Scotland

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Beers 41 - 60 of 65:

Inveralmond, Blackfriar (Scotland) This Scottish Ale from Inveralmond weighs in at 7% ABV, and is made, I believe, for the US market. It pours a deep, rich toffee gold with a moderate off-white head. The nose is malty and sweet, suggesting caramelised oranges and chocolate, with some estery floral notes and all sorts of grassy, herbal hop nuances. On the palate it has lovely weight and texture, with that thick, creamy maly presence cut by bittersweet chicory and endive hop bite and with a tart lemony edge also helping to balance the toasty richness and sweetness of the beer. A lovely, very drinkable drop this. 0.0% ABV, 50cl, �1.79, UK retailer not known.

Inveralmond, Lia Fail (Scotland) Lia Fail is Gaelic for 'Stone of Destiny', the coronation stone of the ancient Kings of Scotland that was taken from its Perthshire home in 1296 by Edward I, and finally returned home to lie in Edinburgh Castle in 1996. The beer pours a beautifully deep ruby colour with a thick, cappuccino-coloured head. It has a warming, gently toasty nose driven by malt, but with a red plum fruit quality and nicely grassy, hoppy undertone. On the palate this is quite creamy and full, with a thick texture and vroad, dry, mouth-coating raft of bittersweet flavours that have a chocolate and roasted grain character, but also a certain plushness and hint of sweetness. That is soon swept away by lovely hop levels from the Challenger, Fuggles and Cascade, in a really stylish beer with some complexity. 4.7% ABV, 50cl, �1.79, brewery website.

Inveralmond, Ossian Ale (Scotland) This beer, labelled as "Supremely golden" and comes from a Perthshire brewery established in the 1980s. It pours a medium gold colour, with a moderate off-white head. The nose has notes of tangerine and spices over some creamy malt. At first it seems as though it will not be particularly hoppy, as the palate delivers a nice full texture with again that citrussy, tangerine-like flavour coming through. This is a very nicely balanced beer, with a bright, fruity focus, but then the hops (First Gold and Cascade) begin to bite and add a lovely edge to the finish, where gentle malty notes add support. Very easy to drink. 4.1% ABV, 50cl, �1.49, brewery website, Luvians, Peckhams, Tesco.

