Beer Review, Amber Tease

Schmohz Amber Tease (bottle)
Grand Rapids, MI
5.3% ABV

This is a brewery that is clearly new to bottling. Cheap six-pack holders with a label stuck on, inexpensive bottle labels. I say we cut them a bit of slack.

Appearance: Reddish-orange body, thin pink-white head that dissipates quickly. Hazy, no effervescence. 3.0/5

Smell: Sweet with that classic "amber" aroma, but with a slight tinge of sourness. Notes of apples. 3.0/5

Taste: More complexity here. A nice bready malt backbone with a sweet (but still tarty/sour) finish and a very dry aftertaste. No hops to balance. Very slight yeastiness as the beer warms. 4.0/5

Mouthfeel: Moderate thickness, no significant carbonation, no hops. 4.0/5

Drinkability: I can't tell if the sourness here is intentional or a flaw in the brewing/shipping process. Their website claims that their beer is unpasteurized, so it's possible that infection set in between the bottling process and the store, but given the relatively minor distances and times involved this can't be good for the average consumer finding this beer on the shelf. The sourness isn't unpleasant, but it is unexpected and not quite true-to-style, but I'm cutting the brewery a bit of slack since I like to root for the little guy. 4.0/5

(Cute label, though -- almost worth buying just for the artwork.)

Overall: 3.6/5