Edwin's Winter Scotch Ale
Iron Springs Pub & Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

drinking the 2010 version...Again, no picture...SHEESH!!! Sick people in the house, so this is a commiseration brew! Pours a vibrant red-mahogany. Very lightly carbonated. About a half-finger of soda-like head froths up, and quickly disappears. No lacing. Nose is subtle (i.e. faint, hard to find, not there, etc.) and shows some sweet malt, a little hops, and not much else. Flavor is much better than expected. Wonderful, malty and a touch smoky right upfront. This slowly fades into a hoppy, bitter middle then this morphs further into a nice, bitter finish. The price is outrageous (only available as part of the Winter 4-pak at $35) and therefore drinkability suffers a tad. This is potent at 9.4% ABV. ALl-in-all not worth the price, but a decent brew. Not as Scotch Ale-ish as I would have hoped.

What I like most: The nice, balanced flavor profile.

What I like least: The poor pour and the price.

Verdict: Decent enough but not worth the price.

On tap into a pint

A- pours a deep amber color. Light 1mm head formation, well retained.

s- very strong peat malty sweetness. A hair of yeast.

t- starts with a toffee sweet note that is backed up with 2 row. Mid stream gets dry, yeasty and with strong peat malts. finishes with a very strong caramel note. Super sweet.

m- thick and creamy. Super cloying. Carbonation is very light.

d- deceivingly drinkable. Strong abv is hidden. Not filling, but the sweetness can get wearing.

Smell: Smooth plum syrup, prominent smokiness, some earthiness from the cask rather than woodiness, and caramel.

Taste: Very ripe pitted fruits, molasses, brown sugar, caramel but not too sweet. However cask condition does add to the complexity of the sweet malts without a doubt. Dark chocolate and bitterness are also new after cask conditioning and balance things out along with some obvious woodiness. Low carbonation. Finish is fairly minimal with some dry oakyness.

Notes: While there are some additional flavors brought out by the cask conditioning, in my opinion the overall sweetness suffers as does the extremely juicy nature of the fruits. This is a little more dark and mild and unfortunately just flat tasting without the full flavors of the original beer. Still good though and probably some other people's cup of tea.

On tap at the brewpub. Poured into a pint glass. Comes in at 8.6%.

A-Pours a dark brown with some visible red in the light. It has a one and a half finger tan head that collapses quickly to a .quarter finger level. Barely a trace of lace is left in between sips.

S-Not surprisingly it smells strongly of malt. There is lots of sweet caramel malt and a lot of roast/smoky malt..

T-It starts with a pronounced roast/smoky malt flavor. It becomes a little chocolaty along with some booze in the middle. It finishes with a burnt caramel flavor. There is a touch of bitterness along with some drying alcohol at the end. The aftertatse is dominated more by roast malt than sweet malt. It gains sweetness as it warms.

M-Fuller bodied, smooth, and nicely carbonated.

D-A nice drinking winter beer. I enjoyed the roast component. Definitely will warm you up as you sip it.

This is a good cold weather beer. I would not have more than one. Nice to have a winter beer that is not dominated by spices.