Brewery: Bell’s Brewery, Inc.
Beer: Amber Ale
Style: American Amber/Red Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Character: Brewed with mostly pale malt with some Munich and caramel malts, and balanced by an assortment of American hops
Ratings at the time of review: BA: 86 | RB: 87
Metal Connection: FRANTIC AMBER – Burning Insight

Rating: 3.75/5

Here is a nice little find, added to my collection. This one came to me by surprise, as one day I was visiting my local nearby craft beer bar that I used to work at. I saw a few bottles in the cooler, which were bottle share bottles left over from a previous night, so I asked about them, and Augie handed me this bottle of Bell’s Amber Ale for me to take home, as he knows I love to try new beers for a review on this site, and to collect the bottles.

Most of all the labels for Bell’s Brewery are actually quite plain and boring, but that does not stop me from giving these guys high ratings. We all know that the review is for the beer inside the bottle, not what’s on the outside. Amber Ale, according to their website, has 6 different art pieces. The one I got is called River Pines, and is exactly that. This label features a painting of a beautiful scenery of trees along a river bank.

I poured this beer into a Robinson’s Brewery, Trooper pint glass for this session. Bell’s Amber Ale is a hazy light amber color, crowned with a 1 inch thick foamy head. There was excellent head retention, which left a large sheet of sticky lacing down the glass.

The aroma was full of caramel, mild toasted malts mixed with a nice dose of floral and earthy hops. There is also a big bready biscuit aroma.

The taste is just like the aroma. There is a nice blend of malts and hops, but it all very subtle. Nothing is overpowering here. Flavors of caramel, toffee, bitter, and floral hops are all present. The aftertaste was bitter and malty at the same time with a blend of floral hops and caramel.

This beer had a thin body, which I was hoping for something a bit heavier. The mouthfeel was smooth and silky with moderate carbonation. This one had a good bitter bite in the end, and finished a little dry., but still silky.

Overall, this was a pleasant beer, and definitely a good beer for a flagship year round offering. Unfortunately for me and a few of you living here in Texas, this one is not available here quite yet. This Amber Ale is good, and worth the wait for it to be available here, or if you ever visit a market where this beer is, please purchase this. Not sure if it’s the picture on the label, but I picture people enjoying this beer while camping.

Metal Connection: Here we have a fairly new ban d who I’m sure a lot of you have not heard of yet. I am talking about Frantic Amber from Stockholm, Sweden. I know there are some people out there who do not like to see the use of certain facts as a selling tool, but this band was once an all female Death Metal band. Since their formation in 2008, they have gone through a few drummers, and now the throne is filled by ex-Incision, ex-Decadence drummer, Marcus Jonsson (aka Mac Dalmanner). The band’s first EP, Wrath of Judgement was released on a small independent label called Blackened Life. Since that release in 2010, Frantic Amber released a few singles, until finally releasing their debut full length album, Burning Insight on their own with no label backing. In fact this album was just released with week. Here is the title track for this album, which the band made an official music video for. This video is pretty cool,as it reenacts different scenes from different horror movies including The Grudge, Carrie, and more. Here is “Burning Insight” by Frantic Amber. Cheers!