Bell's Old Fashioned Holiday Ale

And it seems that i may have just found my favorite brew of the season, the fantastic and delicious Old Fashioned Holiday Ale from Bell's Brewery.  The 10.8% beer is a bourbon barrel aged scotch ale with added dried cherries and orange peel.  It pours dark brown with a minimal head and smells of orange, spice, and alcohol.  The brew nails the cocktail taste and feel, flavors of orange, bourbon, and bitters highlighted up front, with the cherry and orange in particular becoming more evident as the beer warms.  It's a pricey 4-pack, but so, so good.

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Brewtorium Barrel-Aged Little Ivan McGregor

My wife's been gone all weekend on a girls' trip to Vegas, leaving me as a de facto single dad over the weekend, but on Friday before she left the following morning, she and the kids accompanied me to The Brewtorium in Austin for dinner and beer.  She's nice like that.  Anyway, their Barrel-Aged Little Ivan McGregor, a combo Scotch ale/imperial stout was delightful.  Pouring a dark, deep brown with an off white head, the 11.5% ABV beer smells of toffee, vanilla, chocolate, and booze, those same flavors prevailing throughout.  Rich.  Complex.  Delicious.

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4th Tap Highland Scoundrel

On Friday, i took a day off from work, as did my wife, and the two of us went on a kind of brewery taproom crawl during the day while the kids were at school and daycare.  The last brewery we hit was 4th Tap Brewing Co-op in North Austin, and while i made sure to try a whole slew of things partaking in a flight, my favorite was the Highland Scoundrel, a delicious Scotch Ale.  The beer pours dark and brown and smells molasses, toffee, and malt.  Flavors of brown sugar, caramel, and dark fruit swirl in this strong 10% ABV, but never gets too boozy.  All in all, a perfect Fall libation.

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Buffalo Bayou Mud Turtle

Christmas has come and gone.  George Michael has left us.  2016's reign of terror continues.  What better time to drink the ills and toils away?  I drank all kinds of great stuff over the Christmas holiday, but the winner would have to be the Mud Turtle from Houston's Buffalo Bayou Brewing.  A Scotch ale weighing in at 9.2% ABV, the beer pours a dark, dark brown and smells wonderfully of caramel, dark fruits, molasses, and chocolate.  The chocolate is more prevalent in the flavor of the brew, dark and rich, meshing with the caramel notes and closing with a nutty, pecan finish.  This was a perfect beer to sip on while cooking Christmas dinner.  I need another.

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Blue Owl Wee Beastie

Since the explosion of craft breweries began in earnest a few years ago, many make their claim to fame by securing themselves firmly within a particular niche, be it Belgians, IPA's, and so on.  Austin's Blue Owl Brewing specializes in the sour, their collection of fine offerings ranging from tart to "i can't feel my tongue."  The brewer's fall seasonal, the Wee Beastie, a sour Wee Heavy or Scotch ale is definitely one of the more interesting beers i've had the pleasure of imbibing this Autumn.  The brew pours dark and cloudy, with sweet aromas of malt, nuts, and darker fruits permeating from the top of the glass.  It smells delicious.  As for the flavor, the maltiness and nuttiness are definitely present, but fall to the back, the sweet fruit notes at the forefront and the almost overwhelming tartness dominating it all.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  After the initial shock of just how sour the Wee Beastie is, all the other notes begin to come together nicely, creating quite a complex brew.  And, at 8% ABV, it doesn't mess around, a great post meal drink.

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Ballast Point Pumpkin Down

Fall is just around the corner, and you know what that means.  It means the battle for autumnal superiority begins between pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest brews.  I for one refuse to pick sides, as i love them both dearly, and will surely be writing about some of each over the next couple months.  So let's get started.  First up is a pretty tasty brew i'd never had before from the always dependable Ballast Point Brewing Company out of San Diego.  Pumpkin Down is a Scottish ale brewed with pumpkins and a very mild amount of spices to craft a delicious, but not overpowering pumpkin ale.  The beer pours a dark amber with minimal head and smells of toffee, malt, and pumpkin of course.  There are also some very subtle hints of cinnamon or nutmeg in the mix.  The flavors of roast pumpkin are very prevalent, but they compliment well with the toffee and caramel flavors from the Scotch ale, and the spices never come in too strong.  All in all, this is fine pumpkin brew, and comes in at 5.8% ABV.  Fall is here (kind of).

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Smuttynose Scotch Ale

There are a lot of evenings where i wind down with a tasty scotch ale, and why wouldn't i?  Malty, slightly sweet, slightly smoky, and generally higher on the alcohol end, it's a great way to end a long day.  The Scotch Ale from Smuttynose Brewing out of Hampton, New Hampshire is as smooth as they come.  Pouring a dark, reddish brown with little head, the brew smells of malt and hints of cocoa.  The flavor is not overly sweet, a smooth and lightly smoky ale with light notes of chocolate and alcohol (8.2% ABV) that's really easy to drink.  Well done.

