Oaked Islay V Scotch Ale
Church-Key Brewing Company

From notes taken at Volo Cask Days 2009.

Nutty dark-brown in colour. Not really any head or lacing.

The first thing that comes to mind in smelling this is Lagavulin, which happens to be one of my very favorite single malts. Maybe some grass and minerals in there as well, it's hard to smell anything over the strong scotch smell.

This tastes a lot like an Islay scotch, which is really cool to find in a beer. I've never tried a beer like this one. A little sweet, nice and peaty. This is a great scotch ale.

I'm not a fan of the feel. It would serve the flavour much better if it was nice and full bodied whereas it's pretty thin. Almost no trace of carbonation.

I would definitely drink this again. This tastes so much like Lagavulin and, per volume, must be something like 1/10 the price. I hope this ends up being more than just an experiment for Cask Days.

sampled on cask at volo as part of cask days '09, oct 31/09.

pours slightly hazy brown with a few bubbles of off-white head. the head quickly drops to a ring around the glass and leaves some spotty lace.

aroma is good. big peaty islay scotch nose. smoke. biscuit and wheat bread. bit of cracker. light alcohol. bit of caramel.

taste is nice. peat and smoke. white bread. bit of cracker. light alcohol. a bit herbal. earthy.

mouthfeel is nice. medium-light body, a bit thinner than i'd like. very low carbonation. the peat+smoke leaves a bit of a clingy mouthfeel.

drinkability is nice. well balanced, but a bit thin. a neat experiment, but misses the mark a little for me.

Cask at Volo Cask Days 2009.

Pours a dark mahogany reddish/brown, medium sized tan head forms, settles to a medium ring, some lace spots stick.

Smell is neat, very Scotch like, lots of smoke and peat, campfire wood, char, toast, some dark fruitiness, more peat, alcohol, whiskey, nice stuff.

Taste is similar, very heavy smoke and peat up front, caramel sweetness, burnt wood, beef jerky, spicy alcohol, dark fruit, oak, simple but effective.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with low carbonation, a beefier body would help. Some warmth going down. I dug this one, nice Scotch character.

I spent four hours pouring this beer at Volo's cask festival, and its popularity ensured that it was one of the first beers I jumped on when I was done.

Pours a rich mahogany with a bubbly tan head that soon died down. Really intense scotch nose - huge smoky peat malts. Its like I've got a glass of the good stuff swirling before me, and the only thing lacking is the alcohol. This replication is continued in the flavour, which is dominated by smoky peat. Behind this there's some decent biscuit and caramel notes, and a kiss of bitterness in the finish. The alcohol is barely discernable, which is great considering this beer weighed in around 7%. Medium body with a light carbonation is too style, though I think it would have been interesting if there was some way to make this have a more oily, coating mouthfeel.

Church-Key are hit and miss for me. Sometimes I'll have something that blows me away and othertimes I'll find they're a little rough at the edges. This one worked, and I thought it was one of the better integrated scotch ales I've had. That said, this is something I'm glad I tried in a half pint rather than a full one, because I think the smoked peat flavour would overwhelm with too many more sips. Hey, but I called it right, so this gets a big thumbs up from me.

Half-pint pour at Volo Cask days.

Pours a dark amber, typical scotch ale color, little head and retention off the cask.

It's hard to integrate Islay whiskey simply because it has such a distinct peaty and smoky flavor. The smoke comes out heavy in the nose and smells great - I love the Islay in the nose. Taste is dominated by the smokey, peaty whiskey and underneath is the caramel malt, light biscuit, hint of bittering hops. Body was a little light for me, felt like it needed some bulk to stand up to the Islay. Light sweetness made for an intriguing start but just couldn't hold up. Still, drinkable. Wish more Ontario brewers were experimenting with different barrels like this. Kudos to Church Key.

Volo Cask Days 2009.Had samples on two days here. It is hit and miss with this brewery. Unfortunately, a miss. The smell I found boozy, some smoke, wood chips. The taste was horrid,like licking wood on a tree and I needed to pour out. Mouthfeel was a little burning to me. An attempt to put some whiskey taste in the scotch, it was a bit peaty. Perhaps if it was more of a smooth scotch, with whiskey.

I lot of people try to integrate whiskey & wood with scotch ales... but this one REALLY worked.

A: Deep reddish-brown with a tan head, not much retention or lacing from the cask.

S: Huge peaty, smoky nose. It REALLY smells like scotch, without the alcohol burn. Exceptional.

T: Huge scotch flavour, without the burn. Love it. Some underlying bready & caramel malt with a balanced bitterness. Great stuff!

M: Body is on the fuller side of moderate, smooth, with an off-dry finish.

D: It's a bit of a brute... I'd lovingly sip a pint, but I don't think I could drink much more.