Eighty Shilling
The Rebel Brewing Co.

 

Received in a beer52 order. This will be my first experience of a Scotch Ale.

Pours opaque dark chocolate brown with a red eclipse into a tulip glass from a 500ml bottle. This ale is visibly carbonated, and the tan head diminishes instantly into nothing, leaving no lacing.

The nose is very reminiscent of imperial stout with lashings of bitter coffee beans, burnt cocoa, char, and roast grain. There's also an underlying sweetness in the form of black liquorice, as well as an astringent woody quality of scotch soaked oaken barrels.

The taste follows the nose to some extent with that whiskey-oak coming through on the sip, as well as those bitter coffee beans, and black treacle. The flavour turns more to charred wood on the swallow, leading into an aftertaste of roast grain, sweet malt, figs, raisins, and a touch more woody scotch. There is a sweetness to this ale which never oversteps the boundary allowing those smoky, woody flavours to co-exist.

In the mouth it feels much smoother than anticipated, the carbonation not really there anymore since the pour. The body is medium with a slight mouth-coating quality to it, almost like a porter.

I'm enjoying this beer, and if it were available I may have a look in again. It's very warming, and oily, and an overall pleasant ale to enjoy infront of the fire. I don't think it could be drunk with a meal as it's a Wee bit Heavy (pun intended) but it definitely gets the nod for unoffensive, winter warmer with a nicely balanced set of flavours.

Seriously lacking in body, probably due to the low ABV.