Lux's Scotch Crotch
CB Craft Brewers

This brew was served on tap at Lux in Rochester, New York. It arrived in house pint glasses, showing a clean auburn coloring. A creamy white rim of a head was noted, but this was limited by the fullness of the pours. Clarity was cut through by the faintest chill haze, but no sediment was noted. Carbonation appeared to be mild. The aroma showed off a blend of mildly smoked caramel and red malt base, dried moss, dried red raisins, rose petals, crystallized caramel candies, denim, copper buttons, old cash, heavy banana esters, singed toffee, dried straw, and cloying maraschino cherry syrup, but with very dulled hints of the fruit therein. The taste to follow was comprised of hotly buttered corn, surprisingly bitter caramel grain, softer coffee malt bite, heavily drying tannic teas, potato starchiness, corn flake cereal graininess, candy corn, burnt marshmallows, tweed, dogwood bark, mulled cherry fruitiness, gentle fruity booziness, and a borderline sourness of red cabbage. The aftertaste showed a deepening of that smokiness from the nose, wrapped into malt base, with added diversity of butterscotch candy wrapper plastics, cigarette paper, and flaked, buttery croissants. The feel was generally very “easy” and on the light side of medium. It held a brassy dryness about it, bolstered by a yeasty powderiness that took additional moisture from the palate. Otherwise, each sip was savory and salty. The abv was appropriate, and drinkability was nice.

Overall, this was a fun beer to drink. Apparently it was just released, as Lux and CB’s recently put their heads together to revise their “homebrew” offering. Nobody at Lux could really tell us much more than that, like if they had any influence on the flavoring or recipe. Regardless, we’re pretty sure someone there was responsible for the beer’s name, given their flaunty penchant for eclecticism. The beer itself was actually quite nice. For a Scottish ale, the base malt was hearty, but never tipped into the “malt bomb”, sugary sweetness side of things. Rather, we found the subtle, roasted smokiness of the beer to be its most defining and memorable characteristic. This made the beer a bit of a hybrid, seasonally speaking, as we feel it could be enjoyed during both those lingering summer nights, through to the cool, sweet beginnings of autumn. We would certainly get this again, and think it’s one of the better restaurant or bar-specific brew to come out of CB’s in quite a while.