Oakshire Brewing Co.
Eugene, OR
Originally homebrewed by Oakshire’s founder, our amber is an outstanding and versatile ale that is traditionally crafted with the highest quality ingredients. It pairs well with a variety of foods or simply as an afternoon pint.
ABV: 5.4
ABW: 4.32
COLOR: N/A
BITTERNESS: 24
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 12.8 P
AVAILABLE: OR, WA
True confession: I love Oakshire’s beers. But although I slurp up their more adventurous stuff, I am not sure I’d ever even tasted their amber until this review. Now I wish I had tried this beer before! It pours a clear, dark-amber hue with a slightly tawny head. There’s a compellingly clean, malt aroma—much akin to freshly milled grain—with just a whiff of citrus peel. Biscuit and caramel flavors dominate but are kept in check with light citrus, sometimes grassy top notes. Medium carbonation allows the hops to linger for a bit after each sip.
Deep, chocolaty malt, zesty orange, a little hazelnut: These are the flavors that define this extremely enjoyable, bright chestnut-colored ale, from the aroma right through to the finish. The bittersweet taste is actually a little drier and thinner than the aroma leads to you expect, but it’s clean, crisp and interesting all the same, with delicate floral notes as a bonus. These linger well in the dry, increasingly bitter finish, along with more orange and an almost fudgy chocolate character, but tangy hops eventually take over. A well-made beer that slips down really easily.
Lisa Morrison, aka The Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever and wherever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. More of his writing can be found at www.insidebeer.com.
