Bourbon Trail Scotch Ale
Five Seasons Prado

 

Comes out of the tap a totally opaque dark chocolate brown with a fine-bubbled light tan head, almost Guinness-like. Chocolaty, malty, slightly smoky aroma has a hint of caramel. Flavor has a woody bourbon overtone and malty, apple and chocolate notes, as well as a hint of caramel. Full-bodied texture is quite fizzy. Catch it while you can!

Poured directly from the tap retrofitted to a leg lamp (a la A Christmas Story) wearing a kilt. I have to admit, this tap connected to the bourbon barrel (actually a whiskey barrel we were later informed, but doesn't change the name) stands as the coolest pour presentation ever, hands down. Kudos to Dennis for his hard work on that. It made a nice centerpiece for dinner pairing they had with this scotch ale. Now on to the beer: Pours a deep dark brown with little carbonization, and little/practically no head. Given the 3 month aging in the barrel, I guess I should expect some of that in the appearance. The aroma is not very strong, I kept trying to catch the scotch/whiskey hints, but just didn't. What the beer lacked in scent, it more than made up for in the complexities of the flavor. The sweet malts of the scotch ale blended nicely with a vanilla sweetness from the barrel. The barrel aging also enhanced the beer's smokey backbone This blended sweet character and smokey background masked what I assume to be a rather high ABV (the standard Kilt Lifter is 8% I believe). The low carbonization and well blended sweetness make this an enjoyable, slow sipping scotch ale. This complexity, though, makes it a little tough to drink much more than one, in my opinion. A nice limited release from Kevin at the 5, adding an enjoyable twist to a high quality standard offering.

Served up at 5 Seasons Prado alongside it's non-oaked, non-bourbon brother for voting purposes to see which beer would head off to the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting.

Appearance: Clear, garnet-hued body topped with, oh, let's say fifteen large bubbles.

Smell: Toasty, caramel-coated malts and fruit blended seamlessly with a light oak and subdued bourbon character with complimentary though mild notes of vanilla and light brown sugar.

Taste: Toasted maltiness with a hint of fresh grain and some sweet caramelized sugars. Light apricot fruitiness and, oddly enough, a touch of lychee. This quickly transitions into the dry oak character and punchy hop bitterness. Again, it's fairly laid-back in terms of bourbon flavor, though, as it warms, more vanilla begins to come into view. Slight grassiness emerges on the dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Low carbonation. Sticky mouthfeel.

Drinkability: Fairly satisfying and, thankfully, it's not entirely overblown in terms of oak or bourbon.

Cask at the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting.

Pours a deep brown with hints of amber around the edges underneath a bubbly off-white head that dissipates immediately.

The aroma is dominated by the bourbon up front and the caramel malts after the initial boozy whiff. The hops are evident in the nose as well with mostly earthy notes.

The taste follows the aroma but seems to have a little less balance than the aroma with the bourbon really dominating and the malts not coming out as aggressively. There is also a noticeable hop bitterness which I think negates some of the sweet malt presence. Bitter and dry in the finish.

The mouthfeel is definitely a little thin with minimal carbonation and very slick and boozy.

The added hops take away from the overall experience for me as I think the underlying scotch ale would have been more enjoyable without the bitterness. Still pretty tasty.