Scottish Terrier
Blue Cat Brew Pub

On tap at the Davenport fairgrounds, August 26, 2006.

Pours a very dark crimson brown with a huge, retentive head.

Smells like sour malt, light salami, and smoke. Like a mixtur eof a Rauch and a Flemmish Red. Strange, but pretty nice.

Tastes, oddly enough, very much like it smells. A very light and sour grain melts quickly into smoked meat, a stab of cheddar, and a sour finish. What a strange and fantastic balance!

Normal smoked beers try hit you with their smokiness--that's where all the complexity comes from. This beer doesn't have the kind fo meat and cheese complexities that you want to wander around in, though, and instead creates a complexity in the balance between the very sour malt and it's otherwise run-of-the-mill smokiness. And it pays off well.

Was served a nice clean brown color with a touch of tan head, with decent retention.

Smell was mostly of toasted malts and peat.

Taste was a nice heavy dark malt flavor with touches of the smoke and peat flavors coming through. The smoke flavors were very light however. Tasted more like a Scottish Wee Heavy with a little smoke added, than a full on smokey Rauchbier, but good non the less.

Mouthfeel had a sort of medium fullness to it with a clean finish.

Drinkability was pretty good, I just wish they would up the smoke a bit.