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Avalanche!
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Get Out of the Way of this Avalanche!
By Belly Buddy Mark Stevens
At a Glance:
Beer: Breckenridge Avalanche Ale Pros: Nice caramel malt flavor with a kiss of hops. Cons: Light body and flavor, undercarbonated. The Bottom Line: Average quality amber ale, similar to a million other brewpub and micro ambers. An average beer, but the poor conditioning turns me off. Recommended: No.
No! I swear I'm not deliberately trying to taste all the Colorado beers, it just seems like I've been on a Colorado kick lately, what with all the New Belgium brews and the Breckenridge and Boulder beers. But really, I'm not trying to target them. It's just coincidence. My latest coincidence is picking up a six-pack of Avalanche Ale -- the amber ale offering from Breckenridge Brewing Company, and Breckenridge's flagship brand. After sampling a bottle, I'm really glad I only sprang for the six-pack instead of snagging on a case because while it isn't a bad brew by any stretch of the imagination, it's also not a terribly inspired brew and I can, frankly, think of a lot better ways to spend my drinking time and dollars. Here's why...
What I Expect in an Amber Ale
Most beers sold in the United States that are labeled "amber" are members of the pale ale class, although there are more than a couple beer writers who differentiate those labeled "amber" as their own class.
If you've been drinking many craft-brewed beers, you know amber ales (or pale ales) as one of the most ubiquitous styles in the American craft-brewing business. It's the house flagship beer at most brewpubs in the Americas and the flagship brand of countless micros and contract brewers.
American-style pale ale is an average strength beer (about 5% alcohol) with a color ranging from somewhat deep yellow to amber. The biggest signature of the style is the hops: this is a deliciously bitter beer that often showcases the flavor characteristics of American-grown hop varieties. In the amber division of this style, look for a little more crystal malt, which translates to a slightly sweet caramel flavor and a bit deeper color. One of the most classic examples of an amber ale (in my opinion) is Red Tail Ale from Mendocino Brewing in California.
Like most pale ales, ambers are fairly hoppy, but not as intensely so as classic American pale ales like Sierra Nevada Ale -- no, the hopping is a bit more restrained, though the best amber ales are still fairly hoppy brews.
Enough chitter chatter though, let's sample the Breckenridge Avalanche!!
Avalanche in a Glass...
We'll pour this into a heavy glass beer mug and see how it fares...pop...glug, glug, glug...
Appearance:
Very nice deep amber color with some yellow and orange highlights and an absolutely brilliant clarity. Carbonation seems to be a problem. There's almost no head whatsoever and what little carbonation the beer had dissipates quickly leaving a lifeless looking glass of brew.
Aroma:
Initially sweeter than I expected with a little bit of light toffee and the smell of freshly-crushed malt. As I swirl the beer a bit in the glass some of the hops start emerging with a somewhat peppery spiciness and floral character.
Flavor:
The beer is soft on the palate but it feels under-carbonated without much carbonic acid tingle. This is the second time that I've gotten this beer where it seemed almost to the point of being flat, which I don't mind in a bitter served up on a beer engine, but that I do object to when I'm dealing with an American pale ale poured from a bottle.
There's a nice sweet malt base with some toffee flavor and a little bit of butter, but the overall flavor impression is earthy hops. I get a very nice hop character that's not unlike the earthy hops signature that you find in many English bitter ales. There's a nice deep-seated hop flavor that shows up quickly and then winds itself down to a lingering bitterness in the back of the throat. It's really a very decent drinking beer and one that I could see someone drinking over the course of an evening, but it's also lighter in flavor than I like and its less distinctive than other ambers and pale ales.
Breckenridge claims to use a mix of Chinook, Willamette, Tettnang, and Hallertau hops in this beer, which is hopped to a level of 19 IBU. Not a big hop level, just enough to tilt the balance towards the hops in the beer's aftertaste.
Verdict: A nice poundable session beer. Fairly ordinary as far as pale ales and amber ales go, but a well-crafted brew with a nice flavor profile. Personally, I'd like this beer better if it were bigger and if it were better conditioned, but that is my opinion, and since Breckenridge says that Avalanche is their number one selling brew, I guess they're doing something right as far as their customers are concerned. Still, for my money, there are better brews on the shelves for this style of beer, and I probably won't be buying a lot of Avalanche next time I'm at the beer store.
About Breckenridge Breckenridge Brewing Company started as a brewpub opened by local skiier Richard Squires back in 1990. Squires continued to grow the operation, keeping his eye on distributing his beers regionally. The bottled beers that are distributed throughout Colorado and neighboring states are produced in Denver where Breckenridge operates a microbrewery across the street from Coors Field. The brewery has a web site where you can find more info.
I find it interesting that Breckenridge has chosen to sell both a Pale Ale and an Amber Ale. When I look at these two beers side by side, the Avalanche is clearly redder in color. In gustatory terms, the two taste very similar with just a hint more caramel in the Avalanche. Both are under-carbonated and not that well conditioned. Maybe the brewers want to be more like English ales, or maybe they just don't like the usual overcarbonation that U.S. industrial beers tend towards. Whatever the reason, both are a bit on the flat side.
At a Glance:
