33 cL bottle; couldn’t make out the bb date, but seems to end in 05. Nice fresh, light malt aroma accompanied by noble hop. Darkish brassy gold color with a white head that quickly flattened. Near medium bodied, with moderate, creamy carbonation. It starts very fresh, with a grapey, fruity note. The malt is only moderately sweet, and it seems the hops are fruit and floral. The finish is crisp, clean, and has enough bitter to balance. Actually a pleasure to drink this one. Probably because there was enough floral character to reward an ale palate. It is good stuff, and I might prefer it to some of the lighter, relatively tasteless, ales.

First, I really wasn't planning on rating any new beers for a couple of days, so this one was a total accident. In fact, it was born of a bad cold I've been suffering. I figured I needed to clear my sinuses and one traditional method is to take lunch at Tacos el Asador in Koreatown. I've mentioned before how much I love this place - the food, the decor, the community atmosphere. Oh yeah, and the fact that they seem to find new beers for me to try - bested in this town only by Smokeless Joe's I think. So in I go and they have a sign for this on the wall. And some bottles in the fridge. Of course, I have a bad cold. And on top of that I burned my tongue yesterday drinking tea while my mouth was still frozen from a trip to the dentist. So this is a really hobbled rating...Ambar Especial from Zaragozana is a clean, malt-accented pale lager. Their is some hop bite, but not a whole lot. By international lager standards, this seems to be one of the better ones. I would wager that it is all-malt, and it is reasonably balanced. It's a pretty safe bet I'll be back at Tacos el Asador as it is one of my favourite restaurants, so it's a safe bet I'll be rating this one soon when my senses are back to 100%. But I'm sure of what I found this afternoon. I just need to double check to make sure there wasn't anything more.