90 Shelling
Terrapin Beer Company

90 Shelling90 Shelling
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From:
Terrapin Beer Company
 
Georgia, United States
Style:
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
ABV:
7.3%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.06 | pDev: 7.39%
Reviews:
63
Ratings:
75
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Apr 22, 2014
Added:
May 06, 2009
Wants:
  15
Gots:
  4
Side Project #6
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by EasyReader:
Photo of EasyReader
Rated by EasyReader from North Carolina

5/5  rDev +23.2%

Nov 16, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.75 by Kegatron from Pennsylvania

Apr 22, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by WOLFGANG from South Carolina

Jul 20, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by jkane101 from New Jersey

Jun 05, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by Keith_R from Georgia

May 08, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by Zach136 from Georgia

May 08, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by t0rin0 from California

Feb 27, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by NightINgale from Russian Federation

Mar 20, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by whitekiboko from South Carolina

Dec 27, 2011
 
Rated: 4.5 by dowen44 from Georgia

Dec 21, 2011
 
Rated: 3.5 by jophish17 from Georgia

Nov 14, 2011
 
Rated: 5 by tchaos from Florida

Nov 14, 2011
Photo of Jazzcrop
Reviewed by Jazzcrop from California

4.1/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
Brown sugar, yeast, malt, barley, flaked rye, raisins, plums, wallpaper, boozy oak and caramel, dirt. Smells like light fruits, pills, sink water, blue jeans, hops, meat, smoke, wood, candy, aged wine, apples, yeast, blueberries and espresso. Damn fine.
Jun 10, 2011
Photo of BeerDawgs
Reviewed by BeerDawgs from Georgia

3.97/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A 22oz bomber received in a trade with Blazer06. Thanks bro!

A - An opaque brown color. Not much head (maybe because its a few years old), and no lace on the glass.

S - Sweet and malty. Brown sugar. Delicious aroma. Alcohol is very present in the whiff as well

T - Like it smells, very sweet from the malts and rich. Very, very smooth all the way through. Brown bread, bananas, roasted malts. Tasty!

M - Nice carbonation. Medium bodied.

O - An excellent scotch ale. This is not one of my preferred styles, but it is growing on me. The more I have of them, the more I enjoy them. A great side project from Terrapin. I feel like it may have increased a bit in ABV as it aged over the last 2 years. Nice little buzz.
Jun 04, 2011
Photo of DavoleBomb
Reviewed by DavoleBomb from Pennsylvania

3.67/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Poured into a snifter.

3.5 A: Pours a dark brown, nearly black color. One and a half fingers of creamy/frothy beige head with below average retention and a small ring of lacing.

4.0 S: Biscuity and grainy malts. Some toffee, brown sugar, and a STRONG candied plum aroma. Doesn't stand out, but is very pleasant.

3.5 T: Really reserved for the style. There isn't enough sweetness, which can be explained by the thin body by wee heavy standards. Malts are again grainy and biscuity with the same toffee, brown sugar, and plum. The problem is that all of these flavors other than the graininess are present in low quantities.
3.0 M: Ligher medium to medium body. There's enough carbonation, but it isn't spritzy enough and the beer lies heavy on the tongue. Otherwise, super smooth.

4.0 D: This isn't the most flavorful, but it goes down super easy. I'd think nothing of drinking a few bombers of this by myself.
Feb 13, 2011
Photo of harpus
Reviewed by harpus from Alabama

4/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22 oz bomber poured into pint glass

A: A dark brown, verging on blackish color that doesn't want to let very much light pass through. Head foams up nicely from a vigorous pour, then settles down to a thick film.

S: Not too hugely strong smell although not weak by any means, however a very interesting one. Dark roasted malt give a toffee like aroma, and add a faint sweet/sour smell. Alcohol doesn't really make itself present yet.

T: Tastes like a more pronounced version of the smell. Roasted malts are easily perceived, caramelized sugar that almost seems burnt are present lending a slight bitterness to the taste. Some hop bitterness seems to balance it out although not much. Finishes with a miniature whiskey like alcohol sting.

