MacStallion's Scotch Ale | Big Horse Brew Pub / Horse Feathers & Co.

2.95/5  rDev -22%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

On tap at Big Horse Brewing. The colour was simply amber with a this head. The aroma was malt but no hops. The palate was rather thin bodied (thinner than what I expect in a Scottish style ale) with some sweet malt character and some hops, but not much standing out.

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3.72/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Thin head with a deep copper colored body. It has a nice smell of smoke and caramel. The smoke is great and dominate. Taste is malt sweetness, smoke and plum with a good balance. Smooth and soft texture. Low carbonation and medium body. Quite enjoyable.

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3.92/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

First had: on tap at their brewpub

Poured an amber brown, thick and/or slightly hazy, with a thin off-white head that receded to a mere ringlet shortly after the pour. Smokey malts on the nose, mossy, caramel and wet cardboard. Malt sweetness on the tongue, big caramel profile, leathery smoke, light fruit notes and a bit of yeasty spice. Medium body, a bit chewy, little carbonation. Pretty good overall, probably a bit easier to down than many other examples of the style.

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3.92/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A pint, poured at Big Horse before descending to the Hops Fest.

Listed on the board as 6.9% ABV (vs. the 7.5% noted in earlier reviews), I adjusted the numbers to reflect what's current...

A: Nice color, a hazelnut shell amber-brown. Virtually no carbonation, clear complexion. Pencil-thin ring of off-white fizz and a flimsy film swirl. No lace.

S: Served a little cool, not a ton of aroma initially. As it warms: a dry nutty roast, peaty, aged paper(?) and a fragrant grassy and oddly floral perfume. Different.

T: Rich roasted malt hits upfront, plenty of cocoa, a dried and leathery fruitiness. Spicy flair is pronounced but hard to describe: at once it's nutmeg or crushed clove, then it's black pepper.

M: Lively mouthfeel - despite not a bubble of carbonation showing, there is life after all! Medium body, a modest alcohol warmth. Crispness upfront, then a broadening chewiness...

D: Remarkably easy to drink, seems more 'quenching' than a scotch ale should...which is a problem if one doesn't account for the 7% strength that comes with it. Other factors lessen my overall score, but drinkability is an 'A' for me.

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3.75/5  rDev -0.8%

4.61/5  rDev +22%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

This is a knockout beer. So peaty, so sclerotic in its twisted and mutagenic confluence of smoke and dark figgy malts. So black and so red it’s purple.

Macstallions merges the sensory landscapes of barnyards and plum orchards, grenadine and old postcards. The aroma curls in paisley tendrils through the corridors of your brain responsible for Christmas morning memories, sexual escapade, the unrepentant adult embrace of the perpetual need to believe in magic. Put all this in a cognac barrel for a year in a humidor of tamarind-cured Cavendish pipe tobacco then pour it in a tall pint and you’ve got some sense of what’s in store. Above all else Macstallions is unique in its successful perversion of style, creating a headless, laceless brew of corruptibly sweet, strangely compelling beer. Pointless to describe, frighteningly easy to drink.

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3.75/5  rDev -0.8%

4.5/5  rDev +19%

3.2/5  rDev -15.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Hazy dark amber colour with a small offwhite head. Poor head retention.

Moderate hard fruits like apple and pear with a hint of sweetness. Where is the toffee?

Smooth caramelly malt with some light fruity notes. A little minerally. Lacking depth in the malt character and a touch of bitterness.

Medium full body with moderate carbonation. Okay.

For me this doesn’t tick all the boxes expected in a Scotch Ale. The esters are okay but the malt character really lets it down with it lacking the deep, complex caramelised flavour of the good Scotch ales.

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