25 Thistles Anniversary Ale
Perth Brewery

Thin brew lacking depth. I really like Scottish ales, but this ain't one...

Appearance: Poured with a solid finger of head that produced decent lace and stuck around quite a bit. The body is a crimson amber that showcases a solid and stead amount of carbonation. More lace and more retention would have netted the perfect score.

Smell: Very mild, as mild caramel malt are backed behind a herbal hop note. It is worth mentioning that the brewer does list thistle leaf as an ingredient for this beer, so maybe that is what is producing that herbal note. Either way, it really needs warming to come out.

Taste: Starts with mild caramel malt with a hint of earthy bitterness at which point a more shortbread and biscuit note seems to take over, although instead of butter being the dominant note in the shortbread, it's almost cream like. It's very restrained as a mix of earth and herbal hops round us out.

Mouthfeel: Thankfully though that hop note doesn't quite drown out that shortbread note leaving for a nice aftertaste with only hints of the earthy hop in the background there, and there is a creamy consistency to the beer that I enjoy here and the carbonation does a solid job. The transitioning seem a bit stiff but for the most par, I enjoyed it.

Drinkability: Medium bodied and settles down nicely. Refreshing and creamy, but not to the point where it feels like I'm drinking a meal. Really, no issues going to town with this stuff, but just sophisticated enough that you don't want to guzzle it.

Final Thoughts: For an Anniversary brew, this one was exceptional and one I wouldn't mind seeing Perth put into their lineup permanently. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I'm not sure what the thistles added to this brew, as it drank like a slightly herbal scottish ale to me. All in all, two thumbs up.