Rob Roy
Walkerville Brewery

At Walkerville Brewery, chilled and on tap, in a flight of four beers, leading my Monthly Responsible Beer Drinking Club. My seventh beer from the Windsor, Ontario brewery.

 

 

 

 

Dec 17 2023

Poured with very little head that quickly disappeared. Nice russet colored brew, quite drinkable but less flavourful than I was expecting.

473 mL can from the LCBO; coded 8253, which I assume means that it was canned on the 253rd day of 2018 (Sept 10 2018). Listed at 7% and served at cellar temperature.

Pours a deep, clear reddish bronze colour that takes on more of a crimson hue when held to the light. One finger of frothy, light beige-coloured head is seated atop, but dissipates within two minutes' time; only a creamy collar remains, encircling some filmy wisps on the surface. Looks ok; no lace at first, though the head does leave 'legs' after each sip. The nose is almost entirely malt-dominated - toffee and molasses both immediately come to mind, as does red licorice candy, layered atop a backbone of bready, biscuity, lightly toasted nutty malt goodness. I'm also getting hints of anise and dark fruit, along with some alcohol.

A fairly mellow brew that keeps things simple - sweet malt notes come through right off the bat, with brown sugar and toffee, as well as bready malts, toasted biscuit and nuts, together comprising the bulk of the flavour profile. Hints of red licorice candy, date and raisin also come through, with the back end of the sip featuring suggestions of licorice, earthy/herbal hops and some ethanol warmth, the lattermost carrying on into a saccharine toffee aftertaste. Medium-full in body, with low carbonation levels that weakly brush against the palate; the overall texture is smooth and a little slick. Drinkability is fairly typical for a Scotch ale, i.e. not great - definitely more of a sipper than a gulper.

Final Grade: 3.6, a B grade. Walkerville's Rob Roy was a serviceable tipple, but not much more than that. Unfortunately, this brew entirely lacks that peat-smoke character that I love about this style - not exactly a dealbreaker, but the end result is that this brew lags behind my favourite Scotch ales... not that there are all that many to pick from in this market. I wouldn't discourage others from giving this beer a try, nor would I rule out picking it up in the future... but it's low priority.

LCBO purchase for something under $4 CDN. Listed at 7.0% ABV. Served cold into a pint glass.

Appearance - Garnet red, even more red coming out of the can. Great clarity with plenty of bubbles. A finger plus of loose sticky light tan head. Lots of lacing patterns woven into the sides of the glass. Modest head retention.

Smell - Plenty of earthy and peatiness, some sweet caramel notes in behind. Plenty of grainy aromas too. Aromatics are quite robust with this brew, even when cold.

Taste - Roasty for sure, starts thinner and more sweet with toffee and caramel mostly with middling earthy bitterness. Some burnt malt sensations towards the end and more bitter through and through than the aroma suggests.

Mouthfeel - Medium carbonation, realtively full body but not really sticky, finish is thinner than many in the style.

Overall - A good if not quite great scotch ale, that is certainly worth a sample for the tickers and anyone who enjoys this style.

Poursgarnet ted with a thinnish but creamy and persistant parchment coloured head. Aroma indistinct - malty - dark toffee. Mouth full and complex: dark toffee, licorice, coffee and toast. I usually fond scotch ales too sweet - but the carefully balanced hop bitterness (little or no aroma hopping) and complexity make this a winner.