Fat Tire Amber Ale
January 11, 2007 – 3:14 pm
It is my great pleasure to finally review the Fat Tire Amber Ale. I have Adam to thank for this one. He brought a six pack of it over to my place to have with dinner a while back.
Fat Tire holds a special place in my heart, because it’s the very first beer I ever bought. On my twenty first birthday, on my way home from the internship I was working in Austin, TX, I stopped by a convenience store just down the block from my apartment. I bought a six pack of the Fat Tire, took it home, and opened up the first bottle that night. I didn’t really enjoy it at the time, to be honest. I hadn’t tried much beer at that point, and the Fat Tire was a bit overwhelming. I’m much more receptive to it now.
The first thing I noticed when pouring this beer is that it has practically no head. It’s really neither here or there when it comes to how I rate a beer, but it was conspicuous. The color is, surprise surprise, a reddish amber. The Fat Tire has a malty, sweet taste accompanied by a caramel and brown sugar aroma. The malt isn’t difficult to identify in this beer, but like all good beers, the malt is balanced nicely with a judicious hop presence.
The bitterness starts early near the tip of the tongue, which is different from the bitterness that shows up at the last minute during the finish of most other beers. And the taste is infused with this bitterness. It doesn’t dominate, but you notice it when you’re drinking the beer. I find it pleasant, even though I’m by no means a hop head. But, it’s hard for me to rate this beer objectively knowing how special it is to me.
It’s a good beer, and even if you don’t like it, it’s sufficiently well done that it’s deserving of a try.