Odell Brewing Company's 90 Shilling Ale

I lighter scotch ale billed as an amber? Should be interesting.

Pours rubyish amber with a nice light tan head and good carbonation.

Smells like an amber. Slightly sharp hoppy smell backed by malt, but nothing out of whack or overpowering.

Tastes a bit like a Scottish Ale. I guess I'm having a hard time describing why, but it tastes a bit more peaty, or oaky, than a standard amber. It has about the right amount of bitterness and malt, both of which are balanced and kind of indistinct, it just has a bit more complexity to it that I like.

Good beer. Bodes well for this brewery and the several others from it that are waiting for their turn in the fridge.

Unibroue's Raftman

Alright, I saved what I hoped would be the best of the Unibroue variety pack for last. Let's see if they can screw up an amber.

Pours an unfiltered amber with a tan head. So far so good, although the head is probably too big.

Damnit. It has that Belgian yeast smell. Goddamnit. Smells more yeasty and like old fruit than malty and slightly hoppy, like an amber should.

I guess Unibroue doesn't understand that amber is a style, not just a color. Tastes like a weak trippel. With the same odd twangy aftertaste that the Noire had.

Lesson learned. No more Unibroue, ever.

Saint Arnold's Amber

If you're in Texas, you'd be heard pressed to find a better regular go-to beer than this one.

Saint Arnold's Amber pours a clear and fairly light amber. Nothing that looks substantial, but it's not trying to be on the extreme end of the style, it just wants to reach a broader market than many small brewers so it's bigger and better than the usual macro lagers while not being too heavy for most beer drinkers. It just so happened to be my gateway beer, too. Good, light tan head that slowly recedes with moderate carbonation.

Good bready smell. Slightly grainy, with a moderate hops smell for an amber. Again, it's not intended to be big, just bigger.

Moderate bitterness hits right up front. It's lighter bodied than many ambers, but because it's also moderately hopped it's well balanced. No specific hops bitterness, it's not grassy or piney, it's just bitter.

All in all his is not a big sexy amber, but many ambers in the craft beer market are really closer to pales anyway, so I'd say this was more on style than those. This is just a well-balanced light amber that is good for any time of year. Hoppy enough for colder weather, light enough for a lawnmower beer--if you're used to drinking impy stouts, anyway. Good beer, and a local, so it's always in the fridge.

Independence Brewing Company's Austin Amber

My first beer from Independence Brewing Company, and it pissed me off right from the Goddamn start. It foamed out of my glass on a gentle pour, something I'd expect (and watch out for) in a Duvel but not from a straight-up American amber. So it had to overcome a very poor first impression. It was also hugely over carbonated and even without nucleation sites on the bottom of my glass it looked like a waterfall going against gravity. The light tan head that it eventually boils down to is pillowy, which I like. And I like the loosely filtered look with a deep amber color. But still, the bastard foamed out of my glass.

In a turn for the better, it has a great bready malt smell, clean, with slightly grassy hops.

Solid amber taste as well, with a fair amount of bitterness backed up by a good bready malt body. A tad too sweet, which slows down the otherwise crisp feel.

This beer dug itself out of the hole with me, but I hope Independence fixes their carbonation problem. Otherwise, it'll be just like every Austinite I know, fatally flawed, and gushing imperfection.