The Stone Of Arbroath
DC Brau Brewing Co.

Draught pint at The Brass Tap in Baltimore

 

 

 

Pretty much looks exactly like a scotch ale should: clear, deep ruby bordering on brown. Thin, light tan head without much retention.
Deep toffeeish aroma with a lot of toast and a hint of dark fruit.
Flavor follows aroma. Very rich with no discernible alcohol.
A little heavy, but to be expected. Low carbonation.
Not really my style, but this is a great example of the style.

 

 

 

Pours a dark amber that is somewhat clear. Butterscotch, roasted and toasted Malta, like dark fruits, and caramel malts. Medium body and low carbonation.

Overall a nice scotch ale but nothing that stands out too much.

 

 

 

 

This is an excellent ale for the winter season. The can includes the label "wee heavy," and that is an appropriate classification. This scottish ale isn't a stout, but it has good malt-driven flavor.

Pours a mostly clear amber color athat clarifies as the head abdicates. Nose is chocolate and caramel malt with a touch of balancing bitterness and a hint of peat smoke.

A big malt bomb with a touch of smoke and spice to give it some distinction. This is particularly good as the temperature drops. Suitably low carbonation. Not bad at eight percent. When in the mood for Scotch Ale, you could do worse.

 

 

My (maternal) aunt & uncle live in DC and as such, I have been going down to visit them since I was just a lad. It is probably the North AmeriCAN city that I have visited the most, other than the ones in which I lived/was stationed. I especially like the area around DuPont Circle with its bookstores, liquor stores, eateries and bars. I scour the shelves for new CAN whenever I am in town & this was the fruit of one such visit.

From the CAN: "Limited Release Scotch Ale"; "About the Stone[:] For centuries the Drosten Stone has remained shrouded in mystery. Scholars CAN not agree on the ancient origin of the rock. The inscription 'Drosten: Ipeuoret [E]ttfor Cus' is just as much of an enigma as the stone itself. This beer as well, is such a conundrum. Please don't ponder its' [sic] existence as you would assuredly go insane. Just be happy it exists."; "Please recycle - Pack In, Pack Out."; "Serve in a tulip, goblet or enjoy from the CAN".

I CANnot enjoy my beers directly from the CAN, so I deCANted mine into a goblet, as directed. A gentle swirl raised a finger of foamy, deep-tan/light-brown head with decent retention. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity & garnet highlights. Nose was rich with peaty malt & it was easy to identify as a Scotch Ale. I usually find things like this to be too malty for my taste, but I have been branching out as I work on reducing my backlog here at Chez Woody. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was earthy, peaty and reminded me of a freshly-plowed field in the spring. My maternal grandparents' property directly abutted a working farm when I was a kid & this was evocative of then. It really was not as sweet as the nose had led me to expect. Certainly, it was clearly malt-driven and as it warmed, I began to taste notes of leather, milk chocolate & drying tobacco. It was a very pleasant drink, all tolled. If I were still able to smoke them (I suffer from adult-onset asthma), I would light a cigar to accompany this. The finish was semi-sweet, but just that. It was not cloying or sugary as some that I have tried have been. I CAN recommend this, if you get a chance to drink it.

 

I tried this along with two other Scotch ales and this was easily my least favorite. Had a strange sour vinegary flavor that got better as the beer warmed but was still unpleasant.

 

 

 

On tap at Pour House in Gaithersburg, pours a dark brown similar to a cola. Thin tan head with little lacing. Malt forward aroma with hints of brown sugar and caramel. The flavor is primarily dark fruits, caramel, and bready malts. Carbonation is s bit high but not off putting, bready malts provide the mouth coating. Overall it's a solid ale.

 

 

 

 

A: Dark brown in color with a very small dark tan head.

S: Brown sugar, and bread aromas with caramel notes. Perhaps a bit of dark fruit in there as well.

T: Brown sugar, and caramel, with some dark baked bread..

M: Medium in body, with fairly high carbonation for the style.

O: Overall pretty damn tasty, but the carbonation is a little high..

 

 

Sampled draft

 

Pours very dark brown and opaque with little lacing that completely goes away within minutes. Smell is very roasty and a bit smokey too. Hints of prunes and raisons, and certainly boozy. Taste is also pretty strong on the alcohol, with some definite smokey whiskey flavors, as well as some slightly burnt malt and toasted dark bread (pumpernickel?) which gives a nice, mild bitterness, and bit cardboardy, but of course I mean that in a good way. Smells sweeter than it tastes, but not by much. Carbonation is moderate even without the lasting head, and a bit syrupy. Overall, a really great beer, totally reminds me of Scottish weather in how it would be perfect on a chilly, misty day (though it happens to be 90 degrees and sunny now, and a nice departure from the DC Brau hop-heavy norm. Great, strong, but still restrained, example of the style.

 

Pours clear, dark brown color with 1/4 inch head and low carbonation. Taste is milk chocolate, peat, and toasted malt. Heavy bodied, malty ale that hits all of what I expect in the style. I will be getting this again.

Pour: 12oz can into a nonic pint. Appearance: Very dark brown with a thin bone colored head. Lots of lacing on the glass. Aroma: Earthy with hints of oatmeal and leather. Can detect some chocolate and toffee. Taste: Chocolate with deep dark berries. Aftertaste: Deep berries on the back end. Overall: Very complex brew. Very good: 4 out of 5

Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a very dark brown color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is malts, molasses, some smoke. Taste is smokey, bready, roasted malts, a touch of charcoal. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall a good beer, but a bit different than expected from this style.