Roscoe’s Hop House Amber Ale

Genesee Brewing Co.
Rochester, NY

Available: n/a

Genesee Brewing Co. was founded in 1878 and is still family-operated. Brewer of the iconic Genny Cream Ale, Genesee produces beers under its own and a variety of other brand names.

ABV: 5.5
ABW: 4.3
Color: 10
Bitterness: 10
Original gravity: 1053

Looks aren’t everything in a beer, of course, but I was struck how much this amber looked like Shipyard’s Wheat, which I had tasted earlier. It’s not every day you sample doppelganger beers back-to-back! But looks are where the similarities end. This beer presents aromas of light malt and honey with a hard-to-nail down enigma of an fragrance that finally revealed itself as white grapes. Sweet, with honey and lightly toasted malty notes, that wine-like white grape character also comes up at the end of each sip. Wine lovers who are interested in exploring craft beer will certainly enjoy this one.
- Lisa Morrison

I’d say it was more dark golden than amber, but that would be quibbling, and there’s really very little to quibble about with this quaffable, middle-of-the-road beer. I love the silky smoothness of the malt on the tongue, and the caramel notes that provide the foundation are very palatable. Bouncing on top are some sherbety-sharp hop notes, bringing with them a distant orange character. There’s a little spiciness to the taste, too. Bitterness picks up in the finish but never really amounts to much. Bring on the roast chicken. This could be a perfect partner.
- Jeff Evans

Lisa Morrison
Lisa Morrison, aka The Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.

Jeff Evans
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and one of Britain's best-known beer writers.

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