Battle of the Scotch Ales

Beer people are great! They are always willing to share stories of great beers and some are even kind enough to share cherished beer with friends and fellow beer people. In a recent blog entry, I spoke with Keeley McGrew of HandleBar fame about what beer she would drink if it were the last beer she could ever have. Her answer, for those who may have missed that blog entry, was Three Floyd's Robert the Bruce. In her kindness, she even shared one of her precious RtB's for me to review (big thanks Keeley and Paul!). This is a Scottish Style Ale with a malty body and very sweet notes of caramel and roasted grain. This is a malt lovers beer! Right out of the gate, as soon as I poured this beer from the bottle, I was blown away by the rich, dark color and the scent of sweet, sweet caramel. The beer poured thick and rich with a beautifully foamy head that begged to be drank. It coated the tongue in a smooth layer of malty, tasty goodness that lingered and made you anticipate the next sip. Coming in at a hefty 7.0 ABV this is a very drinkable beer that packs a punch! When I was finished with this beer, I was very sad. Sad because there is no place in St Louis for me to get this beer again. I believe Chicago to be the closest place where this beer can be purchased, so if any of my loyal readers are heading that way and would like to bring back a case of this beer for me, I would not only pay you for it, but be indebted to you for some time to come!

My foray into Scottish Style Ales continued next with Schafly's Scotch Ale. Coming in at a meager 6.2 ABV, this beer seemed almost "watery" compared to the RtB. Schlafly's version was significantly lighter in color and lacked the sweetness that I experienced in the RtB. I would say, this is not a "Bad" beer, but when you put it up against such an amazing beer in RtB, its hard to say anything spectacular about Schlafly's attempt at a Scottish Style Ale.

My last beer of the evening, a generous gift from friend and reader of the blog, Mr AB, was Ale Asylum Brewery's Sticky McDoogle. Coming in at a "not to shabby" 7.2%ABV, It is my opinion that this beer is closer in nearly all aspects to the RtB than it is to Schlafly's attempt at a Scottish Ale. It still lacks the color and the caramel-y finish that I loved so much about RtB but remains a well balanced and wonderfully complex beer. For me, the determining difference between this and RtB is the lighter color and the grainy, 2 row barley finish. This beer is smooth and finishes great!

This was a great experience doing 3 beers of similar styles for comparison. I think I will try this more often! I want to again thank some of the people involved with bringing me beer: Keeley, Paul and AB, you are wonderful people and I thank you for sharing your beer with me!

Till next time, and as always, if you would like to follow me on this Drinking Adventure just click on the link on the right where you can subscribe to my feeds. you can also follow me on twitter at @williepawn or friend me on Facebook. You can also email me here.