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For tonight’s beer review, I bring you Nugget, a Brewmaster Reserve Red Ale from Full Sail:

They call this a “Red Ale”. I’m not sure if there is a distinction between a “red” and an “amber”, but I’m guessing not. If there is, there can’t be much of one. Everywhere I’ve looked they seem to agree with me. If anybody can cite any real differences, please let me know. How does the Nugget do?:

The nose is of sweet malts and floral hops, nicely balanced. It smells like it should taste very good.

The beer pours a deep, dark rust color with a smallish tan head on top. The beer is pretty dark, but I can see a bunch of bubbles making the trip from the bottom of my glass to the top.

This beer starts with a rich bread, caramel and some toffee malt flavors with a little fruitiness mixed in - some apple and raisin. It is balanced with muted citrus hops and finishes with just a bit of refreshing grapefruity bitterness. It tastes very good. That said, it does not exactly “wow” me. It’s pleasant, but I’m not really sure to be honest. Something is missing in this one. It’s sort of like a slow moving song that sounds like it’s about to start to kick ass, but it never really does. I’d like more hops, but it could pass with what it has if it gave me a little more oomph somewhere else.

It has a medium /full, slightly creamy mouth feel with carbonation towards the high end.

Overall, this is a good American Amber (or red) , but not a great one. It is definitely drinkable, but wouldn’t be in my top group of the style. Maybe you can tell I’m struggling to put my finger on it. Suffice to say, it is damn near very, very good, but it just needs a shove in the right direction to get it there.

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