Royal Standard
Clown Shoes

 

Appearance: Clearish, reddish-copper hued with a short-lived, whitish head.

Smell: Light brown sugar, bready/toasty with a subtle spice presence. Overripe fruit skins given a thorough spritz of booze.

Taste: It has a taste of breadcrusts, brown sugar, though it really doesn't show particularly much depth. Its candyish sweetness is tempered by a tobacco-tinged spiciness and flashes of solventy alcohol. Apple-leaning fruitiness swings back to an almost phenolic like spiciness which lasts beyond the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Very slight stickiness.

Overall: A somewhat clunky iteration.

 

 

 

Solid beer, very malty. Easy to drink.

 

 

 

It has some nice spice to it. Smooth honey, malt flavor that goes down pretty darn smooth. Got this in the Christmas 12 pack and is another great addition

 

I haven’t had a wee heavy in a long time and found this very enjoyable. It was packed with malty sweetness including rich caramel, tea leaf, brown sugar, peat moss, honey and don’t allspice as it fades. It hides the ABV well and went down easy.

From a 12oz can, best by 01/31/24. From the 12 Beers of Christmas variety pack. Served in a willi becher pub glass.

Pours a cloudy caramel colour with a half-finger of creamy, cream-coloured suds. Retention on the order of half a minute or so, leaves a fizzy collar and a barely rousable, super-slippery thin film of lacing.

Nose is vanishingly faint, vaguely malty-sweet and really not much more to say about that.

Taste is sugary-sweet and flowery. Honey, apple core, toffee, cinnamon. Watery, with a suggestion of yeasty funk - a belgian wee heavy?

Feel is flaccid, medium bodied, light relative to the style, decently carbonated.

Royal Standard. Part of the Clown Shoes 12 Beers of Christmas pack.

Clown Shoes

Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy

It's been a while since I've had a Wee Heavy. Seems on par with the style, bourbon maltiness, candy apple and slight booze heat, dense complexity and slightly spicy. Good balance, true to form. Missing is the traditional peaty effect like some classics of its style.

Served in a snifter glass from the can.

Appearance: send me hazy amber color with a white head which initially Rose about one full fingers length off the body that settled quick after one sip of the Brew.

Smell: smells a little bit like candy, more like butterscotch hinting the nostrils of light notes of cinnamon.

Taste: honey, malty and comes off sweet right to the roof of your mouth. Think of a carbonated whiskey but more sweet than spicy if you know what I mean.

Mouth: medium to full carbonation with a very sticky body.

Overall: decent beer considering I got it in a variety pack I would definitely grab it again just to keep me warm this winter. Salud!

This is from the "12 Beers of Christmas" pack.
From the bottom of the can: "Best By 01/31/2024 235 12:43"

Appearance: The body is moderately hazy and dark bronze in color. It allows fuzzy shadows through the glass. The head is a tobacco stained yellow-tan color which starts out large with various bubble sizes, then fades out to a thick frothy ring and some rafts of bubbles. A few widely dispersed spots are on the glass but no real lacing.

Aroma: A light hint of caramel and herbal hop notes are present. It smells nice but faint.

Taste: Up front there are notes of toasted caramel and a bit of a nutty character. Some smooth alcohol flavor towards the center of the palate with just a hint more of that nondescript nut character and a light touch of banana bread. It almost has a cinnamon character in the aftertaste which is pleasant.

Mouthfeel: The star of the show here is the mouthfeel. It is full bodied and smooth. Carbonation feels great and it is just pleasant on the palate.

Overall: As a whole it is a pretty good beer. It has a fantastic texture that really pulls the rest of the beer together and helps amplify the flavors. I could drink it again if I were to buy it at a restaurant with a meal. I would recommend trying a single or tossing it in a six-pack.

 

 

 

12 oz can, born on 9/1/21, poured into a snifter at 48 degrees F:
L - golden orange with no head
S - caramel
T - nice caramel, toffee malt flavor
F - medium mouthfeel and carbonation
O - very nice, a bit sweet but a bit malty

 

12oz can, tulip, best by 1/31/23.

The color is lighter and redder, almost like wild honey. There was a noticeable fizzing after the pour as the small yellowed head quickly crackled away.

Clover honey, herbal and floral. Sweet and warm whisky with vanilla and a hint of smoke.

Lightly sweet and warm in that cozy way that a glass of whisky can be warm. There is big bitter, gently warm alcohol that balances and savory herbal hints.

It’s light to medium bodied with medium carbonation.

With this one the complexity actually decreases as it warms.

 

This is a tough style. The best of them are nasty. This one is probably not one of the best of them, and my sample is pretty old, but i would think this an ale style that might keep a little better.

It opens a pretty light reddish with fine bubbles. I would have expected darker, but it is pretty. The aroma is sweet and just slightly funky. The taste is just a bit on the sweet side for one of these but that makes it easier to go down than most.

Recommended. I got this in a 12 beers of xmas set (as a gift). i wouldn't seek it out, but if you got one, go for it!

Poured out of a 12 oz. can into my tulip glass, this beer pours a mostly clear, medium amber/copper color w/ a fluffy looking head that's about an inch thick when first poured that settles eventually to a thin ring lining the inside of the glass. Not much lacing at all here unfortunately. Aromas of toasted, bready, caramel malt sweetness along with a bit of fig and plum. The taste is very similar, w/ some bready, caramel malt sweetness and the aforementioned fruit flavors and just a hint of spice. Not the most complex flavor profile, and that's okay. It is very well done I feel. Has a smooth and fairly crisp, slightly chewy and sticky, medium to full bodied mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. The sweet flavors linger nicely in the aftertaste here. A good beer that's certainly worth a try.

Eric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look: It pours light copper with a slightly off white head. Head retention is good.

Smell: It has strong malty caramel aromas with some raisin and plum notes. There is a sweetness to the aroma.

Taste: The flavors have strong caramel up front with raisins and plums. There is a very light spicy note in the background.

Feel: It has a medium full body with a sweet finish.

Overall, a good strong caramel wee heavy.

 

 

 

 

 

A bit too malty for my taste, almost an Andygator. Pretty color, solid head, ale on the nose. Some sort of citrus or herb lingers on the palate and changes the vibe from ale. Ok, but probably one and done.