Cromarty: Brewdog: Stoater Scotch Ale (Scotland: Scotch Ale: 7.5% ABV)
Visual: Dark brown, small dash of beiged head.
Nose: Touch of coffee up front into thick honey. Stewed apricot and malt drink mash up. Sour grapes.
Body: Big honey. Grapes. Tart berries. Malt chocolate. Black berries. Smooth. Shortbread. Vanilla. touch of coffee.
Finish: Honey. Vanilla. Grapes. Loganberries (I think – going by the beer I had with them in). Light bitterness. Golden syrup cake.
Conclusion: Huh, I put this beer off towards the end (Day three as it happens) because I am not a big fan of scotch ales and…
It is actually remarkably nice.
It is very smooth, and while the honey does make it very sweet, I must congratulate the brewers on the use of berries in this. The berries don’t come through particularly heavy as a flavour, I got more tart grapes style than the expected brambles, however that slight sharpness that comes with it gives it a drinkability that many scotch ales lack. This adds a much needed refreshing element to a thick chocolate and honey beer.
A very good call. It means that by the time you get to the end you are not finding it sickly, which is a common flaw.
It has a good range of flavour, within the expected range, but also some subtle fruit touches. As a beer, like many scotch ales, it really is about the mouthfeel. While I have already mentioned the unusual, slight refreshing moment, you also have the main back of the beer that is smooth as can be and delivered very luxuriously. It has a kind of aged beer feel in its smoothness, very refined.
It is a very competent scotch ale, made far above average by a clever twist. The surprise stand out of the session.
Background: Day three of collabfest 2104. Ok collabfest 2014 was only two days, I came back the day after, after work as I still had two beers to go. Thankfully they were both still on. This one is a scotch ale with oats, brambles and honey. I am not usually a big fan of scotch ales. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers.
