Discovery Scotch Ale
O'Connor Brewing Co.

2016 vintage
12oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- pours a deep ruby-amber color with a two-finger creamy off-white head that has great retention and leaves some lacing behind

S- caramel malt, banana bread, dried fruits, brown sugar, hint of booze

T- sweet and malty initially with a nice caramel and brown sugar note. Mid-palate brings out notes of dried dark fruit, along with a spicy yeast that almost drinks like a Belgian yeast. The finish gives toffee and an herbal bitterness on the linger

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that continues into a warming finish

O- a nice scotch ale, but a bit more bitter than typically expected of the style

Clean beer; bland and tasteless for style.

O'Connor Brewing Co. "Discovery Scotch Ale"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, no apparent freshness dating, but labeled "Virginia 2017 Vintage"
$5.95 @ the brewery

Notes via stream of consciousness: "Aged in Copper Fox single malt whiskey barrels", that should be interesting. Very hazy, even cloudy copper body with some hazy orange highlights beneath a creamy off-white head. The aroma is smoky and woody. I initially thought of an ashtray, but maybe it has more of that campfire-on-clothing smell. It's very much like charred wood. Yeah, it's like when you put the campfire out with water rather than just letting it die down overnight. I'm not sure if I like it or not. There's some malt in there as well but it fights to get through. The flavor offers the same smoky char but it's much more pleasant, I guess because it's wrapped in malt. I'm thinking that whatever it is in the aroma that's unpleasant for me is probably just my issue though, and others would probably not be bothered by it. Anyway, the malt is nice. It's not too caramelish, and yet it's quite rich. I thought I saw something about malt on the bottle label, let me check... ... well I'm not sure but it looks like they're using Virginia grown, hand malted barley that's also apple-wood smoked. Moving forward, there's also a light bit of apple-like fruitiness to it. It's not particularly bitter, the label lists 32 IBUs, and yet it finishes dry with smoke and a light spritz of alcohol. Interestingly, the alcohol never shows anywhere else. The finish is fantastic, and it kind of reminds me of Scotch from Islay, not directly, but in that there's a kind of an edginess to it. Looking back, the lacing is excellent. I'm starting to like this. It's growing on me. I'm interested now in finding some of this whiskey from Copper Fox. The apple, and I think pear and raisin, linger in the finish as well. Medium full in body and remarkably smooth and velvety with a moderate, very-fine bubbled carbonation. Wow, this is really a beautiful sipper to sit down and relax with. As unusual as I find the aroma there's also something charming about it, a quirk if you will, that actually gives it character and charm that livens the rest of the beer. There's something very special going on here. I've never tasted anything like this and so there's that, uniqueness, but then it's also so much more than that - and yet at the same time it seems so deceptively simple! I don't really cellar beers anymore, just occasionally, but I'm seriously considering making the 283 mile drive back to Virginia to get more of this, and some of the Copper Fox whiskey to try as well. That should say something. Oh, I should also note that I have not dinged the aroma here, I've grown to appreciate it, and I think that any aversion I may have originally had was really just my own, so try it and see for yourself.

4/4/4.25/4.25/4.5 = 4.23

 

On tap:
Rusty and a tad cloudy, the rust-tinged head likes to stick to the side. Agitation has it rushing forth, and there is a spot or two of lacing.

Nose is toffee sweetness, with a hint of peat I the background.

Taste starts sweet, but with a syrupy fruit note - say pear juice supporting actual peaches. This is okay, because there is a little earthy note that acts as bitterness to corral the sweetness. It is a very porous fence it puts up, though. The taste dies have a tang that seems to come from the conflict of sweet and bitter.

A decent, leaning sweet offering - but within bounds. Warmth weakened the feel a tad, and that tang was a tad odd. Tighten up the tang to bitterness cutting the sweetness a bit more, and this probably goes up a quarter point or more.

teromous ' previous description nailed it as do so many BA reviewers do, leaving not much else to say.

I'll add an extra category to the ratings ; "usefulness" ,and give this beer a 5. After drinking good scotch this is a great beer to drink. Preserves the nose?

If you don't drink scotch before drinking this it gets a 3.75, and if you do its 4.75+. Hopefully they make more.

I would buy 20 bottles of this if I saw it again. See it=buy it big, don't go too crazy, but surely a solid score if it reappears.

 

 

 

Poured a copper body with minimal head and lace. The aroma first strikes me as both boozy and woody, then some minimal caramel, possible toffee, sweetness with hints of dark fruits like figs/plums. Smooth, easy drinking body thanks to the woodiness, hints of vanilla sneak through a somewhat boozy body (the booze is not prevalent until the finish where there is a touch of heat), and beer has a grainy, bitter dryness balancing with caramel/toffee and fig sweetness along with some dark fruits like plum/raisin. Not a bad scotch ale but the bitterness of the hops and mild heat from the alcohol detract from the richness of the sweet and fruit flavors.

I do not see an actual bottle date but the label has "Virginia 2016 Vintage" printed on it.

Appearance: It has a dark tea colored murky body with a very robust creamy tobacco stained white head that lasts a very long time and leaves sheets of fine creamy lacing.

Aroma: There is a light bit of caramel and a hint of herbal hop character. There is a bit of a banana peel aroma with some alcohol making its way through. The caramel fades the more I smell it and the alcohol starts to pervade.

Taste: It has a nice caramel character with just a touch of burnt caramel around the edges. It's not a rich caramel flavor but it is there. I get a bit of vanilla in the aftertaste which is really nice. The alcohol doesn't come through which is amazing at 9% ABV. There is a bit of an earthy herbal character to the beer which is very nice.

Mouthfeel: Exceptionally smooth and extremely drinkable. Perfect texture to accompany the flavor of the beer.

Overall: I felt the beer was really outstanding. When I first smelled the beer I was a bit worried because while it did have some character it just didn't seem to offer much and from the aroma I was concerned it would be an alcohol bomb. When I tasted the beer I was really impressed at how well it tasted. It has a very nice caramel sweetness and I perceived some vanilla which I think really pushed the finish of the beer. I would buy it again and I would recommend it.