Stoke - Amber product reviews

My husband picked up a 6 pack of these the other night, mostly because he liked the bottle. It wasn't a twist top, and the design was nice and clean. He is doing the home-brew thing at the moment, so recyclable bottles are pretty important to him.

The first taste of this beer gives you a caramel hit. This is a feature of a good Amber beer. The Amber colour is usually achieved by using extra malt rather than sugars. This gives you a slightly less sweet beer, but the right warm amber colour. Next the hops flavour hits you. The beer is a bit like a pilsner in its level of hops and bitterness.

The after taste of bitterness doesn't linger as long as some beers. And the end note, had a flavour of bush honey. On the second taste the flavour of bush honey is just a bit more obvious. Overall very drinkable, and definitely on the shopping list for next time.

A very close second runner in my fave stakes when it cometo the Stoke range of beers, this is a slightly more rounded beer, with delicate hints of flavours sneaking through. Not one to be guzzled like cheap lagers, that's for sure - this is a beer to savour and enjoy slowly.

To be different, I tried this one at room temperature and found it seriously delightful... something I never would have considered with beers - which tend to be consumed when chilled. I guess it's a bit of the British blood in me coming out.

The hops taste is there, slightly stronger than the Gold but not as strong as the Dark - which is to be expected really. Under that are a range of flavour hints that defy clear description by an uneducated palate like mine... so I leave it to you to decide what they are. All were pleasant for me, at least.

Overall, this was a real dark-horse beer for me... I didn't know what to expect but loved what I found... and will certainly be hunting for it in stores when I have the cash to spare.