Skull Splitter
Orkney Brewery

Deep brown color with nice head and lace.
Aroma of malts and grapes.
Taste of malts, mildly sweet grapes and caramel.
Feel medium to heavy bodied.
I think it might be a tad too sweet and sometimes it hits fine.

 

Pours a dark brown color with a 1F tan head moderate lacing.

Smells of toasted malt, caramel, port wine and dark fruit.

Tastes of Toasted malt, tangy wheat, raisins, plums and caramel with a spicy, bitter and boozy warm finish.

Medium heavy body with light carbonation. Lush syrupy mouthfeel.

This one will leave you with rosy cheeks1 A very tasty, complex winter warming brew.

Poured a clear mahogany color into a Dogfish Head nonic pint glass with visible carbonation, and 1 finger off white head that dissipated quickly leaving minimal lacing. Heavy particulate matter also visible which settled to the bottom after a while. Boozy aroma with earthy roasted malts, toffee, raisins and hops prevalent. Taste is malty with hints of candies fruits, and a slight alcohol burn with a semi-dry finish. Body is medium to heavy and very drinkable despite the high ABV.

 

L:
-pours a clear brown with ruby tinges and a small-to-medium,foamy,off-white head
-low-to-medium carbonation visible
-visible particle floaties
S:
-toffee,herbal,medicinal,dried fruits
T:
-caramel,earthy,spicy,bready,light acidity
-medium bitterniss
F:
-medium carbonation
-light-to-medium body
-alcohol well hidden
O:
A really good Wee Heavy.The Aroma has a bit of a Belgian Yeast Touch.

L: a deep but transparent red, like looking through a thin red or rose wine. Minimal white head.
S: coffee, malt, beef bullion, and hoppy. Eventually blends into a rich, cherry candy-like aroma.
T: Surprisingly, and delightfully, dry. The combination of malt, smoke, and maple syrup, but dry, not cloying.
F: precise, fine carbonation, with a pleasant mouthfeel.

On the one hand, this beer seems tailored specifically to an American palate because of it's coffee and hops aroma. On the other, this is dry and precise. I'd be curious to try this with a ribeye steak-frites. An intriguing, precise beer.

A dark dark amber with a cream colored head that recedes to a persistent ring. The taste is unusual and surprisingly great. I love the mouthfeel, it's full fledged and unique. I like this beer. A new Favorite.

RB Transfer

Poured from a bottle into a tulip. Sweeter than expected -- cider, raisins, a little bready. Despite being quite sweet, it's quenching and fresh -- more of a fruity than a sugary sweetness -- which keeps it from being cloying. Quite smooth.

 

 

 

 

nose: Fruity, like a wine; also cider. Grapes and apples.

appearance: Cloudy nut brown, no filter.

sip: Fruit cake! More cider and really bready.

gulp: The nuts come in hot. The bread lingers at the back of the throat. Fruit permeates both experiences: figs, grapes, apples. The booziness makes an appearance.

GLUG: The boozy comes in full force now. Everything else is a bit more balanced as well.

There is very little that needs to be said about the phenomenal Skull Splitter from the Orkney Brewery in Quoyloo. It is part of the upper echelon and shows no need to go beyond the basics, which it excels at with colors flying. It is a beer a meant to be drank just as any other below it, carefree and tipped back with no need to just sip, but excelling in every way.

87/100

Pretty red amber look. Big head, slow dissolving. Strong caramel smell at the top. Caramel and fig taste, way thicker feel than I was expecting. Great beer!

 

Pours a nice clear ruby amber color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has generous caramel and fruity hints
Taste has a nicely balanced caramel and fruity flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A great Wee Heavy Ale

Scotch ale for the national day of Scotland.

11.2 oz bottle acclimated to 48°F and poured into a tulip glass.

Pours a murky, medium, oxidized penny brown, with orange brown highlights, and ruby brown in the opposite side of the glass. Produces a 0.5 finger foamy, cream head, dissipating fairly quickly and leaving a fragmented ring of lacing with a few splotches.

This smells so strongly of beer! Initial aroma is very heavy on yeast, and it has a red fruity red wine kick to it, and some alcohol. Further investigation yields malty sweetness and an olive oil note.

After agitating, I notice a note of heart bread, with the same wall of yeast behind it.

Initial taste before swallowing is slightly tart, very much red fruity but like a terroir and not the actual fruit, note of bittersweet caramel, and sweet toffee and bread.

After swallowing a hefty dose of malt with some red fruit and some alcohol, followed by more red fruit, mostly raspberry I think, alcohol lingers a while. This is followed by a bitterness, growing rather quickly in intensity, and lasting into the finish where it mellows and is joined by a somewhat sharp, metallic dryness, which becomes heavily dominant when it's allowed to sit for a length of time. Drinking further, the alcohol is definitely noticeable, only very slightly unpleasant though not sharp, and not exactly bitter.

Feel is very nice, it has a definite thickness, and it's fairly smooth. The carbonation is nice, it adds a smoothness because of its fine bubbles after agitating.

Overall this is a good one! I've had it before but before I was reviewing. I would describe it as having (mostly) mellow flavors at a high intensity, which is something I enjoy. I want to highlight that all the flavors present worked very harmoniously together.

I'll buy it again at some point but it's not one I'm going to prioritize over trying something new.

Unlike most wee heavies I’ve tasted- most are America on brewed.
Great pour- light amber color with a 4F head in a Gordon scotch ale glass.
Aroma is aromatic-malty, deep, earthy.
Very malty MF.
The taste improves with warming. The same earthiness, with some fruit.
This is more of a classic scotch ale approach. I am used to the fruitier, hoppier, sharp edged finish scotch ales. I like that style better.
Worth checking out for a different approach.