The beer is darker than ancticipated. The first sniff reveals hops! A nice hop aroma, but intertwined with a syrupy sweet smell. Not really malt, more like sugary syrup. The taste begins with a vague memory of malt, followed by some hops, then a big open dead space where the round malty flavors are supposed to go. A light coating of hop bitterness settles on the tounge, then melts away without a trace. For a moment I thought, "well, they probably fucked up at bottling and put the round malty flavors all in one bottle by mistake. I'll root around in the other bottles and see if it's there." No, that's just stupid talk. It's really supposed to taste like this. It actually tastes just like you think an ale made by A/B would taste: not offensive, just not interesting in any way. I take that back, it is interesting in one way. The marketing guys really did a nice job on this one. The bottle is a really nice shape, and the label really is beautifully designed. The packaging is truely a masterpiece. It even has a big eagle and AMERICAN in big contrasting letters as if to say, "forget we are wholly owned by a huge Belgian conglomerate. We are an American icon". Kind of reminds me of another American Icon: the Chevy truck. Built in Canada out of parts from Mexico and Asia.
I have five left if anyone wants one.
