Charming Or Tedious
Yukon Brewing

Poured from a bomber into a tulip
L- Burnt cherry caramel in color with good carbonation. Creamy, tan head sits on top.
S- Maple, dark fruit, molasses, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, espresso, smoke, bourbon. Smells just like Christmas baking, very warming and welcoming.
T- Everything from the nose but the alcohol is more pronounced here. The flavor is a bit underwhelming and you don't really taste the maple.
F- Creamy with a nice bitterness to cut through the sweetness. A tad watery though.
O- Decent beer for a style I'm not too familiar with. It is lacking a bit in flavor compared to Yukon's other beers.

 

 

Appearance - Pours a dark garnet brown with two fingers of creamy tan head.

Smell - caramel malts, peat, fruity esters (plum and raisin), hint of maple syrup and hint of earthy hops.

Taste - Caramel malts followed by a strong presence from the peat. The fruity esters, maple syrup and hint of earthy hops finish off the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth with the malts, peat and maple syrup lingering in the aftertaste.

Overall - A unique twist to the Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy style by incorporating maple syrup. This ingredient allowed it to be a nice supporting cast to the predominant peat and malt characteristics of the brew. Congrats to Yukon on 20 years of being in the craft beer industry!

 

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store, when this brew was only released 2 days prior in the tap room in Whitehorse! Dubbed a 'Scottish Maple Wee Heavy', in that they used real maple syrup sourced from Ontario in the brew.

This beer pours a clear, dark red-brick brown colour, with two skinny fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and well-bubbly tan head, which leaves a few sparse streaks of archipelago lace in spots around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of zingy, kind of herbal maple sap, grainy caramel malt, a touch of biscuity toffee, a wisp of earthy smoke, some muddled dark orchard fruitiness, and mild weedy, leafy, and floral hop bitters. The taste is semi-sweet, lightly crackery caramel malt, a reduced dry maple tree essence, hovering smoked peat notes, understated black stone fruit, and an indistinct array of green herbal and slightly perfumed floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is low-key in both its fizzy and frothy emanations, the body a so-so medium weight, and mostly smooth, just a touch of smoke and recently emboldened booze lounging around with bad intentions. It finishes well off-dry, but not overly so, the lingering caramel, maple, and fruit all kept in check by that most obvious of Scottish beverage tricks - smoke and alcohol heat, ach!

Yup, this is definitely the bigger brother to the Yer Gallus offering of a few years back - more malt, the maple adjunct, and the 2-ish point uptick in the ABV. Easy to drink, however, as things are generally in balance, with nothing overstepping its perceived bounds - that, and it's witches' teats cold outside (finally?) around here right now. Oh, and isn't it some long-dead poet's birthday celebrations later this month?