Dual Review

I got both of these bottls from brothers here and since they are similar styles, figured I'd do a dual review. Both were good, but I have to give a slight nod to Robert the Bruce.
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Mike sent me this as a tag-a-long when he picked up some other beers for me a while back. Like I said, I love Scottish’s, so I’ve been looking forward to trying this.



Style - Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
ABV - 7.5%
Brewed In - Royersford, PA
Availability - Rotating Release


Appearance
Poured a dark brown with a very thin, almost non-existent, light tan head. Despite the minimal amount of head, there was generous lacing with medium retention.

Smell
The aroma was very understated. Slight fragrances of biscuity malts, caramel, and brown sugar were present.

Taste
Flavor was pretty straightforward. Toasted malts dominated with a hint of caramel and brown sugar. The taste was pleasant overall, but lacked any real complexity.

Feel
This beer had a very nice feel to it. Medium thickness with a nice level of carbonation.

Verdict
This was a nice beer and was very drinkable. I didn't blow my socks off or anything, but was still very enjoyable. Thanks again Mike for giving me the opportunity to try this. :thumbs:

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This is another bottle that Tim sent me a while back. I love malty beers, so Scotch ales are some of my favorite.



Style - Scottish Ale
ABV - 7%
Brewed In - Munster, IN
Availability - Brewed Year Round

Appearance
Poured a very murky, dark amber. The head was light tan and huge. There was medium lacing that really stuck to the glass and was there until long after the beer was gone.

Smell
My initial impression when nosing this brew was the strong smell of alcohol. Underneath the alcohol smell, there was a nice bouqet of roasted malts, dank hops, and brown sugar.

Taste
Surprisingly, the alcohol that was so strong in the aroma was completely absent in the flavor. The dominant flavors up front were caramel malts and brown sugar. Finished with a touch of cinnamon. Not a lot of complexity, but very well balanced and enjoyable.

Feel
The body was very thin, although the level of carbonation was perfect. Very drinkable beer.

Verdict
This was very good, but not great. I definitely will have a couple at Dark Lord Day, but it isn't something that I'll hunt down. Thanks again to Tim for giving me the chance to sample this.

FFF Robert th Bruce. Excellent on TAP!!

Alex was too fast! :laugh:

Thanks for the review, Justin. Always happy to read about my "exports" being enjoyed elsewhere. Sorry it didn't knock your socks off. I tend to enjoy the beer for the mid-late winter drinkability and never really gave it a proper review. It is a bottle-conditioned beer, though, so perhaps some time would do it good. I have another 1/2 case taking a nap if you ever want another crack. An interesting comparison would have been between two Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy's and two Scottish Ales, as the Sly Fox and FFF beers seem to be two different styles (from what I can tell).

Phlicker said:

Thanks for the review, Justin. Always happy to read about my "exports" being enjoyed elsewhere. Sorry it didn't knock your socks off. I tend to enjoy the beer for the mid-late winter drinkability and never really gave it a proper review. It is a bottle-conditioned beer, though, so perhaps some time would do it good. I have another 1/2 case taking a nap if you ever want another crack. An interesting comparison would have been between two Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy's and two Scottish Ales, as the Sly Fox and FFF beers seem to be two different styles (from what I can tell).

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Yeah, from what I can gather, and from personal experience, Wee Heavies are just beefed up Socttish Ales. From my limited knowledge, they go through very similar, if not identical brewing processes.

According to the following, and actually even BA's style descriptions, Robert the Bruce would qualify as a Wee Heavy, but for some reason they have it listed as a Scottish Ale.

Schilling Catergories
The shilling categories were based on price charged per barrel for beer during the 19th century. The stronger or better quality beers costing more. However, customers would ask for a strength of beer by names such as "heavy" and "export". The terms export and heavy are still widely used in Scotland. Even though the practise of classifying beers by the shilling price was not specific to Scotland, during the cask ale revival in the 1970s Scottish brewers resurrected the shilling names to differentiate between keg and cask versions of the same beers. This differentiation has now been lost.

While the shilling names were never pinned down to exact strength ranges, and Scottish brewers today produce beers under the shilling names in a variety of strengths, it was largely understood that:-

Light
(60/-) was under 3.5% abv
Heavy
(70/-) was between 3.5% and 4.0% abv
Export
(80/-) was between 4.0% and 5.5% abv
Wee heavy
(90/-) was over 6.0% abv

-from Wiki

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Those are great and honest reviews Justin, btw what is the capacity of your Tulip? I have been looking for one just like it with little luck.

Opus meX said:

Those are great and Honest reviews Justin, btw what is the capacity of your Tulip? I have been looking for one just like it with little luck.

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12 oz.

I you want I can pick you up one, they have a bunch at the shop here. I really want to get a thistly, but until then I'm just gonna use the tulip.

smellysell said:

Opus meX said:

Those are great and Honest reviews Justin, btw what is the capacity of your Tulip? I have been looking for one just like it with little luck.

Click to expand...

12 oz.

I you want I can pick you up one, they have a bunch at the shop here. I really want to get a thistly, but until then I'm just gonna use the tulip.

Click to expand...

Much apprciated Brother, I should have been more specific. I have one roughly the same capacity, your's just looks bigger in the picture (Tulip glass) that is.