Smooth moderate-bodied Scottish ale utilizes soft heather tips to provide dark floral nicety above smoked chocolate malting. Subtle brown-sugared dried fruiting picks up creamy vanilla-cocoa waver and tertiary chicory coffee nuance at midst. Thin prune, fig, and grape skin illusions flank ashen peat-tobacco earthiness.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: ATLANTIC BREW. CO., PORTLAND, ME.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: APPALACHIAN BREW. CO., HARRISBURG, PA.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BELHAVEN BREW. CO., DUNBAR, SCOTLAND
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Alcohol-fueled white-headed mahogany-hued ale suffuses black chocolate bitterness with caramel-grained sweetness. Heavy hop eruption outlines Scotch malt thickness, increasing syrupy texture and ashy mouthfeel for fine alternative to Sam Adams Scottish Ale.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BELHAVEN BREW. CO., DUNBAR, SCOTLAND
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Brewers since 1719, Belhaven offers subtly charming ales, but this one’s somewhat bland for frothy mocha-scented Scottish Ale. Moderate bitter hops and pithy roasted malts eventually seep through, as ripe berry, smoked nut, and earthen peat undertones appear. But polite grain finish diminishes quickly.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BELHAVEN BREW. CO., DUNBAR, SCOTLAND
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Poured into the glass, this 6.5% alcohol-fueled Wee Heavy maintains a fuzzy head and creamy body. Peculiar mocha-grained murk combines with blood-thick malt residue and buttery salience before burnt sugar finish flutters away.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: YAKIMA BREWING, YAKIMA, WA.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BRISTOL BREW. CO., COLORADO SPRINGS, CO.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Pleasant tobacco leaf opening absorbed by sour coffee beans, syrupy molasses malts, and dried fig-raisin confluence of prune-hued dark ale. Debonair spiced hop sentiment quells baker’s chocolate bitterness, rye-pumpernickel braze, and honeyed pecan-hazelnut glaze. Too tamely turbid for heavyweight Scottish class, yet wholly satisfied.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BROADWAY BREW. CO., ASPEN, CO.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Wild jester collage on bottle’s label perhaps inspired by beat poet Hunter S. Thompson’s ancient Celtic axiom. Though dark brown-hued, this is a light, unassuming ‘also ran.’ A bit nutty with pleasurable butterscotch snuggling spring water freshness, though lacking discernible character. Brewery defunct: 2006.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: CALEDONIAN BREWERY, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: COLUMBUS BREW. CO., COLUMBUS, OH.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: BRASSERIE DE SILLY, SILLY, BELGIUM
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Sugar sweetness noticeable at first, but brandy-like perk provides heightened afterglow. Pragmatic liquor-fueled Scotch malts and sticky caramel residue flicker through moderate bitter hop finish. Nearly great.
- Author: John Fortunato
- Brewery: DRAGONMEAD BREWERY, WARREN, MI.
- Category: Beers A-Z
- Comments: None
Don’t let misleading Scotch ale styling fool you. Molasses-thick ruby-maroon ‘wee heavy’ is more reminiscent of a dry port with its tobacco-stained red-purple grape density, sinister burgundy-bourbon sedation, vegetal peat-topsoil earthiness, and wet wood nuance. Maple-tarred black coffee bittering subsumes latent fig, date, and fruitcake hints.



