Beer #169 - Highland Ambush Scotch Ale - Bridgeport Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon

Part of the always tasty Bridgeport Big Beer series, the Highland Ambush is 33% ale aged in oak bourbon and 67% ale. Wow, enough said. Let's pour. Now.

It pours a cloudy brown with a big head.

The aroma holds strong vanilla and sweet oak.

It starts smooth with distinct vanilla. The smoothness holds through the full body with oak and caramel malts. The ale develops some subtle backbone flavors of rich malt as it warms.It finishes bitter with alcohol tones and vanilla malt - the strong backbone and full body keeping it from being overly sweet.

The aftertaste is quite smooth with vanilla balanced with bitterness and alcohol tones.

Cheers!

Claymore Scotch Ale, Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver Colorado

A recent and very consistent favorite of mine has been the Great Divide Brewing from Denver Colorado. Scotch style ales or "Wee Heavy" beers are absolutely delicious and I was excited to find this one at Belmont Station.
Let's give it a try...

It pours opaque with a caramel colored head.

The aroma is sweet malt with a nice smokiness.

It has a creamy full body, smoky malt with an alcohol sweetness. It starts light, but builds to a nice rounded maltiness.

The aftertaste is biscuity malt with a mild sweetness.

This is a delicious beer and at 7.7% holds up the wee heavy half of the bargain. It's a great beer with a lot of depth. I highly recommend seeking it out.

Cheers!

Sampler, Big Horse Brewery and Pub, Hood River Oregon

On the promise of sun and warm weather, we hit 84 East to Hood River. Unfortunately, when we arrived, it was shrouded in cloud. It's a great little town and we found the Big Horse Brewery for lunch. With a view of the town and the Columbia River, we ordered a Sampler of 8 of their brews and food.

1) Easy Blonde - 5.0% with Mt. Hood Hops.
- It pours a cloudy straw color.
- The aroma is mild yeast and mild hop.
- It is crisp with slight honey. Well hopped, it's more dynamic than most Blonde's I've had - offering a crisp dry finish. It is an easy-drinker and makes me yearn for the summer!
- The aftertaste is crisp and resets quickly with a nice yeast lingering on the palate. It was a surprisingly good, as I do not usually enjoy Blonde's. This one was quite good.

2) Pale Rider IPA - 6.7% with Columbus Hops
- It pours a deep amber.
- The aroma is light with just a touch of mild flowery hops.
- The hop builds in the medium/full body, offering up a nice earthy, lightly flowery bouquet.
- It finishes big with big hops and big bitterness that rests on the palate for a bit. There is a nice hop residue on the tongue that also lingers nicely. I love IPA's and this one had me wanting more!

3) MacStallion Scotch - 6.9%
- It pours a deep amber.
- The aroma is of mild smoke.
- It offers up a lot of flavors. It is smokey right away, but in the body, there is a slight fruit flavor that rises and stays through the finish. Malt and barely are evident.
- The aftertaste is mildly bitter with a nice smokiness. It is the most dynamic Scotch ale I've had that offers up a lot of taste and flavors to enjoy.

4) Nightmare Stout - 6.5% - let this one warm up a bit before sampling.
- It pours opaque with a good head.
- The aroma is a nice deep maltiness.
- It has a medium body with a nice oatmeal chewiness.
- The aftertaste is mild bitter and chewy (with a slight biscuit) that lingers heavy on the palate. Probably the weakest link in this Octet of beers.

5) Unlucky Lager - 5.2% - German style, hopped with German Selects.
- It pours a bright straw color.
- The aroma is very mild hop.
- The taste is mild hop, very creamy in the body. Easy to drink.
- Mild yeast/hop resets quickly in the aftertaste. Another of my "not so favorite" style of beers, this one stood strong.

6) 10-Speed Espresso Porter - 6.2% - Brown Porter with 10-Speed Coffee's Kick Stand Espresso Beans.
- It pours a cloudy dark brown like iced coffee.
- The aroma is straight up coffee/espresso with a mild smokiness.
- It has big iced coffee/espresso notes straight away. It is very thin - not too malty or chewy. It has a nice chocolate tone in the finish. It wasn't as deep as I'd expect for espresso, so I kept tasting more of a coffee flavor.
- Coffee/espress0 with mild malt that dominates the palate for awhile before resetting.

7) B.O.G.Inator - 8.0% - Smoked Doppelbock
- It pours a dark amber.
- The aroma is smoky with mild malt.
- The taste is big creamy smoke that appears right away and stays with you until the finish. It has a rich full body and was one of the favorites.
- The aftertaste is smoky with mild sweetness.

8) 2007 Phat Dog Barley Wine - 12% - Aged 2 Years.
- It pours a bright amber.
- The aroma is real light malt.
- It offers up a big flavor in the full body with malty burnt sugar and caramel. It finishes with molasses.
- Sugary Malty Goodness!

Head brewer Jason Kahler has my kudos for creating a dynamic and delicious round of beers. This was an excellent discovery and comes HIGHLY recommended. They have growlers for some take-home fun.

Cheers!

Kilt Lifter, Pike Brewing Company, Seattle Washington

Our next brew serves more as an example than as an actual tasting. The Scotch Ruby Ale from Pike Brewing is aptly named the Kilt Lifter. It's an ale with some umph and a bottle made it's way into my fridge awhile ago. Who knows what it's shelf life was before that, I bought it at a grocery in Washington. It didn't take long to realize it was too old for it's own good....

It pours a deep ruby.

The scent is mild oak, mild berry-ish.

The taste is sweet - sweeter than it should be...I begin to suspect. The body is fine with brown sugar and mile smoky oak. Then in the finish, the skunk appears. Ack! I've let a beer go bad. This is not reflection on the Kilt Lifter - I've had it plenty of times and know how it should taste.

The aftertaste isn't worth describing. Let this be a lesson - don't buy dusty beers that shouldn't be dusty (some are fine and some better that way - but not all!) and drink beers on time!

For fans of Scotch ales, I normally recommend the Kilt Lifter, available all over the Northwest.

Cheers!

Scotch Ale, Smuttynose Brewing Company, Portsmouth NH

And now to one of my very favorite breweries...ever, the Smuttynose Brewery in New Hampshire. I strongly recommend enjoying any of their beers if you get a chance. They are all over the Northeast. Let's see how their Scotch Ale holds up - it's a beer I haven't yet had from their line-up.

It pours a deep hue, brownish/caramel and has a light head.

The smell is all malt, a little on the sweet side. There is a mild chocolate and subtle alcohol aroma.

The taste is malty, but with a distinct smokiness. It doesn't taste as sweet as it smells, though there is a caramel flavor. It is a full body beer, a little on the heavy side for sure. If you let it warm up a little, it gets thicker with a fuller body and the flavors are pulled out and more distinct.

The aftertaste is smokey and malty. A great cold weather sipper!

From the bottle I learned that the peat smoked malt provides the smoky flavor in the beer. It is 8.2%.