Cloudy Amber Ale good stepping stone

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This article was published 08/01/2016 (3739 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What styles do I think will become the beer trend setters for 2016? Honestly, I can’t even predict what will be popular in the next 12 months because the beer scene keeps changing.

That being said, I expect breweries to start putting more effort into pilsners and amber ales, as those are two popular styles that have seen a lot of neglect over the past few years thanks to the booming popularity of IPAs and Belgian-style wheat ales. Many breweries will go back to the basics and push for classic styles — with a twist. On the other side of the spectrum, we will see breweries experimenting with weird ingredients more and more … how does a dill pickle saison sound?

Five years ago, Okanagan Spring Brewing out of Vernon, B.C., was one of my go to breweries back when there wasn’t a large selection of Canadian craft beer available locally at the LCs or vendor. The only craft beers that were easily available here were Unibroue, Half Pints, Fort Garry, Mill Street and a few other craft beer brands. The rest were Labatt and Molson products.

Well, Okanagan Spring isn’t exactly a craft brewery either as they — along with their cousin brewery Unibroue — are owned by Sleeman’s owners Sapporo. Even at the time, Okanagan Spring came out with some interesting and unique beers, including a stout-inspired Black Lager and a full-on florally bitter Hopped Lager. Nowadays a Black Lager or a Hopped Lagers are a norm for beer drinkers, but back then … not so much.

Now on top of those beers, they have a Chili Porter, which is, unfortunately, only available in their variety pack locally. For years, Okanagan Spring was just another brewery that brewed a large variety of simply mediocre products — their 1516 Lager and Pale Ale aren’t even up to my standards. Even if I don’t like several of a brewery’s products, I don’t end up writing them out completely because … well … sometimes they can come out with something that I might actually like.

Aside from their Chili Porter, Okanagan Spring’s newest product is their Cloudy Amber Ale. I’ve had a lot of amber ales in my life, and most of them were pretty boring and not really inspiring, so I hoped that Okanagan Spring’s Cloudy Amber Ale will be something a bit better than the typical Canadian Amber Ale.

As I poured this amber ale, I already notice that it’s a bit heavier and darker than your typical Canadian Amber Ale, especially compared to Sleeman’s … which pours more golden. The Cloudy Amber is a rich, thick honey red ale. I wouldn’t quite consider it cloudy as it’s not cloudy and hazy like a typical unfiltered ale, but more of a dark amber.

The aroma has notes of what I expect in a craft amber ale — a noticeable note of hops with a good amount of cascade and other various hops that give it a floral, alfalfa and pine bitterness to it, light nuttiness and a good amount of caramel that makes it nice and sweet — which is what an amber ale should be … sweet! The taste isn’t as exciting as the aroma, unfortunately, as the hop notes don’t transfer over into the taste. The notes I do notice for the flavour is a hint of roasted barley malt which gives it a light nutty bitterness, a light amount of caramel and a bit of an aftertaste that’s reminiscent of various prairie grains.

I didn’t have high expectations for the Cloudy Amber Ale, as I’ve been disappointed with many of Okanagan Spring’s offerings in the past, but this beer is a good stepping stone beer to those who are drinking Sleeman’s Amber Ale and want to try something a bit different.

What do I want in a perfect amber ale? I want more caramel sweetness, more hops and something that I can regularly drink when I’m not wanting a Belgian-style or IPA. According to Untappd.com, I’m not really a fan of this style, but if I had to pick a great amber ale, it would have to be Saskatoon’s Paddock Wood Red Hammer Ale, which is unfortunately not available in Manitoba.

Okanagan Spring’s Cloudy Amber Ale is a good step up from some of the typical amber ales, very easy to drink and not pricey at all at $11.77 per 341mL six pack. You can find this at the Keystone Motor Inn and the 10th and Victoria Liquor Mart.

• Pint Rating: 3 pints out of 5.

Cody Lobreau is a Canadian beer blogger who reviews every beer he can get his hands on as he believes that he should try every beer twice to get an understanding if it’s truly good or bad.

» BeerCrank.ca