49th Anniversary Scotch Ale
Bull & Bush Brewery

 

L: Pours a oily black brown with a small white head and no lacing on the glass.

S: Sweet caramel and brown sugar, notes of vanilla, cherry and sweet bourbon.

T: Sweet caramel, chocolate, notes of brown sugar, vanilla, cherry and bourbon, alcohol is well hidden.

F: Slick oily larger mouthfeel.

O: Very enjoyable scotch ale, was again Bull & Bush knocks it out of the park.

Didn't realize this was barrel aged until after I poured it and started reading the bottle. Pretty excited for it now. Thanks Ryan.

Massively volumous head. Very foamy. Deep mahoganoy brown.

Smells of caramel, earthy hops, and sea water. Yes im getting a wierd sea water vibe from the hose. Not entirely sure what exactly im smelling but I feel like i just arrived at the beach and got and took a few hits to the lungs of steamy saltwater fish air. Wierd.

Taste is delightful. Decadent. Stellar. Gotta be the best scotch ale I've ever had. Could pass for a barleywine easily. It delivers classic scotch ale toffees and caramels with loads of earthiness from start to finish. The barrel is absolutely HUGE. SO MUCH whiskey is present in this beer. Very, very hot. Drinks like 15%. Sweet but not overly sweet.

Feel very nice medium mouthfeel. Somewhat dry finish.

Overall its like a 4.5 and prob a 4.75 per style. Not sure what the tag was on this but its worth trying at least once for 20 or so bucks which im guessing it was.

Poured from a 500mL bottle

On the pour a nice fine, brown 1 finger head forms with a nearly black body that let's just a touch of light through. When held up to light lively carbonation is visible. Quite nice looking, but highly carbonated for a barrel aged beer.

Aroma is quite alcoholic with whiskey right at the forefront, with a very sweet chocolatey aged note following right after. For a barrel aged beer its quite soft and sweet in aroma, but definitely a lot of whiskey notes. Some figgy notes are present as well following the chocolate malts.

Flavor follows the aroma but brings even more soft milk chocolatey sweetness, balanced by a hit of whiskey bitterness right at the front. Even as someone who usually doesn't go for barrel aged beers this one holds up as a scotch ale essentially with whiskey notes added. Quite sweet and malty and I believe this would be delicious even before it touched the barrels. Not quite delicate but quite a nice sweet aged malty character.

Feel is big soft and still relatively smooth, even though this beer is definitely for sipping. The super fine head makes this almost velvety going down and the aging and sweetness make the finish almost syrupy with some co2 bite rounding it out.

Overall a good example of a barrel aged scotch ale. I didn't realize it was barrel aged when I picked it up but it was quite enjoyable with a soft velvety sweetness and good whiskey aromas without being overwhelming. A good dessert beer.

This was an interesting concoction. First you get the typical Scotch Ale flavor, but as the beer warms up you taste more and more of the whiskey from the barrel aging process. It's heavy, at 11%, as a good barrel-aged beer should be. This seems like a logical choice for this brewery to make given their roots and the other beverage offerings on site. Looking forward to the 50th Anniversary to see what they'll come up with for that milestone!