Today I was in the mood for a scottish beer. Not sure why, but I just was. So I picked up a couple.
The first is The Orkney Brewery's 'Skull Splitter'. The mellow, fruity, malty flavor belies the strong beer scent I got when I first opened the bottle. It advertises itself as having a 'deceptively light character', and I can see why. It almost seemed somewhat sweet at first, although the aftertaste is bitter enough to offset that very quickly. It's got strength, but subtlety. Not half bad. Don't know if I'd buy it again, but certainly not bad.
It's got a surprisingly high 8.5% alcohol level, although you can't tell by tasting it.
The second is a little drink called 'Wee Beast' from the Isle of Skye Brewery. Like the Skull Splitter, it has fairly strong scent of beer when opened, with little else there. The first taste gives you a hint of a scotch ale, with a bit of darkness that quickly goes away as you drink it. It's another subtly strong one, 7% alcohol and a larger than average bottle. But it goes down smooth enough that, like the Skull Splitter, you can't tell that there's more than an average amount of alcohol in it.
There isn't much to say about this one. Pleasant, certainly. If I'm in the mood for a smooth scottish ale, I'd probably buy this one again.
The first is The Orkney Brewery's 'Skull Splitter'. The mellow, fruity, malty flavor belies the strong beer scent I got when I first opened the bottle. It advertises itself as having a 'deceptively light character', and I can see why. It almost seemed somewhat sweet at first, although the aftertaste is bitter enough to offset that very quickly. It's got strength, but subtlety. Not half bad. Don't know if I'd buy it again, but certainly not bad.
It's got a surprisingly high 8.5% alcohol level, although you can't tell by tasting it.
The second is a little drink called 'Wee Beast' from the Isle of Skye Brewery. Like the Skull Splitter, it has fairly strong scent of beer when opened, with little else there. The first taste gives you a hint of a scotch ale, with a bit of darkness that quickly goes away as you drink it. It's another subtly strong one, 7% alcohol and a larger than average bottle. But it goes down smooth enough that, like the Skull Splitter, you can't tell that there's more than an average amount of alcohol in it.
There isn't much to say about this one. Pleasant, certainly. If I'm in the mood for a smooth scottish ale, I'd probably buy this one again.
