355. Eel River Brewing – Certified Organic Amber Ale

Posted By kkozlen on Aug 17, 2011 | 0 comments

I was looking for something different to drink tonight when I found this Amber ale from Eeel River in my beer fridge.  As I’ve mentioned a couple times before, my sister’s friend Courtney gave me several beers, and this was one of them. It looked interesting because the label says that it is brewed with the finest certified organic hops and barley and has a certified organic on the label. It says that Eel River brewing is in Fortuna, California, and it has a seal on the side saying certified by California certified organic farmers.

Location: Enjoyed the bottled beer, in a Sam Adams perfect pint glass, at home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 4.8% ABV, 12 Plato OG, ~ 160 Calories

Ingredients: Certified organic  ingredients, including Pacific Gems and Hallertau hops, imported from New Zealand.

Appearance & Aroma: It appears to be slightly hazy with a decent amount of carbonation in it. However, even in the Sam Adams perfect pint glass with the etched bottom to create head, it has only a very thin layer of bubbles on the top. It has a sweet caramel malt aroma with a hint of toffee.

Taste & Feel: The body is light-medium, and the mouth feel is a bit crisp from all of the carbonation in it. The middle had some sweet caramel malt flavors, matched with a bit of earthy bitterness. However the finish was a much sweeter caramel flavor with a bit of toffee and a hint of raisins. The sweetness lasted a bit into the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: It could be the fact that I just had a burger for dinner tonight, but I think the sweet caramel flavors would go nicely with the bready and beefy flavor from the burger.  In addition, the toffee and raisin flavors ad a bit of complexity and sweetness to the plain burger flavors.

Overall Impression: At first, I was taken aback by it’s sweetness, but after the first few sips, I got past it and focused on the malty complexity. I enjoyed the mix of flavors, but it would have been much better without so much carbonation bite upfront.  However, I dont know the age, or storage of this beer before it came to me. Overall, it was a pretty good amber ale, and I’d recommend trying if you get a chance.

My Rating:

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