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Strange Land Brewery Atholl Brose Scotch Ale

I'm in the process of moving, and let me tell you, it sucks a big one.  At least i've got beer to get me through the aches and pains i keep racking up.  Strange Land Brewery is one of the latest providers of liquid heaven to open its doors in the Austin area, and from what i've been able to try thus far, they know what they're doing.  The Atholl Brose Scotch Ale is a strong and tasty dark brew to put an end to an evening with.  Pouring a dark brown with off-white head, this 8.9% ABV beer smells oats, malt, and whiskey.  The oat and whiskey flavors are very present with hints of honey to liven things up.  I would love one of these after i finish packing some stuff up tonight.

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Real Ale Real Heavy Scotch Ale

Blanco's Real Ale have seemingly been all about the high-alcohol brews of late with the recent release of three different heavy hitters in bomber form.  One of these is their Real Heavy Scotch Ale, a 9.7% ABV brew that uses English malts and hops to fine perfection.  The beer pours a dark brown with a light head and smells of molasses and toffee with some fruit and alcohol notes.  Toffee is the predominant flavor of the brew, but there are some nice hoppy notes that keep the beer from getting too terribly sweet.  It's a lovely way to unwind after a long day.

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Guadalupe Scotch Ale

A good scotch ale will sometimes pull me back to the old days when i was ore of a whiskey and bourbon drinker, and not so much a craft beer enthusiast.  But that's what it's supposed to do.  Guadalupe Brewing's Scotch Ale is no different.  This excellent offering pours a nice mahogany color with a good and creamy head.  The immediate aromas of toffee, caramel, and some hints of vanilla (maybe?) light the nostrils with some light herbal touches on the back end.  The taste is smoother than anticipated, a good blend of toffee, alcohol, and some light spice.  The grain for this brew comes from the UK, but it's aged in American oak barrels.  As a fan of scotch ales, i must recommend.  Delicious.

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Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

The winter months increase my cravings for dark, strong beers tenfold.  Stouts, porters, and such make their daily rounds over my palette...and into my belly.  And scotch ales.  I love the scotch ales.  Maybe it's the hints of bourbon and alcohol flavors.  Maybe it's the sweetness and bite.  I don't know.  But they sure do win me over every year.  Founders Brewery out of Grand Rapids, Michigan has a tasty offering called the Dirty Bastard.  The beer is a dark and inviting mahogany with a light head, aromas of malts, dark fruits, some banana, and alcohol.  As far as flavor, there's some subtle spices mixed in with the mildly sweet fruits, alcohol, and hoppy back end.  Probably one of the better scotch ales i've had in a while.  Oh, and at 8.5% ABV, you know you've got a good night ahead of you.

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Renaissance Cowboy Scotch Ale

There's nothing like a good scotch ale to chase down your dinner with, relax after work with, or just end an evening.  And the good folks over at Texas Big Beer (out in Buna, Texas) have crafted a particularly sweet and tasty one for our enjoyment.  The Renaissance Cowboy is malty, malty, malty.  The smell and taste are akin to chocolate, toffee, and chocolate and toffee.  This is the only beer i've ever had that tastes like a box of Whoppers.  And i'm not complaining.  The sweet flavor makes this brew ridiculously easy to drink, but watch out for the 8.2% ABV, because it will sneak up on you.

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Silver City Fat Scotch Ale

As i'm still in the process of giving up entirely on my Texas Longhorns (we're currently tied with Iowa St.), here's another delicious beer out of Washington state that my good friend hand delivered to me back in August.  Silver City Brewery's Fat Scotch Ale pours a dark brownish, copper, the aroma sweet and smokey.  Plenty of carbonation adds a bite and tickle to the smoke and caramel flavors that prevail in the brew.  Add in some good malts and a little bitterness on the back end that flows pretty smoothly with acidity of the alcohol.  Perfect for a pre or post meal libation.  Good beer.  It weighs in at 9% ABV, so watch yourself.

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Port City Brewing Tartan Ale

Lately there has been a trend among my out-of-town friends to bring me beer when they pass through Austin.  This needs to continue.  One of the latest comes from Alexandria, Virginia's Port City Brewing Company.  Tartan Ale, their seasonal springtime effort, is a scotch ale, and a very tasty one to boot.  The beer pours a dark amber with a minimal head and light carbonation.  As for the aroma, it's pretty malty with hints of fruit that translate well to the flavor of the brew, a combination of said malts and accented fruit with a sweet caramel or almost a dark chocolate feel.  It's lovely and very easy to drink.  Thank you Tammy.

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