Ibex Series: Single Malt Scottish Style Ale-Scotch Whiskey Barrel Aged
Schlafly Beer - The Tap Room

 

12oz bottle. Poured out a clear, light burgundy color with a large, khaki-colored head of foam. It smelled like burnt rubber and booze. Taste was same as the nose. Undrinkable.

Light copper colored with a fingernail of off white to beige on top. The aroma is an inviting light peaty smoke note with a hint of carmalized malt. I'm tasting a strong presence of that peaty note along with alcohol, carmelized malt, and oak. The mouth is smoky, dry, and dense. Truly unique.

 

 

A: A hazy light brown in color, with white head on top.

S: Something funky in the smell on this one. Sharp and metallic, perhaps a touch tart. Behind that though there is a touch of scotch whiskey.

T: Sweet, with some definite scotch kick. Light peat, some oak, but a lot of sweet beer. I really like the Scotch aspect, but the beer itself is a little cloying..

M: Medium in body, with fairly bright carbonation.

O: Overall I like the scotch aging, but the beer itself falls flat. I really wanted this to be spectacular, I love scotch, and I love beer, this just makes me want to put the beer down and pour a scotch.

 

Pours a nearly completely transparent yellow, but features a bit of fog. Head formation is one finger in height and white in color. Aroma is peat moss right from the get-go. Whisky, barrel, and a kiss of alcohol add to it, but overall it's smelling like a glass of scotch. Flavor profile is peat moss, lemon grass, whisky, and barrel. Peat moss is the first and last note on the palate, but fades away in the middle to showcase lemon grass, whisky, and a touch of charred barrel. Mouth feel is medium in thickness, with a crisp feel. Overall, a very intriguing beer. Not far off from having a glass of Islay Whisky. It's well balanced and crafted, which makes it easy to sip and enjoy - even as someone* who doesn't enjoy heavy peaty beers/liquors.

Served in a 12oz snifter from a 12oz bottle.

*That someone is me. Not a huge fan of peat moss, but this is pretty darn great. Well balanced, despite having heavy Islay Whisky influence.

Look- clear golden/orange with a lot of tiny, almost imperceptible particles in suspension; 2 finger fizzy white head that quickly dissipates; no lacing

Nose- mostly intense Scotch with a faint bready malt note under that

Taste- starts off with a sweet bready malt and brown sugar followed by fairly intense Scotch that sort of weaves itself in and out of the malt flavor really nicely

Feel- medium-bodied, low carb, boozy heat in the finish

Overall- The intense Scotch-dominant nose was misleading as the taste, while Scotch-heavy, blended really well with the malt flavors of the beer.

The Saint Louis Brewery "Single Malt Scottish Style Ale"
11.2 FL. OZ. brown glass bottle, "Bottled on: 10:2017"
$5.99 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Here I thought I was lucky because the bottle was filled a little high and then I realize it's only an 11.2 ounce bottle to begin with! Well at least I got around 11.3 ounces! It's poured a hazy orange amber body beneath a short head of off-white that's already dwindled while I've been writing this, and only a few spots of lacing remain. That's OK though because it smells amazing. It smells like Laphroaig or Ardbeg to me, but it could be any whiskey, what do I know? In fact, there could easily be different barrels in play, but the point is that it truly smells like Scotch whiskey. It smells so much like whiskey in fact that I'm not really getting any beer aroma out of it so let's move on to the flavor. Well there's the beer... it's quite malty, and there's some fruitiness to it, but of course the whiskey remains as well, just not nearly as clear as it is in the nose. It's a little bit unbalanced I think, a little too sweet, although it dries in the finish. Ahhh, maybe I'm just thrown off by the scent, expecting more of a dry whiskey character. It'll make a good sipper. Unfortunately I've opened it before dinner, but I'll try to set some of it aside for afterwards. So, what else? The peat that I was finding in the aroma may or may not be there in the flavor, there's something but I'm not sure if it's peat. And there's just a slight touch of oak. The malt is basic, although rich, and I'm guessing they may have used Golden Promise malt. Back to the sweetness, it's fairly sweet, and there's not a lot of bitterness here, which actually makes sense. Nor does the 10.2% alcohol by volume show. There's some heat in the finish after you've swallowed, but it doesn't come through in the flavor. And again, all of this is good if you consider it a sipper and not just a pint, and at 10.2% that's probably a good idea. It's rich and filling, and in the mouth it's full bodied. It reminds me a bit of a golden barleywine that I had years ago, except that this is the Scotch ale version. The carbonation is smooth and just barely gives a caress to the tongue. I'm not sure if that's good or bad or if it would be better with a little more bite so I'll just leave it at that. I am enjoying it though. Once I got used to it it's steadily grown on me. I don't think I will have any left over for after dinner! So, OK, I hope that was helpful if you're thinking of buying it as it's a little bit hard to pin down, this one. It's definitely unusual though, and probably worth trying just for that.