Tag Archives: American Amber Ale

Stochasticity Grainiac

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stochasticity-project-grainiac

Grainiac is another experiment from Stone’s Stochasticity Project line, and this time it’s a hopped-up malt bomb. The head is massive and silky and hangs around like you would expect from a root beer float. The nose has toast and granola and just a hint of lemon. The middle is full of sweet grain, and bitter hops. There’s sweet orange notes bitter pine, and a strong whole-wheat breadiness. More like dough than baked bread in flavor. The finish is sugary with a tiny herbal bitter bite right at the very end. The body is medium to heavy, and the alcohol is a fairly stout 8.5% ABV. The grains in this beer (barley, wheat, rye, triticale, millet and buckwheat) make it interesting, but Stone makes it special.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Full Sail Amber Ale

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full-sail-amber-ale

Oregon is known as a bustling hub of craft brewing, and tonight’s review is from Hood River in that fine state. Full Sail Brewing Company’s Amber Ale is a relatively ancient brew in the craft beer world, having been introduced in 1989 as the first Amber Ale in all of Oregon, and they’ve been brewing and bottling it ever since. Over the years it has one 14 gold medals and for good reason. It’s malty, slightly sweet, and quite delicious. The nose is grassy and has a lot of toasted grain. The middle is sweet with some sugary orange citrus, caramel, and some slight chocolaty undertones. The finish is a bit spicy with cinnamon and pepper and slightly metallic. The body is medium weight and the alcohol level is a moderate 6.0% ABV. All around a very nice ale.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.