Islay Ales, Angus Og (Scotland) Angus Og (named after a Lord of the Isles and not a cartoon character of that name, famous in the 1970s) was first brewed for the 2004 Islay Festival of Music and Malt. It is a deep russet coloured beer, with a moderately thick light tan head. A combination of hops gives real pungency on the nose, with all sorts of briny, vegetal aromas as well as citrus and a hint of sweet malt. On the palate it has a fine, dry character, with plenty of tangy, hoppy zest and quite a rich, earthy mouthfeel. Lovely stuff. 4.5% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Ardnave Ale (Scotland) Ardnave Ale is brewed with mostly pale, and a small amount of crystal malts. It has a high hopping rate using Golding, Mount Hood, Fuggle and Styrian Goldings. The colour is quite a deep gold/amber, and the moderate head is a light tan colour. This is an estery beer from Islay, with trademark smoke and briny notes joined by hints of apple fruit and floral aromas. In the mouth this has plenty of bitterness immediately apparent, with a juicy, medium--bodied texture and a dry, citrussy quality to the fruit. It develops a smoky, slightly charry quality that adds complexity in a beer that stays crisp and focused throughout. 4.6% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Black Rock Ale (Scotland) This beer is made with a combination of pale and crystal malts, and un-malted roasted barley, givig a dark ruby colour with a fluffy off-white head. Goldings hops are supplemented by the late-hopped addition of Fuggles and Mount Hood, and the beer has a toasty, rich aromatic character with some resinous notes and a touch of smokiness. On the palate it has a real juiciness to it in a medium-bodied format, and whilst it is a lot short and fades slightly, the flavour is lovely and very grown-up. 4.2% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Dun Hogs Head Ale (Scotland) Dun Hogs Head Ale is stout, brewed using pale, crystal, chocolate and wheat malts together with un-malted roasted barley. Golding and Bramling Cross hops are used for the bittering, with the late addition of Bramling Cross for aroma. It pours a chocolaty black with a thick cappuccino-coloured head, and offers lightly roasted aromas and something remeniscent of grilled meats, with a smoky character. On the palate there's a nice smoke and liquorice bite, with a medium- to full-body and plenty of chewy, meaty flavour on the mid-palate. There is a juicy edge to this, and a long, toasty finish. Very nice beer. 4.4% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Finlaggan Ale (Scotland) Finlaggan Ale is brewed with pale and crystal malts, Golding hops, and some Mount Hood and Styrian Goldings hops are added towards the end of the boil. It pours a rich amber colour topped with a creamy head. It has an unusual aroma, with a mineral, stony character almost like gunflint. There's some smokiness too. In the mouth that smoky, gunflinty character seems to persist, and the creamy texture and background malt make this quite easy to drink. It is crisp and juicy too, and a lemony tang with some chicory-like hop bitterness kicks in on the finish. 3.7% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Nerabus Ale (Scotland) This is Islay's "winter warmer", brewed with pale, caramalt, dark crystal, chocolate and wheat malt and a blend of American Amarillo and English Bramling Cross hops. It pours a mahoganny colour with a tan-coloured head, and the nose has smoky, malty aromas and a touch of Seville orange. On the palate it is much drier, lighter and less rich and malty than the colour would suggest, with really quite a citrussy and dry, leafy fruit quality to the fore. This is an unusal style, but the beer is beautifully balanced and has decent length. 4.8% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Saligo Ale (Scotland) Saligo is described as a summer ale, brewed with pale, lager and wheat malts and using Golding and Bramling Cross hops. It pours a pale to medium gold colour with a fluffy white head. The nose on this beer is quite subdued, with a hint of citrus and just a distant echo of something floral. On the palate it is medium-bodied and dry, with a great core of lemony fruit and an endive-like hoppy bitterness. It has light edge to both its texture and flavour profile, though perhaps it lacks a bit of flesh on its bones, even for a summer ale? 4.4% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Single Malt Ale (Scotland) Single malt is brewed using only pale malt, with American Amarillo and English Bramling Cross hops. It pours a medium orangy gold colour with a thick and fluffy off-white head. The nose is very clean and hoppy, with a definite orangy tang and some leafy aromatics. On the palate this has some real hop bitterness, with an endive-like stripe of dry, bitter flavour palying against citrus in a medium-bodied yet quite creamy-textured beer. This stays pretty uncompromisingly dry into quite a long finish. 5.0% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, brewery website.

Islay Ales, Worts n' Ale (Scotland) This new bottle-conditioned beer (June 2006) is brewed from 600 litres of the pre-fermented liquor known as �wort�, shipped to Islay Ales by the local Bruichladdich distillery, where it was brewed using Challenger and Bramling Cross hops. It packs a powerful 9.0%ABV and pours a hazy caramel colour, with a thick, retentive cream-coloured head. It has an intriguing nose, with a definite tang of the iodine and smoky Islay signature, with a smoked mackerel note and a hint of sweet malt beneath. On the palate there is a sumptuous pillow of sweetness, formed from lots of dark roasted malts and presumably the Bruichladdich wort. It has a density and chewiness of texture, and the sweetness is nicely counterbalanced by a crisp acidity and nice bittering hop presence in the finish. This is intriguing and unusual stuff, but it is also delicious. It is available exclusively from the brewery, and 25p of each bottle purchased goes to RNLI. 9.0% ABV, 33cl, �3.00, brewery website.

Isle of Skye, Black Cuillin Dark Ale (Scotland) Black Cuillin is a stout-like beer, brewed with rolled oats and Scottish honey. It pours a dense black colour with a hint of ruby, and thick coffee-coloured head. On the nose it is smoky and dark, with roasted nutty aromas and a certain fruitiness. On the palate it is surprisingly fresh: it has a moderately thick texture and plenty of bitter, dark, roasted oat and chocolaty depth, but there is also a plummy fruit and a lively, fresh acidity. It has quite low carbonation and a very grown-up, charcoally dryness in the finish. A very nice beer this. 4.5% ABV, 50cl, �1.49, Booth's, Luvians, Peckhams, Safeway.

Isle of Skye, Oyster Stout (Scotland) Native oysters are part of the recipe for this beer, I believe being steeped in the mash for a period. That does not give an overt "fishy" character, but I did detect a clean, ozone-like note of sea freshness on the nose. It is a dark stout, with plenty of malt and bitter chocolate as well as that intriguing salty freshness. On the palate it is quite dense and creamy, with lots of malty dark flavour and a sourdough note that is quite grown-up and very pleasant. An unusual seasonal beer, that may be hard to track down. 4.6% ABV, 50cl, �2.00, WineRak Scotland.

