Banana and malt, feels somewhat unbalanced.

Backlog

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Apparently intended as a Belgian style amber rather than American style, makes me curious. Regular, medium thick, off-white, moussy and well-retaining head remaining almost completely closed for most of the time, crowning a clear, very pure and deeply orangey to copper-hued amber beer with lively fizz in narrow strings rising up from the bottom - looks beautiful. Adding the sediment brings a more murky appearance with a brownish tinge. Pleasant aroma of marmelade, candied orange, biscuit, minerals, dried flowers, strawberry, cloves (phenols in other words, becoming even slighly medicinal with sediment added), hay, ripe melon, white bread crumbs, dust, banana peel, old cloth, some onsetting ’rusty’ oxidation but actually adding something pleasant rather than disturbing (the bottle must be a few years old, but I cannot find any date). Cleanly fruity onset, hints of peach, green banana, melon and apricot, sweetish with a very soft, ’dim’ sourish touch, minerally carbonation, bit spritzy, lively but not overcarbonated for this style. Soft, rounded, malty middle, caramelly sweet and a tad nutty with a mildly bitterish toasted edge at the end, supporting a gentle but adequate, floral, slightly peppery, hayish hop bitterness, drying the back of the mouth. Easygoing but very pleasant and elegant beer, not really suffering from old age though it probably shouldn’t become much older than this. As for the Belgian aspect: I still find it more akin to American amber ales than to true ’spéciale belge’, for which it is somewhat too clean and shows a tad too much hop bitterness (though the phenols are certainly there) - but don’t get me wrong here, I generally prefer American ambers above their Belgian counterparts and this, whatever substyle it represents, it a very enjoyable example.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Sehr trübe orangegoldene Farbe, mittelgroße beige Schaumkrone. Geruch hefig, reife Früchte, phenolisch, sehr malzig. Geschmack sehr malzig, rote Früchte, hefig, leicht bananig.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Dark amber with quick fading head. Full bodied taste. Plenty of malts and some sweet, dried fruits.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Draft. An amber beer with a beige head. The aroma has notes of malt, biquits, and caramel. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, caramel, and bisquits, leading to a dry finish.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6

Ambar oscura, dos dedos de espuma manchada. Aroma escaso. Caramelo. En boca ligera de cuerpo y floja de gas. Tono acaramelado general, con lupulo presente herbal y con un amargor contenido. Se bebe bien.

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

12oz bottle I picked up at Total Wine McLean pours a murky, copper amber with a ring of white head that faded fast. Nose has a lot of malt, sticky caramel, some toast, a little biscuit, a little bit of raisin, some mild orange too. Flavor is a bit surprising because it hits with a fair amount of candy sugar and Belgian-esque yeast character, some bubblegum, a little anise, caramel, ripe banana, some root veg. Spritzy finish. Old bottle? Bad bottle? Just didn’t seem right.