Douglas Scotch Ale
The Caledonian Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Beer bottle (50cl), tasted in 2000.
Appearance : Deep mahogany color, creamy tan head
Smell : malt, lightly hopped, alcohol
Taste and mouthfeel : malt, lots of caramel, presence of liquorice, alcohol is a bit aggressive
Drinkability : a good beer in the Scotch ale (but too strong)

Dense tan head topped a clear, dark coppery beer. Plenty of thick lace and good head retention. Toffee aroma with some fruit and sherry - it seemed aged to some degree. Medium bitterness with plenty of sweetness, a bit of chocolate and light acidity. Medium body and low carbonation, smooth and a bit dry. Quite drinkable with a bit of malt complexity.

Douglas Scotch Ale pours a clear medium brown with light orange hints. In its own glass, it produces a big off-white head with nice belgian lacing, very foamy. Aroma is very malty. A gentle fruitiness (apples, dates) marry a marzipan and toasted cake profile. There’s more scotch character in mouth than most scotch ales as far as the smooth moderately low carbonated round body pairs with the smokey islay scotch alcohol flavors. Hints of roasted malt, caramel, licorice. Nice beer, very expressive once it hits the tongue, but perhaps a bit too sweet overall to be truly outstanding.

It's not what i remember trying several years ago. This time around the pour was much lighter than i thought it was. I was expecting a very rich and dark beer, like it's cousin McEwan's Scotch Ale. Taste wise i felt this beer was rather sharp. the sweetness and alcohol bite really stood out for me and felt like something was missing. A decent beer but one that seemed to be missing some complexity. make sure to drink this one slow!

Pours dark, dark brown. Head forms easily large bubbles nested in a moderately stiff foam of smaller ones. Head lingers, but does finally dissipate to a very thin film of a head. Aroma is huge. Surprisingly strong citric hops are backed my a huge blast of rich toffe-chocolate malt. The malts hit the tongue first and quickly combine with the hops. I'm not used to a Scotch Ale being this hoppy, but it's good. At the very end I pick up a small hint of smokiness. Very balanced. Very smooth, especially considering the smack in the face the aroma gives you.