Orkney Brewery, Dark Island (Scotland) This dark, Stout-like beer is malty and dry on the nose, with bitter dark chocolate and some fruity hop notes. On the palate it is a tiny bit lacklustre; perhaps just a touch less exciting than the nose and colour promised, with some roasted, nutty flavours and again that malty note. It has a nice texture and weight in the mouth, and is definitely a good beer with only gentle carbonation and good length. A bit of a sleeper, it grew on me. 4.6% ABV, 33cl, Booth's, Luvians, Peckhams, WineRak Scotland.

Orkney Brewery, Northern Light Pale Ale (Scotland) This Pale Ale from the Orkney Brewery could be the Sauvignon Blanc of the beer world, with its intense aromatic profile and crisp citrussy flavours. It pours a medium gold colour with a moderate off-white head. On the nose there's a surge of oily, resinous hop aromas, with floral notes and plenty of nettly punch. A background of creamy, quite biscuity malt is only just discernable. On the palate it is quite full and smooth-textured, with an intial hint of sweetness soon swept aside by a broad, juicy grapefruit and tangy lemon fruitiness. There is a nice bite of bitter hops in the finish of this light, refreshing, but very satistying rendition of a Pale Ale. Very drinkable indeed. 4.0% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, Beersofeurope, thefinewinecompany, Onlyfinebeer, orkneystore.com.

Orkney Brewery, Red MacGregor (Scotland) This ruby red ale from the Orkney Brewery won a world beer awards gold medal in its cask version. It pours a deep colour with a creamy, light tan head. There's a rich, biscuity malt on the nose, with a solidly fruity underpinning suggesting cherry and red plums, but also with a streak of grassy, oily hops. On the palate it is medium- to full-bodied, and the immediate impression is of roasted, chocolaty malts, with a toasted grain richness. Though there is depth here, the beer retains a very crisp character, as good levels of acidity, that fruity character and noteable hop levels all dry and freshen the finish. This is another fine beer from Orkney, that lacks a little length perhaps, but that's a minor quibble. 4.0% ABV, 50cl, �1.99, Beersofeurope, thefinewinecompany, orkneystore.com.

Scottish & Newcastle, McEwans Champion (Scotland) Formerly known as "No 1", this strong beer is brewed in Edinburgh and pours a dark burnt toffee colour with a thick off white head that dissipates quite quickly. It is not terribly aromatic, revealing some notes of raisins and dark brown sugar with agitation. On the palate there's a big, sweet, prune and raisin character, with thick texture and a pillow of sweet, dark, chocolaty malt. There is a bitterness that comes through quite nicely, adding a bit of much-needed contrast. Not a bad strong winter ale this, with some spice and mulled wine character, though ultimately lacking a bit of complexity and bite. 7.3% ABV, 50cl, �1.69, Waitrose.

Sulwath, Black Galloway (Scotland) Sulwath's stout beer is brewed with Maris Otter and chocolate malts, and is named after the local Black Galloway cattle. It pours a dark brown/black, with a frothy tan head that dies back fairly quickly. On teh nose it is mostly dark chocolate and liquorice that dominates, along with a suggestion of chocolate-covered raisins, rather than overtly toasty aromas. On the palate that chocolaty character is emphasised, with plenty of sugar-puff, roasted grain flavours and a nice little grippy edge of acidity and some background hops. A dry, old-wood character emerges too, in a nice Irish stout-style beer. 4.4% ABV, 50cl, �2.00, brewery website, The Tryst.

Sulwath, Criffel (Scotland) Sulwath is an ancient dialect form of the "Solway Firth" from where this beer originates. Run since 1996 by the Hendersons, who's family background is as hop growers in Hereford, Sulwath use only fresh, whole hop flowers. This Pale Ale-style beer pours a dark amber, with almost no head. It is honeyed on the nose, with very sweet, floral, confectionery and rose-hip aromas. There's also a note of lychee. On the palate it has low carbonation, so the mouthfeel is medium-weighted and quite fresh. That sweet, cherry and rose-hip fruitiness continues, but the hops begin to bite, adding a nice bitter, chicory edge to the finish. An unusual and aromatic beer. Available from the brewery website. 4.6% ABV, 50cl, �2.00, , The Tryst.