Aged to perfection in barrels of bourbon
Choc-o-late, oak and sweet car-a-mel
These are a few of my fav-o-rite things!"
The other day I heard a few regional radio guys putting down flavored craft beers and talking about how much they like "regular" beer. Mainstream lagers are fine. I have no problem with them, but to drink a fruit enhanced sour beer or a quad or a bourbon barrel aged stout and say that it "doesn't taste like beer" doesn't take into account that it's not supposed to. Does Mountain Dew taste like Pepsi? Does Dr. Pepper taste like Sprite? Does coffee taste like tea? No, of course not...because they're not supposed to! They're different drinks. A Budweiser lager (or even a Pilsner Urquell) is a different beverage from some of the specialty varieties of craft beer. Amburilla does not taste anything like a pilsner.
Amburilla pours a deep mahogany with a skinny beige head with ruby highlights. There is an obvious alcohol vapor tickling the nostrils (12.5% ABV) and oak and vanilla that virtually assaults the senses. There is a lot of ginger in the mix, which is unusual, and though I like ginger as a cooking spice, I could do without it in my beer. There is a veritable orchestra of flavors - dark fruits, vanilla, toffee, caramel, chocolate, coffee and of course the bourbon.
I'm going to have to give this only a 6 on the IGB scale, mainly because of the ginger, but if can get past that, it's pretty solid.
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