M: A mellow medium bodied mouthfeel. The alcohol definitely creates a warming effect here.

D: More of a sipper at first because of the alcohol, but it grows on you. It is more drinkable than I thought it would be before I tried it.
Dec 10, 2010
Photo of Georgiabeer
Reviewed by Georgiabeer from Georgia

4.42/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This makes a lovely casked beer. Had this on cask at the Brick Store Pub. Pours chestnut with a fine white head and very nice carbonation for a cask. On the nose there are interesting notes of banana bread, fresh brown bread, yeast, and more banana in the finish as well as a touch of chalk. Very appetizing. Taste is very similar, but loses some of the chalkiness and gains a little intensity. Sweet and smooth in the mouth, and the malt is not quite as firm as in some other 90s I've had. A nice warming fall beer.
Sep 04, 2010
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.41/5  rDev -16%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Chestnut brown with fiery orange accents... that becomes bloody crimson when backlit. A thick chunk of sandstone colored creaminess looks good following the pour and at all times thereafter. The head has remarkable persistence and does a decent job creating lace.

The nose is way too weak. Granted, there's still some suds in the way and the beer still has its starting chill, but that's the case with most of my reviews. Warming brings a little brown maltiness and an earthiness that bears at least a passing resemblance to the style.

90 Shelling Scotch Ale is too weak in the knees to be considered a good example of a wee heavy. In other words, it needs to be a wee bit heavier to seriously compete with the best versions. Let's make that 'needed to be' since this was a one-off release.

Although there's more flavor than aroma, it isn't exactly overwhelming the taste buds with malty excellence. Specific flavors include brown bread lightly sweetened with fruit marmalade, tobacco, and a moderate earthy nuttiness. The fact that it's (barely) more than 12 months old might have something to do with the lack of punch. Shouldn't a malt dominant beer of this ABV last at least that long?

The mouthfeel probably hasn't taken too much of a hit. It's lighter than expected (and desired), though it's smooth as silk and manages to be at least lightly creamy. Proper carbonation helps keep the score above average.

Terrapin 90 Shelling Scotch Ale (a turtle reference, not an artillery reference) is slightly better than Dos Cocoas Chocolate Porter and is worse that the rest of the Side Project beers that I've had so far. Thanks to Mavajo for the bomber.
Jun 10, 2010
Photo of billab914
Reviewed by billab914 from Virginia

3.95/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured from a 22oz bottle into my Dogfish snifter. Poured dark brown in color with a thin white lacing scattered across the top of the beer.

The aroma has a malty flavor to it with caramel and toffee both playing big roles. It also has some chocolate and some hints of dark fruit coming through.

The taste has a good amount of caramel and toffee malt sweetness with a little coffee and chocolate coming through in the finish. It has a little cola like sweetness to it in the taste. The chocolate came through more as it warmed up.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, maybe slightly on the thicker side. Carbonation is moderate. Drinkability is pretty good, it had some nice malt flavors to it and was pretty tasty overall.
May 01, 2010
Photo of ffejherb
Reviewed by ffejherb from Pennsylvania

3.92/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Thanks to FooFaa for sharing this bomber on 3/29/10.

A - Poured a clear bronze-colored liquid with a sparse but creamy beige head that settled into a thin ring of retention with a dot in the middle of the glass and no lacing.

S - Sweet, leafy tobacco mixed with coffee and chocolate notes, as well as rich caramel and toffee attributes. Further in the backround, a hint of earthy tones and molasses slowly emerges as the liquid reached room temperature.

T - Lots of chocolate character with hints of sweet tobacco and coffee notes. Malt character combines sweet caramel and toffee notes. Finishes with earthy hop notes and hints of molasses and licorice.

M - Medium bodied with quite a bit of bristly carbonation and light syrupy texture. Finishes with a touch of hop bitterness and residual sweetness on the palate.

D - Fine Scotch ale with quite a complex malt character combining chocolate, coffee, molasses, caramel and toffee. This was another above average Side Project release from Terrapin.
Mar 30, 2010
90 Shelling from Terrapin Beer Company
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 75 ratings