Winter Scotch Ale
The St. George Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a bottle into a shaker pint, the beer is a bright, crystal clear, caramel coloring with a steady flow of carbonation throughout the body and a foamy, low profile, off-white head. Aromas of sweet caramel, floral highlights, roasted and earthy notes, and candi sugar. Flavors are heavily roasted, with a caramel and toffee blend, subtle sugary sweetness, floral highlights, some vanilla crème, and a slightly bitter woody accent. The body is light and smooth, with a sugary sweet, caramel rich aftertaste. The finish is light, smooth, and slightly effervesced. Very sweet and tasty, and very drinkable.

 

12 oz bottle, poured into a pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a pretty, cloudy, golden amber/copper color with an eighth of a finger of white head that quickly dissolved into a thin lacing of foam that partially covered the top of the beer.

Aroma: Malty up front, imparting notes of biscuits, followed by some black pepper, caramel, clover and some subtle hops.

Taste: Very nice. Malty up front, imparting notes of biscuits or English muffins, followed by some nuttiness, brown-sugar like sweetness, finished with some nicely balanced hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, with some decent carbonation to tickle the taste buds. With an ABV of 6.0%, there is no presence of alcohol on the palate.

Overall: This is a good American version of a Scotch ale. Good malty backbone balanced well with some sweetness and hops. Nice and worth a try.

 

 

 

A good friend texted me about a store selling 6 packs for $3.99 knowing I am typically a fan of Scotch ales. For that price I had to give it a try. Good looking good beer with an excellent smell. Tasty, typically a fan of wee heavy's and this one is a decent light version. The beer gets some good bonus points overall for value. Good beer that I enjoyed and wish I had him pick up a case rather than a 6 for that price.

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle poured into a 14 oz "pint" glass. Pours a orange yellow, very cloudy, with a fluffy white head. Smells of sweet grain, nothing really stands out. Tastes of grain with a tad of aging like from a barrel. Beer carbonated well light body goes down nice. Overall a slightly above average beer.

 

 

 

 

 

I have never been with any of the beers from st george. Its a shame since they are a local brewery. Would really like to have this be better.

Probably the palest scratch ale I have ever seen. I don't think it tastes or looks like a Scotch ale. Definitely not very sweet, the mouth feel isn't at all sticky like decent scotch ales.
I gave this beer a 3 across the board. Average in Every way. I won't be picking this upon again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hazy honey gold pour with 1/2 finger medium cream head. No retention and very little lace.

Nose is strong peat, honey, iced tea, light earthy metal, and ... bacon. Very interesting. Metals cancel out the peat, but the bacon is interesting.

Big tea and peat taste. Very nice and moderately smoky. Tannin from the tea really kicks in at the end. Bready malt inserts itself in there over that tannin.

Feel is moderate and matches the flavors.

Overall, not a great beer but as a fan of Scotch ales I would seek this one out.

 

 

 

I haven't reviewed a beer in who the hell knows how long, so you can probably safely ignore this.

Dark amber in appearance, golden honey-colored at the edges. Ivory, creamy head is never high and quickly reduces to a thin film across the top of the brew with a slightly thicker ring at the edge.

Smells of peaty, smoky malt, clover honey, and apple fruitiness.

Taste mirrors the nose closely with smoked peat, corn syrup, and honey flavors. Faint pear-like notes. Distant touch of tea-like hops that do little to balance.

Carbonation is relatively low. Feels a little heavier than the lowish level of alcohol would suggest...kind of syrupy.

Reminiscent of Belhaven's flagship...a lower-alcohol Scottish Ale (think that, as a Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy on BA as opposed to a Scottish Ale, it may be miscategorized, but I'll leave that question to the philosophers) that capably holds its own as a malty cold-weather seasonal.

 

 

 

 

Aroma - Sweet malt aroma with a slight vegital hint at the end. No hop aroma of note.

Appearance - Very clear, solid head with a tan lace that tried to cling to the glass.

Flavor - Slight bitterness but muted to balance more to the malt side. Moderate toasty malt flavor with a very slight caramel note. Some toffee or buttery notes.

Mouthfeel - Slippery mouthfeel, possibly from Diacetyl. I initially thought the buttery flavor was from kettle aramelization, but it might actually be Diacetly.

Overall - This isn't a Wee heavy and it isn't a Scotch session beer. Over all it was rather boring with a possibly flawed fermentation. Average beer. Too bad there are not many examples of the lower gravity Scotch Ales to compare to.