Full Sail Brewing Co: Amber Ale

It's time that I finally understand Full Sail's flagship beer. I've had varied experiences with this amber ale. I first tried this brew at an outdoor summer festival in San Francisco where some friends and I shared bottles while enjoying music, fun, food. Drinking the amber in the warm weather, the beers tasted light and refreshing and definitely quenched our thirst with crisp light flavors.

Recently I revisited the brew, sampling this amber again at a poker game in mid-January. I don't know if it was due to the change of season, but on the second occasion, the beer felt very thick and chewy with tons of deep and rich malt flavors. These two different experiences didn't add up in my mind and I couldn't sort out the spectrum of flavors I tasted in my two attempts of drinking this beer. As a result, I decided to sit down with Full Sail's Amber Ale again, and give it a thorough drink and review.

Not surprisingly, I found aspects of both the crisp lightness and dark malts that I experienced in my prior tasting. This amber has the aroma of a citrusy IPA with some light lemon citrus flavors that match when the liquid first hits the tongue. To back up the hop citrus, there are also some thick brown and deep caramel malt flavors that balance out the beer. Overall it's a medium bodied amber ale that probably can fit into any occasion or season. It's pretty tasty and a good example of the west coast amber ale style. I'd give it a try; any time of the year. Cheers.