Scotch Ale
Central Coast Brewing

On tap at Central Coast Brewing in San Luis Obispo, CA.

Pours a clear crimson-brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to a small cap on top of the beer. Thin rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of toasted malt, caramel, and dark fruits. Taste is much the same with a mild bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is tasty and easy to drink.

22oz bottle.

Poured a deep brown with a light red tint and an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of earth, caramel, and I'm getting a weird bubble gum / sweet tart aroma. Tastes of earth, wood, caramel, and the same weirdness I was getting in the aromas.

Notes from: 12/29/07

Should have heeded the warning from the Chai Cream Ale to avoid Central Coast beers. Brown with a short tan head. Peat, heavy caramel, and bourbon in the nose. Flat, syrupy mouthfeel. Up front is promising; smooth caramel malt and nice smokiness. Then it takes a turn for the bad. Sickening Tootsie-pop like sugar/chocolate/fake cherry taste comes out of nowhere and dominates everything. I let it warm to see if it improved, and it did not. Nasty.

Appearance: Pours an opaque, brown body with a small, off-white head.

Smell: Powerful tartness reminiscent of spoiled fruits. Must I go on?

Taste: No more than a hint of dark maltiness, then the flavor leaps to a tongue-pickling lactic tartness. This is followed by a big hit of Band-Aids. I'd recommend pairing this with a tall glass of cleansing water.

Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Moderate carbonation.

Drinkability: Patently awful, so much so I'll be greatly disinclined to try anything from this brewer in the future. A beer that throws your tastebuds under the bus.

Always enjoy trying a new scotch ale.

Pours a nice enough dark reddish brown with a 1 finger tan head. Altogether not bad looking. Smell comes off as having maybe a bit of Acetaldehyde with some smoky qualities.

Taste is rather disappointing. Caramel, dark fruits and smoke come together in a way where they just don't meld. Some sharp off flavors that I can't pinpoint annoy me on the way down. Aftertaste is almost astringent.

Mouthfeel starts a bit too carbonated. Swirling it around helps, but then the mouthfeel is not quite full enough. Drinkability is not that great.

Not recommended. This one just doesn't come together. This recipe doesn't need tweaks, it needs an overhaul.

Pours a one finger cream head that fades quickly leaving no lace. Cloudy ugly, deep amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Smoky malty nose. Flavor is sweet, earthy some smokiness, quite drinkable but mislabeled this is not a scotch ale. $5.62 for a 22oz bottle from Liquid Solutions Oregon City, Or.

Dark caramel that is just murky enough to be opaque in the rapidly failing, winter afternoon light. Smoky orange and amber highlights filter in at the edges. The two finger, sponge-like cap, a complementary shade of golden ecru, is in no hurry to depart. So far, so good.

The beer smells brown malty, sour fruity and is moderately phenolic. According to the label, this is a 'robust, smoked ale'. I'll have to judge the truth of that claim on the palate because it isn't immediately obvious from the aroma alone.

After drinking (and hating) the abysmal Chai Cream Ale from Central Coast, I was extremely leery of Scotch Ale. It isn't bad, though. Neither is it wonderful, but I'll take it since I'll actually be able to finish the bottle. Having said that, I'm convinced that an experienced home brewer could do better.

Whether it was intended or not, the phenolic (dare I say smoked peaty?) quality of the beer gives it that true Scotch ale vibe that many American versions lack. That isn't nearly enough, however, to turn what is shaping up to be an average ale into a good one.

The flavor profile consists of brown bread, steely caramel, cocoa and mushy apples. The peppery, clove-like spiciness has to be coming from an especially unruly yeast strain. I'm feeling better about things as the beer warms, but not enough to increase the taste score. Scotch Ale's... uh... uniqueness is probably its biggest asset.

This wee heavy is neither wee nor heavy. I had no luck trying to determine the ABV, but would guess it to be somewhere in the vicinity of 6.0%. Whatever it is, the body/mouthfeel puts it solidly on the lighter end of the style spectrum.

As long as one doesn't mind a generous helping of Islay whisky-like Band-Aid phenols, this Central Coast offering is decently drinkable. Since I can't believe that too many casual beer drinkers do, I doubt that it flies off the shelves. In the final reckoning, Scotch Ale is probably too edgy for its own good.