Scotch Ale?

Scotch Ale was pretty much any beer brewed in Scotland. As previously mentioned it varied in strength and the stronger it was the more expensive. What most people don't realize is that the Scotch Ales of those days could be any type of beer style from and IPA to a Porter. In today's beer world however I would define a Scotch Ale as malt forward, slightly smokey, higher gravity beer.

 

Just a cheery reminder that the word 'Scotch' to describe anything of Scottish designation is virtually NEVER used in Scotland. Yes, that includes whisky (blended, malt or otherwise), beer, caramel or whatever. No one here would take any offense by the word mind but it's use would just cause confusion to the native Caledonians.

 

Founders Dirty Bastard is available year round here, I have only been accused of being a bastard twice, and it's pretty tasty too! You should be able to get it there i would think or maybe not? If you like a good malty sweet ale (which i am starting to find out I like this style more myself) you will enjoy it.

 

Wow! I think we all just learned exactly how little you all actually know about beer styles. Thank God only a couple of you actually serve beer for a living.
A Scotch Ale is typically a malt driven beer that imparts the subtle nuances of a Scotch standard to the style rendered by the Scottish. Typically this style is pale or amber grain heavy (almost double the grain bill of any other style), with a rich sweetness from chocolate malts, charred, but fresh roastiness from toasted malts, extremely subtle smokiness from crystal malts, and an early hop addition to the boil to extract your resinous, fermentable sugars quickly and use them in a reduction boil to get your complete, concentrated wort that embodies toastiness from grain, sweetness of chocolate, malt reminiscent of vanilla and coconut, and an oak feel from your reduction. It, in turn, does not taste like Scotch, but allows the drinker to observe a more fresh, subtle, softer version of the drink by mimicking the flavor profiles with malts.
You're welcome. You can close the thread, now.

 

^you must be the man...

while the OP's question was answered people seem to be talking about barrel aged Scottish Beers.
i'd look at Innus and Gunn.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10272/12719

 

Yeah it's a good thing you were available to step in here

 

At the risk of stepping into these shark infested waters, it might be useful to the OP to know that if he were to obtain a Scotch Ale made by a US craft brewery, it will likely have the following attributes:

Scotch Ale

Scotch ale ranges from light-reddish brown to very dark in color. Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures. They are overwhelmingly malty with a rich and dominant sweet malt flavor and aroma. A caramel character is often a part of the profile. Dark roasted malt flavors and aroma may be evident at low levels. Though there is little evidence suggesting that traditionally made strong Scotch ales exhibited peat smoke character, the current marketplace offers many Scotch ales with peat or smoke character present at low to medium levels. Thus a peaty/smoky character may be evident at low levels (ales with medium or higher smoke character would be considered a smoke flavored beer and considered in another category). Perception of hop bitterness is very low. Hop flavor and aroma are very low or nonexistent. They are full-bodied beers. If present, fruity esters are generally at very low aromatic and flavor levels. Low diacetyl levels are acceptable. Scotch Ales may be split into two subcategories: Traditional (no smoke character) and Peated (low level of peat smoke character).

Original Gravity (ºPlato) 1.072-1.085 (17.5-20.5 ºPlato) ● Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato) 1.016-1.028 (4-7 ºPlato) ● Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 5.2-6.7% (6.2-8%) ● Bitterness (IBU) 25-35 ● Color SRM (EBC) 15-30 (30-60 EBC)

Cheers!

 

This is to confuse Scottish ale-which means nothing more than any ale brewed in Scotland-with Scotch Ale which is a beer style going back to at least the mid 19th century.Read Ron's blog for well researched details and demolition of myths such as low hopping and kettle caramelisation.

 

I love me some Dirty Bastard, great entry beer to the style.

Much like Barley Wines, throwing a scotch ale into a bourbon barrel completely changes it. Both great, but you will get a better appreciation for the style trying the non barrel aged

 

I personnaly find the dirty bastard way to hoppy for the style (in bitterness).

 

I'm really sorry to do this but...Innis and Gunn? Bwahahahahahahahah!!! Among those in the know in Scotland, they have zero credibility. You won't find their beers on cask or craft keg anywhere actually here and I know of a few places that firmly refuse to stock them in any form ever. Innis and Gunn are in essence The Rogue of Scotland.

 

If you look in Ron's blog you will find many examples of massively hopped Scotch Ales , even over 100 IBU. These.were brewed in Scotland ,labelled and sold as Scotch Ales.
The Scots have always been well placed regarding hops as practically all brewing has been near seaports.

 

The old saying that hops were used sparingly in Scotland due to the distance from the hop growing regions always makes me grimace. Here are a couple of other examples.

The hop fields in Germany are in the middle and south of the country. The Pilsners in Bavaria are not as bitter and hoppy (big generalization) as the the a examples in the far north. Many of the other styles in Munich are lightly hopped, even though the largest hop growing region in the world is a short drive up the autobahn.

In the US the hop growing region is in Oregon and Washington. San Diego is known as the epicenter of super hoppy IPAs. The distance from San Diego to Yakima is more than twice the distance from the hop fields in Kent to Edinburgh.

 

Here's a quick description from this website: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/77

 

Scottish breweries were concentrated in port towns such as Edinburgh and Alloa so importation of hops would be easy and cheap

 

Yes, important in earlier times. My point was to say why is the distance an issue in some cases, where there are examples where distance to the hop growing regions is not.

 

yeah, I guess you're right. If I recal, they were brewing IPAs in Edinburgh.

 

If you take a regular ale, wrap it in a blanket of sausage, bread it, and deep fry it, you get a scotch ale.

 

Edinburgh was the world's second largest producer of IPA. But I was referring to heavily hopped Scotch Ale.