El Toro has become a recent favorite of mine. Their oatmeal stout has always been one of my favorites in the style, and I'll have to get around to reviewing that one eventually. Their IPA is quite impressive as well. They are based out of Morgan Hill, CA and are still definitely up and coming. I decided to check out their amber ale for the first time the other day.
It is actually a very light amber color; more of a dark gold I would say. It is very well-carbonated and produced a huge head when poured that had solid retention. The product is definitely hazy. The malt aroma is very clean and reminds me of a Marzen. There's some faint caramel in there and a little bit of fruity esters. I'm also getting some quite noticeable spicy and herbal hops.
The first think I noticed upon drinking this is that it is very fruity. The esters here kind of dominate the malt character. The final product is pretty dry, light, crisp, and has a thin body. There's definitely some noble character to the hops. Aside from the esters, everything about this is extremely similar to a Marzen.
Overall, I liked this one, but I don't think it will become a regular of mine. I enjoy well-hopped amber ales, and this one is definitely fits into that category, but I think it could benefit from stronger malt. I'll have to pick up and review their IPA and oatmeal stout since I think those represent the brewery much better.
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