On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, well-detailed and updated medium body (2014) brings peat-smoked Scotch dryness to honeyed whiskey overtones, picking up dry bourbon and sweet sherry influence from red-wined barrel aging. Tobacco roasted crisping and dry chocolate seeding play minor backup roles.
Gnarly gutter junk with blood-like Watney’s Red Barrel molasses gunk and peated cocoa-chocolate malt spunk. Pureed raisin, sugared fig and purple grape tannins envelop port wined midst. Syrupy black cherry cough medicine backdrop thickens chocolate liqueur niche.
On tap at NJ Beer Expo ’13, stylistically soft Scotch ale brings brown chocolate sweetness to roasted caramel malting. A hint of toffee found behind light-hopped fig-date dried fruiting of mahogany-hued medium body. Heady 9% alcohol volume well hidden behind high-gravity mocha binder.
Malleable ‘wee heavy’ brings peaty molasses-smoked Scotch malting to sharp-hopped dried fruiting. Fig-spiced cherry, plum and prune illusions cluster next to dim tobacco-roasted chocolate-vanilla conflux. Buttered pecan, vinous grape and caramel apple undertones fill out smooth medium body. On tap at Growler & Gill ’18, bold Scotch ale soaks peat-smoked cherrywood into brown-sugared toffee, dewy moss earthiness and uneasy perfume hop splotch, leaving dried fruiting in the rear view mirror.
Harsh Scotch ale (with 8.5% alcohol) needs better distinction. Shrill hop-coarsened cherry-grape conflux seeps into honeyed Scotch malting, caramelized brown sugaring and chocolate-covered raisin smidgen as well as wavered whiskey whir. Sugared fig, purple grape, red cherry and black cherry tones receive syrupy maple molasses lick and minor coffee-stained snip, but gnarly alcohol burn scoffs compromised fruited plain.
Arguably Sam Adams’ best 2011 newcomer, oak-aged full body gathers peat-smoked Scotch malting, hickory-seared maple sapping, burnt caramel sugaring and alcohol-stiffened bourbon whiskey warmth over hop-charred grain toasting. Ashy cedar singe penetrates tertiary black cherry, chocolate cake, rum-soaked raisin and cola nut illusions. It’s simply irresistible.
Affluent bourbon whiskey theme of oak-aged wee heavy Scotch ale brings creamy 10% alcohol warmth to ancillary rum-spiced cognac, raisin-pureed fruitcake and red cherry illusions. Molasses-sapped maple syrup, oaken vanilla, crème brulee, marshmallow and butternut niceties abound, rounding out sweet bourbon fervor. Mighty dessert nightcap bourbon-barreled for hearty sippers.
In conjunction with fellow California brewers Green Flash and Pizza Port, lactic ruddy brown medium body seems a tad complacent despite fine auspices. Sweet Scotch entry lacks resilience, submerging leathery tobacco-peat dryness, brown-sugared molasses-cocoa fizzle, and blanched dried-fruited latency. Sugared fig, plum, and raisin illusions casually stroll by cardamom-spiced fruitcake center. Surprisingly ineffectual and watery, if not drab.
Stylishly confounding lactic-soured wee heavy lacks expectant sweet Scotch rampage, but impulsive earthen peat soiling above wavered caramel-chocolate malting finds space amongst blackstrap molasses, sour date, cola nut, and fennel illusions. Pungent compost-wafted fungi-smudged damp-wooded soy milking infiltrates chalky cocoa subsidy. Closer to a brown or black ale given low Scotch profile.
Robust Scotch-styled winter solstice celebration with robust black chocolate urgency and coarse resinous hop roasting brings expectant mesquite-smoked Scotch malting and dewy peat graining to surging fig-dried date-sugared cocoa sweetness. Its backend alcohol burn reinforces sullen whiskey musk, subsidiary stone fruiting, and tertiary dried tobacco roast.
Supposed ‘traditional Belgian-styled Scotch ale’ retains unexpected rauchbier appeal. Mossy peat-smoked meat-cured rye-breaded salami opening receives sweet brown chocolate malting, mild heather-tipped fig-spiced green raisin prompt, and tertiary Bosc pear snip. Despite unusual configuration, unique medium-to-full-bodied spin-off succeeds.
