Karl Strauss Columbia Street Amber
It was February 2nd 1989 when we opened our first brewery on Columbia Street in downtown San Diego. This easy drinking beer has been pouring since that very first day. Imported Munich malts give Columbia Street Amber its deep bronze color, smooth body, and crisp toasted flavor. Karl Strauss has grown, but the original brewery location remains. Raise a pint of Columbia Street Amber and join us in a cheers to San Diego’s vibrant craft beer scene.
3.1
235 reviews
San Diego, United States
Community reviews
On tap at their place in San Diego. Pours a clear golden with one finger of white head. Aroma is malty. Some caramel. Slight floral. Light bodied. Finishes dry. Decent beer.
12 oz. bottle. Malt forward beers like this typically don’t get as much respect. But I found it to be an easy drinking, low key amber with distinct, yet faint, woody and earthy flavors and little hop bitterness. Not particularly complex, just light, smooth and refreshing. Love the dry finish and low ABV.
"a more malt heavy amber, but full flavored, even with the lighter amount of hops. nutty caramel and toffee in the nose and flavor. ruby in color. looks nice. good beer, although i usually like a touch more hops."
Bottle thanks to StephanSD in SSS. Strong diacetyl aroma - buttery, sweet caramel malt. Mostly clear amber color. Caramel flavor, semisweet malt profile, crisp, no butter in the flavor.
Appearance: A rich reddish, amber color. Decent foamy head.
Smell: I got toasty and bready notes in the nose.
Taste: A ton of caramel and toffee malt sweetness. Not that this tastes like a sugar bomb cider or anything. Just a nice refreshing change of pace from San Di-Hop-o IIIIIIIPAs. First sip to last gulp, I’m a fan of this Amber ale.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, straight down the middle.
Drinkability: Definitely a recommendation and on my go-to list for easy drinking beers.
Pours a nice amber color (as the name suggests) nice white head. Aroma of caramel and nuts. Sweet flavor with a bit of citrus.
Fad: Samme restaurant og daym jeg ikke tog Stone IPA, troede jeg havde ratet den. Dumme ticker. ravfarvet diset øl med et stort flot skumhoved. Duften er forholdsvis maltet og det er så hvad der er at sige om denne standard kedelige øl. I det mindste er den drikbar.
Nice amber cor, crystal clear. Little to no aroma. Certainly a toasted quality in the flavor, well balanced and smooth.
Pour is clear orange with thin head, aroma brought some slight caramel, biscuit, bread, hints of yeast, slight grain, hints of lemon. Taste is slight grain, biscuit, caramel, hints of lemon, slight yeast, finishing fairly sweet, slightly bitter.
Pours a dark rust orange appearance with a thin tan head. Aroma has caramel, toasted grain, light apple nose. Flavor is a bit thin with toffee, brown sugar water with some herbal notes. Some fruity flavors. Ehhh, ok.
Draught at Churchills Pub & Grille, San Marcos. Clear amber beer with almost no head. Malty roasted aroma, chocolate, malty, grassy, some cocoa. Mslty roasted caramel flavor, hop notes, floral, some toffee. Hoppy chocolate and caramel finish. Decent lager beer.
tap. Amber with small head. Mild amber with light caramel malts. Slightly aboverage for the style.
Light amber color with almost no head. Aroma is caramel and malt. Taste is caramel, malt and some fruit. Good beer.
Pours a clear amber with khaki head. Tons of caramel and some fruity hops.
On tap poured into a 4oz sampler glass. Initially a sweet berry aroma comes through, but this is quickly overtaken by bread, caramel, and nut notes. There’s also a whiff of pinesol hidden somewhere in the background. This beer pours a clear orange-honey color with a soapy white head that leaves behind an average amount of lace. A nice balance is struck between a medium amount of sweet and bitter. The medium bodied beer is somewhat on the thin side, and has an effervescent carbonation. In the mouth, it’s a very bready, doughy, caramel flavor that leads into a roasted finish with a nice piney bitterness cleansing it. The slight aftertaste is that of roasted malt.
Pours a clear amber. Light aroma of caramel and a little citrus. Sweet taste of honey and malt. Finishes dry with a little bitterness. Decent lager.
Light copper colour. Sweet aroma of berries, caramel. Taste is sweet and fruity, nice bittersweet and full of character.
Pours clear pale amber with a small off white head. Aroma is weak malty fruity. Flavor is acidy malty a bit soapy sweet nicely bitter, good bitter malty finish.
On tap at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Press amber with an off white head. Aroma of butterscotch, caramel and malt. Flavor is sweet and malty with some butterscotch. Medium body, average carbonation.
Draught @ The Old Spaghetti Factory, San Marcos, CA
Pours clear deep golden with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, caramel, butterscotch and floral. Taste is light to medium sweet and light bitter. Body is light to medium, texture is thin, carbonation is soft.
On tap. A hazy, golden beer with an off-white head. The aroma is lightly butterscotch, with caramel and a touch of fruity hops. It’s medium bodied, soft, maybe a bit low on carbonation. Caramel maltyness, a touch of roasted malts and some bitterness in the flavor. Short finish. A really mediocre beer, probably won’t even do as a crossover beer. 130815
Universal City, Ca. - on Tap at their Universal City Walk location - part of their August Sampler. Medium copper pour, light off white head, nice lace. Butty aroma, Flavor has some nutty notes, a touch of spearmint and some light citrus bitter notes. Spritzy mouthfeel.
Clear amber color with malty aromas. Malt driven water taste. Rinses clean from the palate. Not very exciting.
A whole lot of Munich malt here -has a tootsie roll flavor, very flavorful for a Vienna. I like it.
Pours amber color with bubbly slightly off white head. Caramel and malt aromas. Caramel, malt, bread and fruit flavors. Medium body and bready dry finish.
Draft @ the brewpub, San Diego, CA. Pours a pale amber color with a white head. Has a fruity malty caramel aroma. Fruity malty caramel flavor with weak hoppy hints. Has a fruity malty caramel finish.
Amber pour with a white head. Bready malt up front with some cotton candy, toffee, and fruity, apple esters. Light floral and citrus hops. The flavor is sweet with a lot of bread, toast, and cotton candy. Sweet fruit esters, light citrus, floral hops, and minimal bitterness.
On tap at the San Diego Pier Cafe in San Diego, served in a shaker. Pours clear amber with a small off-white head that fades to a thin cover and leaves a trace of fine lace. On the nose, there are notes of caramel, flowers and grain, along with very subtle hops. The flavour is lightly sweet with grainy malts, caramel and subtle hops. The finish is well balanced with subtle hops and malts. On the palate it is light in body with a watery texture and soft carbonation. Overall, this is a decent Vienna lager, but nothing special. Feels a bit light. 2013-03-20
Bottle: amber pour with a thin off-white head. Aroma is caramel malt with maybe a hint of grainy bread. Flavor is caramel with a light dusting of toasted grains and some nuts. Palate is slightly sweet but moves into a light grainy bitter and an active carbonation tingle on the tongue. I found the beer rather easy to drink, nice flavor with no highs or lows, I will drink more.
Very malty, nutty, and sweet. Some distinct citrus flavors that tail off to a fairly thin finish.