What can I say about amber ales that I haven't said before? This used to be my go-to drink for quite a while because Killian's was inexpensive, different, and certainly inoffensive. This was all before the onslaught of craft breweries and my own station in life changed sufficiently that cost wasn't a major concern when ordering a beer. Still, ambers have their place.
First sip is a bit unbalanced. The malt is sweet enough, but it's kind of bulbous and uneven. It's like the hops are underneath, but they aren't strong enough to poke through, so they're just distorting the normally smooth character of the malt. So, the sip is... not horrific?
Tip-in is mild carbonation tingle with caramel malt and a bit of orange rind. The middle flexes into that kind of dusty bread with the caramel underneath and the orange not really doing much of anything. The finish is more sprightly than the rest of the beer, and the orange glazes the roof of the mouth as the sweetness of the malt really starts to come out in the trail-off.
Bottom Line: Certainly inoffensive.
2.25/5
