My Turn #002: Brad
Lakefront Brewery

 

L: Pours brilliant chestnut under a thin tan foam cap that provides light lace.
S: Peat and rich malt aromas. No fruit.
T: Develops a moderate malt palate with kettle sugars and a little smoke. Dries on the finish.
F: Medium full body and medium low carbonation.
O: A good drinkable beer but the malt character is a little thin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beer poured a brown color with a slight tan head into the sampler glass. After the appearance is where the problems started. Counting Scottish Ales among my favorite styles, I can say this beer lacked most of the qualities that I love in a Scottish Ale. Brad had a sweet malty aroma that was almost like smelling syrup. In the initial taste, I never got the maltiness that one expects in the style. Instead, it seemed to be a heavy does of sweetness like an unfinished candy product. The malt finally comes through in the aftertaste, but it is a dry syrupy malt. Initially, there seemed to be a little bit of a buzz about this ale, but then it died down. I know why.

Brown with tan head.

Toffee and caramel type smell.

Sweet malt, caramel, toffee, bready wash. Pleasant enough but simplistic.

Mouthfeel on the flat side.

This was fine, the overall flavor profile is somewhat enjoyable, but it was lacking the mouthfeel, complexity or extra oomph to really feel like something was going on. One-dimensional.

Pours a dark chestnut brown color with a half finger off-white head that immediately fades into a thin ring. Cloudy and muddy looking with poor head retention and very minimal lacing.

Earthy, mineral-like aroma with a very weak malt presence countered by grassy hop notes. Dirty, soily hops along with some faint smoke and sweet caramel malt. Smells like a dirty, slightly hoppy beer with some cola mixed in.

Medium bodied with tight carbonation and a surprisingly heavy spice presence that lingers over the slightly smokey malt presence and earthy hops into a bone dry finish. Dry and peppery with hints of charcoal, ashtray and smoked meat followed by slightly sweet caramel malt and an aggressively dry and bitter hop character. Just a strange combination of harsh flavors that make this beer tough to drink. The hop profile is too one dimensional for my preference and the burnt, smoked malts are overdone, giving off an unpleasant acrid character.

 

(Served in a nonic)
Bottled April wk3
A- The clear dense garnet body has a bubbly light tan head that fizz into a thin ring. There is a strong carbonation of big bubbles pushing to the surface.

S- The clean aroma has some faint hints of smoke but no malt or pot caramel notes at all.

T- the dark nougat has some toffee notes with a dry cardboard/syrup note and a malt bitterness in the finish that really grows to dominate. That bitterness lingers. There is a water flavor that also grows as the beer opens up.

M- This beer has a medium-light mouthfeel with a fizzy finish.

O- This beer is light and thin with a very faint malt flavor and the malt roasted bitterness is the only flavor that really comes through.

 

 

22oz bomber poured into a Samuel Adams perfect pint.

A - One finger of vanilla head recedes to a small ring of foam. The color is a hazy light brown with red hues. No lacing to speak of.

S - Nice complex crystal toffee malt with some caramel sweetness. A hint of lemon citrus.

T - Starts off with very rich caramel malts that have some dark/ripe red fruit characters, maybe some plum and raisin. Also a fraction of smoked malt to my liking. A touch of chocolate. Dries up a little bit with a late hop flavor finish. Still has a touch of lingering sweetness along with some alcohol warmth.

M - Good, full body. Light to moderate carbonation.

O - This scotch ale really shys away from any biscuit or aromatic malt but has a great deep caramel smell and flavor. Just the right amount of hops to balance for this style. Alcohol shows its stylistic presence. Has a good feel to it but am a little disappointed in its appearance.