Auburn Ale - Cameron's Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Oakville)

Auburn Ale - Cameron's Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Oakville) 5.0%

A dark or charred amber in a glass. A green hoppy and caramelized malt aroma with a moderate hoppy and strongly toasty taste.

The pronounced roasted malt flavours are quite dark, moving beyond a caramelized sugariness to roasted malt which can border on chocolatey but is mostly a delightful toasty maltiness. As well there is a very pleasant amount of lightly floral, barely citrus-like and not quite cedar hops - not quite because it isn't resiny as it lacks that sticky quality. The cedar hops character is less like the branches and more like a cedar plank you'd roast fish on.  An interesting American Amber Ale, refreshing but full of character.

Hitachino Amber Ale Nest Beer - Kiuchi Brewery (Japan - Ibaraki) 6.0%

Hitachino Amber Ale Nest Beer - Kiuchi Brewery (Japan - Ibaraki) 6.0%

A very dark amber, more like a red-tinted chestnut colour in a glass with a big head of off-white foam that leaves behind fairly nice lacing. The aroma is one of grain and malt, with some sweetness, some caramelization, some hops, a bit of honey and a hint of something faintly citrusy.

The taste is sweet and caramelized but also quite pleasantly hoppy and bitter with some resiny cedar tones and an umami finish that is ever so slightly metallic. This is a bit more easy drinking and lighter on the citrusy and floral hops than an American Amber but it still has a nice bitter hops bite. Kiuchi Brewery's Hitachino Amber Ale Nest Beer would pair well with lots of foods because of it robust flavour and palate cleansing bitterness; quite a nice beer and my favourite out of the three from Kiuchi that I have tried.