Kilt Optional
Lost Forty Brewing

12oz can. Poured out a slightly opaque, deep, dark brown color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left rings of lace on the glass. It smelled malty with coffee, chocolate and earthy notes. Great roasted malt taste with coffee, spices and earthy notes.

 

Poured from a can. Dark brown with a tan head in color and decent lacing. Aroma of malt, caramel and roasted nuts. Flavor follows the smell, feels very light and easy to drink, the flavors all blend well and nothing is super strong but just tastes really good. At 6.3 avb this one could be trouble.

Poured from a can, dark brown, minimal head. Smells of bread, malt. Taste is stronger with mahogany— that’s not a taste is it? Nevertheless. Seems light for a Scotch Ale. Still, this is one of my Fall go-tos because there it is in the grocery store. Convenient.

2024-07-07
12oz can served in a tulip. Batch #3718, best by 04/27/2024 (but, based on my experience with the style, I'm not too worried about that). Got it from @russpowell in NBS BIF #18.

Pours dark brown, not coffee black, medium sized head on the pour fades to a light and surprisingly even dusting, very fine, slow carbonation visible at rest. Smell is toffee, nuts, dates, musty wood.

Taste is on the roasty side of the style, roasted nuts and slightly burnt toffee, date sweetness is there of course.

Mouthfeel is maybe a bit on the thin side for the style (maybe that's a product of age?). Overall, good solid scotch ale. Off season, but I ticked down my AC a degree or two for the occasion.

Very good head production, but retention is poor.

Aroma is malty and sweet, with lots of cola and prune alongside dark bread, rye, cherry, and perhaps a hint of chocolate. Touches of leather and bark.

Flavor is very, very similar to the nose. It's immediately malty up front, but not overly sweet. By mid-sip, already there's a bunch of sweeter malty notes: cola, prune, cherry. Chocolate and caramel are very much in the background. A touch of yeast phenols on the finish, especially if you have a few sips in rapid succession, but nothing off.

Very tasty Scotch ale, although it drinks much cleaner and easier than expected. Then again, 6.3% is a fairly modest ABV.

 

Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz can poured into my .5L dimple mug. Best buy 4/27/2024 on bottom of can. The beer pours a clear mahogany color with some ruby highlights and some light passes through the glass. A soft fluffy .5 cm khaki colored head foams up from the pour. This foam is only a wispy edge layer and one island on the surface soon after the pour is complete.
Aroma is some light roasted malt and caramel notes with a bit of burnt brown sugar and dark bread. Malt driven nose for sure.
First sip reveals a medium body with very fine tingly carbonation and smooth texture. Beer feels nice.
Flavor is some toasted dark bread, a bit of caramel and some light brown sugar. I do get some herbal tea hop note that lingers a bit on the drying swallow.
This is a malt forward beer, but actually has some decent balance on the flavor.
An enjoyable scotch ale that is an approachable ABV also. Glad to have tried another beer from this brewery.

A: Pours a dark ruby red/brown color. A beige head rises and gently recedes. Lace if left behind.
S: Baked breads, dark fruits of cherries and raisins. A malty, slightly oxidized aroma, that is not bad but not my favorite.
T: Like the nose, sweet and baked bread. Dark fruits with light oxidation again. Cherries, raisins, a lot of sweetness that becomes a bit candy sweet.
M/O: A medium to full body. Sticky with a sugary coating. Moderate carbonation becomes smooth. This becomes a bit to cloying for me, and not something I'm looking to come back to all that often.

I guess I had a very similar offering several months ago at Lost Forty. It had a slightly different ABV and just called Scotch Ale. I wouldn't be surprised if these were the same beer, but maybe just a bit of a tweak. Anyway, I found both overly sweet and unbalanced for my tastes.

 

Pours an effervescent hazel/chestnut color with a pinky of tan head, Some head retention &lacing

S: Some brown bread, faint peatyness, brown sugar & toastyness

T: All of the above, dryness, a little leafy hops up front. More toastyness, a touch of peatyness, fairly dry, as this beer warms through, some woody hops . Finishes pretty dry with faint peatyness, toastyness & a little toffee

MF: Medium, a little over carbonated for the style

A solid stab at the style, could use some refinement & then on to making a BA Wee Heavy??? I would buy this every year, but it has room for improvement. This is a style I rarely I find close to perfection in...