Lodge Scottish Session Ale
Atwood Farm Brewery

 

Pours a slightly hazy dark amberish brown. Not a wisp of foam. Mouthfeel is watery with a tiny tickle of carbonation. Aroma is nonexistent in the glass but there's a slight roasted grain nose as you sip. Tastes like buckwheat with a little weak tea added. The faintest grainy taste, but I wouldn't call it malt.

Attractive label on the big studly 750 ml bottle. Intriguing idea for a low-alcohol brew. But the lack of flavor and lack of carbonation are not very encouraging. Purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle for the price of a six pack of far tastier low-octane brews.

Poured into a MacAndrew's thistle glass. Pours a medium to dark bronze amber with a patchy light khaki head that still has good retention and slight lacing. Aroma of light biscuit and caramel malt, molasses and slight smoke. Flavor is light caramel malt, brown bread and a little toastiness with a lightly smoky, semi dry finish with residual grilled toast and toasted malt. Light bodied with a light mouth feel. This was a tough beer to review. As a Scottish ale, its too lightly flavored to get the full effect of the malts, but as a 3.2% small beer, it has a unique and interesting Scottish ale character that was interesting. If I was looking for a beer this light, this one would be on my list; there is nothing else like it out there, I wanted more of the base flavors here and it seemed to me like a very light, almost watered down Scottish ale. Nicely made and delivers exactly what it promises, but this just isn't my type of ale, I'd rather have a small bottle of full bodied Scottish ale than a 750ml light session one. Recommended as a pleasant and novel light session ale for those looking for this style. Looks amazing for a light session beer. I'm scoring this as the session ale as it is presented, not as a traditional Scottish ale (as I am aware of them).