Archive for the 'Tap Room' category
Tap Room No. 21 Amber Ale
Have you guys/gals seen this beer on shelves lately? I have and, frankly, I thought it was some macro-brewer’s attempt at pawning off a craft beer to the masses. I’m not sure why I felt this way, but it’s been happening a lot lately so I’ve been constantly on my guard. However, now that I look around, I can’t find any indication that this is the case. So, I’m thinking this is a legitimate craft brew out of Wisconsin, and I’ll do my best to give it an honest review.
I gotta be straight with you – this doesn’t look like an amber ale. There is only the slightest little bit of amber in the color of this beer. The greater coloring is that of a filtered golden lager. This leaves us with a golden beer with just light rose hints when held up to the light. In the nose, this is all light malt – a bready aroma with a slight sweetness and a slight paper pulp scent. The taste of this beer does bear some signs of an amber, albeit a subtle one. The start is light and fleeting on the tongue. However, a sharper and darker malt hits about halfway down the tongue, bringing a more complex cane sugar flavor and some light hints of anise. This flavor sticks all the way to the back of the mouth where the beer briefly shocks the back of the throat with a Pop-Rocks-like sensation before fizzling away down the throat and leaving a mild syrupy molasses flavor in the aftertaste.
So, in short, this is an interesting beer. It looks and smells like a a mild lager. However, in the mouth, we get this raw sweetness and light amber flavors that add some complexity. Frankly, it’s a pretty good beer, which I didn’t expect to be the case when I poured it. It’s not a great representation of an amber, but it IS a good beer, so I’ll be interested to play around with the other beers offered by Tap Room.
