Christmas Ale - Shepherd Neame (United Kingdom)

Christmas Ale - Shepherd Neame (United Kingdom) 7.0%

A reddish gold colour in a glass with a frothy, white head of foam. A dry, slightly herbal hop aroma with light red fruit and plum flavours. Sweet, lightly boozy and herbal taste with caramelized stickiness and dark malty flavours mixed with some light fruit tones (apple, raisin, plum). Shepherd Neame's Christmas Ale has sherry traits but also the robust malty body of a nice amber ale. The mix of flavours reminds me of really good fruitcake and is pretty close to my ideal concept of an English Christmas Ale.

Tall Ship Amber Ale - Garrison Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax)

Tall Ship Amber Ale - Garrison Brewing (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 4.6%

A reddish amber coloured drink, this ale tastes sweetly of toasted caramel malt. Its aftertaste is slightly bitter and builds as you drink but the initial flavour is of sweetness and malt. Like many ambers this would be a good place to start for someone looking to expand their palate from boring old international lagers for the first time.

Alexander Keith's Red Amber Ale (Canada) 5.0%

Alexander Keith's Red Amber Ale (Canada) 5.0%

Alexander Keith's Red Amber Ale has lightly caramelized malt aroma with a slight sticky sweetness too, in short the aroma is quite a lot like the one a Red Ale should have. That aspect tends to fade leaving an aroma of mostly plain malt with a bit of a dry hops touch to the aroma too. A darkish red amber colour in a glass with a decent head that even leaves some lacing.

The taste has some Red Ale-like sweetness with a bit of stickiness and a caramelized touch. There are even a few red fruit esters to lend a slightly fruity and barely tart touch that make Alexander Keith's Red Amber Ale even more like what I would expect from a typical Red Ale. The malt and overall body are a bit thin for a Red but otherwise Alexander Keith's Red Amber Ale is surprisingly tasty.

Faxe Amber (Denmark) 5.0%

Faxe Amber (Denmark) 5.0%

Sweet, honeyed, lightly caramelized malt aroma with a bit of dry hops. A brown tinted amber in a glass.

A moderately caramelized malt flavour which is to be expected from an Amber: a little bit like the crust from dark bread. Also quite bitter and the taste of alcohol is there occasionally despite it only being 5.0% ABV. Unfortunately there's a unpleasant sour taste that comes through sometimes which is not nice. Overall, it's not bad for a mass-produced Amber (which isn't saying much) except for that sour flavour which can be really off-putting. Actually, between the sour flavour and the oddly unmasked alcohol taste Faxe Amber isn't very good. Some other Faxe products are just as cheap but actually quite a bit better.

The Cannery Collection - Cannery Brewing (Penticton)

IPA - Canning Brewery (Canada - British Columbia - Penticton) 6.0%

A dark amber colour in a glass with a nice frothy head and good lacing. A malty aroma with a hefty dose of resin and pine. Quite a bitter hops taste with roasty malt and full of resin and pine. Just a few red fruit flavours intermixed throughout and maybe just a touch of citrus in the finish.

Naramata Nut Brown Ale - Cannery Brewing (Canada - BC - Penticton) 5.5%

A very dark brown in a glass, nearly opaque, with a big frothy head. Roasty molasses and brown bread aroma. A nutty brown bread taste with molasses, touches of hops and some dark fruit hints. A pretty nice brown with a light mouthfeel that keeps it refreshing.

Anarchist Amber Ale - The Cannery Brewing Co. (Canada - British Columbia - Penticton) 5.5%

A roasty and bitter aroma that is yet a little spicy and tangy with red fruit esters. Amber in a glass with a big fluffy head. Definitely some floral red fruit esters in the taste too, a bit of red ale stickiness and a fair amount of hops comes through with a little pine, a bit of something astringent and some spiciness like a very mild cilantro. Malty also with grain flavours, toast and caramel sweetness with a roasty aftertaste.