Highland Hymn
Block 15 Brewing - Southtown Tap Room

16oz can from ABV Public House. Clear, dark amber, thick off-white head, chunky lacing. Malty, earthy aroma, woody. Taste is malty, toasty, brown sugar, woody. Not peaty, per se, but very, very earthy.

This is the (purchased in fall 2025) 5.8 ABV version (no date). Nice frothy head on a reddish brown beer. Easy drinker. Another excellent product from Block 15.

Can Date: 9/16/21
Palate Contaminants: other beer

Color is super-dark amber, almost red. Fine head goes away quickly, leaving no lacing.

Raisins and barley are strong on the nose. A bit of dark rye bread, too. Kinda thin, though.

First thought isn't surprising: dark rye with raisins. And it's plenty toasty. That natural char brings out the alcohol a bit. It's slightly floral. Woody grain character.

The feel is a bit thin for the type, and alcohol is more detectable than usual for the ABV. Aftertaste is grain husk.

Handsome dark auburn or russet shade of brownish amber. Clear and foamy in the Troubadour tulip. Spritzy on the tongue with a light body. Rather fragrant with something fruity, a perhaps some subtle smoke. Buttery hints with caramel and dark roasted grain flavors. Earthy and nutty malt with a darker finish.

Virtually no bitterness except for the burnt sugar and scorched oatmeal hints. This seems like a typical American version of the Scottish stuff. Quite sippable though I don't want too much of it. From the 16 oz can purchased at John's Marketplace. Not sure how old this might be.

 

Can.

A dark brown with a dense light brown head with excellent retention and lacing this looks solid. The nose is delicious. Deep, dark brown sugar, toffee, caramel, mildly burnt , a mild nutty sweetness and some smoke to complement it all are present. There is a mild hop character, earthy and bitter, working well with the smoke. Opening with a light body rich in flavor, a blend of caramel, burnt sugar, toffee and some dark wheat bread, the flavors are delightful. Medium light in body and softly and creamily carbonated. Excellent stuff.

 

 

Look: Clear deep ruby red with a lively tan head that forms quick and settles just as quick to a film, leaving great lacing behind
Aroma: Dried dark fruit – prune plums, dates, and raisins, rich woodsy smoke notes, fresh baked brown bread, toffee, and some earthiness
Taste: Toffee and dried dark fruit kick things off followed by bready malt and waves of smoked malt keep hitting as well. Earthy notes come into play in the middle as smoke and malt regain momentum and hold through to the close
Mouthfeel: Full, quite clean feeling throughout, medium carbonation, and soft on the finish
Overall: This is quite delicious. One of my favorite styles overall, especially in cold weather and congrats to these folks for not only making one, but a good one. Checks all the boxes – bready malt, a kiss of smoke, toffee, and enough dried dark fruit to be noticed but doesn’t overpower the other flavors/aromas. A winner for sure and definitely recommended

Poured into a MacAndrew's thistle glass. Pours a medium to dark coppery amber with a one finger off-white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of biscuit malt, dates, a touch of peat and a little mineral. Flavor is bready biscuit malt with a touch of dry caramel, nuts, light dates, light peat; dry finish with a little more peat developing to linger. Medium bodied with light creaminess. An unfortunately uncommon style that often tastes to dry to me, probably because I'm comparing to the slightly sweeter Scotch ales. A pleasant Scottish leaning malt body that is a little on the light side, with light peat smokiness and decent nutty/dark dried fruit notes. Hits the character of the style without frills. Looks great.

16oz can

Pours only about a finger of tan head into my Nonic. Fizzes, and fades pretty quickly. Initial lacing looks alright. Body is a medium brown, amber and orange hues are present. Overall it looks okay so far.

Pretty significant mineral aroma. Smells dry and a little bitter. A smidge of malt and maybe some sugar, but those are incredibly hard to detect. Smells more like an ESB. Possibly oxidized? Characterless, not a good aroma.

Flavor is better. Bready, some sugars, not really caramel or any toffee (the can suggests the latter). While an improvement, this is still very boring and definitely tastes more like an ESB.

Mineral, though not extremely bubbly. Dry, hardly any sweetness here at all. Bitterness is not zero. Body is on the lighter side. This mouthfeel would work for anther style, but here it just adds to the lifeless experience.

Drinkability is ok I guess, nothing off putting.

Appearance turned out poor, zero lacing.

I obviously don’t care for this beer, it’s bland and uninteresting. Even if we take personal opinion out of it, I seriously doubt this would scratch the surface of even the light Scottish ale category, and it’s definitely not the sweeter, heavy varietal. This is like water compared to dry, malty beers that actually deliver on the malt and flavor. A rare miss from Block 15, no disrespect to them, they generally do a great job.

A clear, very deep amber pour. Frothy head, fades fast and no real lacing. Pleasant aroma grains, toffee, bit of smoky background. Light sips bring out a modestly carbonated, dry and smooth taste. Flavors of toffee and browned butter, more lightly smoked malt - lots of it. Low bitterness, which lingers a little past the taste. We really enjoy this uncommonly brewed ale. Nicely done can grapics.

16 oz can from a 4 -pack. Purchased at Roth's West Salem market.
$10.99
Pours a dark copper, clear, with a great looking creamy beige head coloured heid.
malty aromas as expected. Tones of toffee, fudge, some fruit and a bit of hay. Nice.
Taste the same ..its all about the malts baby! Some hazelnut in there also. Toasted barley juices! Smokiness in the end.
Nice smooth, soft mouth feel. Goes well with the body of the beer.
Excellent malt driven beer.