw your attention, but I never dared to try it as I went for the tried and true beer. I regret that, especially after tasting this brew.

There's a nice sweet first scent on the Ropewalk Amber that caught my nose. The malt offers a smooth, very lightly sweet taste. With a 5.6% ABV, the beer has some strength behind it, but the use of the Crystal Malt and "Northwestern Hops" (whatever those may be) are blended just right to make it a really enjoyable beer with (again) just that hint of sweetness. The caramel, amber color is right on too. I really enjoyed the Ropewalk and will definitely be trying out some more of Bridgeport's offerings.