Stag
Cairngorm Brewery Company, The

Appearance: Arrives from the cask with a light amber color and a creamy two finger head; good retention and a few shards and squiggles

Smell: Malted barley with a hint of toffee and some earthy tones

Taste: Malt forward with some stone fruit tones; earthy bitterness develops, in the middle, with nice balance in the finish

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with gentle carbonation

Overall: A very pleasant bitter

500 ml bottle, from Gulating Ølutsalg, Stavanger. ABV is 4.1%. Beautiful mahogany colour, large to moderate off-white head. Malty aroma, notes of caramel, brown bread and roasted nuts. Malty flavour too, with the same elements as the aroma, but not too sweet. Decent earthy hops in the finish.

 

 

 

500ml Bottle taken on a sunny but cold winters afternoon (Sat 18th Feb 2012): poured into my 'Abbot Ale' glass tankard.

Lovely looking beer: dull deep brown until held up to the sunlight, it then shows its true colours. A beautiful red body, clear and bright, on top sits a cream coloured foam covering that feels like velvet on the lips.

I over cooled the beer, so no smells could be found at first but slowly the aroma of roasted malts began to appear.

The flavours in the mouth also took some time to come out because of the coldness: again it was the malts that stood out initially with some hop bitterness towards the end of every sip adding a bite to the taste.

Looks like it is a monster beer, but it doesn't have enough body depth or alcohol content to live up to its first impression. Well carbonated and pleasant enough but could have been so much better with just a little tweeking.

Modest starting head but leaves no lace at all. Light brown color and clear. 

This smells like a diluted Scotch. This is all malt nose...a touch of earthiness--no sweetness.  The hop is non-existent.

Dry caramel flavor with a bittering kick from hops. Thin bodied with an above average level of carbonation. The aftertaste is nicely balanced with an ever-so-slightly sweet malted sugar and a peppery hop bite. 

Pint served into sleeve from handpump at Muckle Cross Wetherspoons, Elgin

A- Muddy brown body with good clarity. Thin but retained 1/2 finger head, that produces good lacing.

S- Fainted toasted malt note, no hop note to speak of. As the beer develops, it seems to take on a slight smoked note.

T- Faint malt domination again, with a hint of vanilla creaminess, a limp slightly astringent bitterness comes through which lingers slightly unpleasantly. The smoked note in the nose, comes through very faintly on the tongue. Semi dry finish.

M- Low carbonation but slightly watery, a bit lifeless.

D- Poor example of a scottish ale for me. Lifeless, with not enough toasted malt dominating character. Will need to try bottle to see if improves

A - A dark brown body with amber highlights, topped by a small, off-white head of foam. Excellent retention and lace.

S - A malty aroma of dark bread with some brown sugar and toffee. There is also a very light hop aroma in the background.

T - Crusty, dry bread up front with a dose of brown sugar. Some molasses and light bready notes in the middle. Finishes with a hint of sour roasted grain and some light, musty hops as well as light bitterness.

M- Medium body, low carbonation, and a dry finish.

D - Light and drinkable, there is a very nice bready character, especially in the aroma. The hop character in the flavor is sufficient to keep it drinkable but not so strong that it pushes the beer out of style.

This was a very surprisingly good beer. I was not that impressed with the smell, very average and no real nose to speak of, it did pour to a nice dark colour but did look initially like it may be a bit too bubbly as the head did not stay for any real length of time.

However once this was past I found a very tasty beer, that swirled well round the mouth and was very smooth going down. It gave a nice roasted taste, with a good variety of hop,grain and barley flavours.

I was so pleasantly surprised that I ended up staying on it for most of the night and even bought a case to take home. Although everyone has different tastes, this is a worthwhile drink for any fan of the ruby Scottish beers. This has easily become a regular in my cupboard.

My girlfriend brought this back from her trip to Great Britian because she found the bottle, which features a stag, mouth agape and bellowing, hilarious. Also, the brewer is "Cairngorm," by which we were both amused.

Stag (ha) pours a maple brown with a fairly large head that fades quickly, but leaves good lacing. Smell is malty and roasty and a little--this site forces to me to use the stupidest words--vegetabley. The taste doesn't live up to the nose; it's uncomfortably sweet, with vegetable undertones. Really the only interesting part of this beer, the only good part, is the aftertaste, which is satisfyingly roasty. Mouthfeel is thinnish.

Well, I'm glad I was given this beer, but mostly because of the label. As I'm only the second person to review this, I guess I can say it is justifiably rare.

Appearance: light mahogany, great clarity, loosely packed bubbly layer of head, poor head retention

Aroma: light scent of caramelly malt and woody hops, slight roast, touch of diacetyl, and a weird moldy smell off in the distance somewhere

Flavor: very mild malt sweetness dominated by roasty bitterness and a nice English hop flavor, raisiny esters, finishes dry with a tangy residual hop flavor

Mouthfeel: medium body, terse carbonation, soft texture, crisp

Overall Impression: Better than Wildcat. Pretty solid all around. Smooth hop flavor and quite balanced malt profile. Nice refreshing bitterness, too.