Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale

Brewery: Tröegs Brewing Company

Location: Harrisburg, PA
Style: Amber
Brewery Website
Rating: B+

Today's beer tasting goes out to all my friends in the Harrisburg area. On deck today is the HopBack Amber from Tröegs (umlaut will be omitted henceforth for ease of typing...). The HopBack Amber is a golden/ruddy brown in color with a short, off-white head. Lots of fine bubbles can be seen rising in the glass. The nose detects sweetness along with some citrus that combine to give the impression of lemonade. A faint aroma of wheat bread sits in the background.

On the palate there is a citrus hops note up front. Wheat bread and pretzel maltiness build. The hops give a moderate level of bitterness and more of the lemonade flavor to match the nose. There is some notable sweetness here as well. The HopBack Amber has a medium body with a nice carbonated fizziness. The finish is fairly short with more pretzel and lemonade, along with a light bitter undertone.

Troegs HopBack is a nice hoppy amber with a solid maltiness. The only thing I'd change is to roll back the sweetness here which I think is a bit too much. The Troegs Hop Back is a very good drinkable amber, but there is definitely the potential for excellence here.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Belhaven Scottish Ale

Brewery: Belhaven Brewery Company Ltd.
Location: Dunbar, Scotland
Style: Scottish Ale
Brewery Website
Rating: A-

In my glass today is Belhaven Scottish Ale. The Belhaven is a deep amber-brown in color. It pours with a short, off-white, bubbly head. On the nose there is a mineral water characteristic along with dark wheat toast. Faint aromas of wood and wine hang in the background.

On the palate there is a distinct flavor of dark pretzels up front. A pleasing near-burnt wheat toast character from the malt takes center stage. There is a mild, herbal hop bite that plays a complimentary role. Faint wine notes and slight residual sweetness round out the flavor. The Belhaven Scottish Ale is medium bodied with a juicy mouthfeel. The finish has sweet juiciness over dark toast.

The Belhaven Scottish Ale has some great, deep toasted malt flavor that is balanced nicely by a juicy mouthfeel with supporting hops. The result is a beer with rich, distinct maltiness that is very drinkable and not overpoweringly heavy.