Specs from Goose Island:

ABV: 6.2%
Color: Ruby, Chocolate
Hop Bitterness (IBU): Changes year to year
Malts: Pale Ale, Munich 10, Caramel 20, Caramel 60, Caramel 120
Hops: Change year to year
Availability: November – December

Serving Suggestions:

Preferred Glass: Nonic
Food Pairings: Ham, Turkey, Lamb
Cheese Pairings: Aged Gouda, Dry Jack
Cellaring Notes: Develops in the bottle for up to 5 years

The Review

Appearance: The body is a deep garnet, with fluffy toasted marshmallow-colored head, which quickly subsides and leaves no lacing.

Aroma: The nose is soft, but as the beer warms, the body of hazelnut appears. There is a slight alcohol hint lingering, that becomes less present when the beer reaches room temperature.

Flavor: I detect a bit of aged hops with the first sip. There’s a bitter finish that quickly fades. I can imagine there’s a brown sugar / spice duo, but it’s only a very faint notion. It’s certainly a warm, sweet brew, but at 6.2%, not alcoholic.

Mouthfeel: Christmas Ale 2011 is sweet, with very low carbonation. There is a roasted caramel toffee aftertaste. This beer reminds me of a ramped-up version of Mild Winter.

Overall: I’m pleasantly surprised by this one. When I think of a Christmas ale, Anchor Brewing’s Christmas Ale comes to mind. However in this example, Goose Island nailed it. They produced a centric, not overly-hoppy, smooth-malted ale. This beer works well throughout the Christmas gathering. I’ve been sipping on it while grazing appetizers, and plan to open another bottle to enjoy during dinner.

Thanks to Ken Hunnemeder at Goose Island for providing me this sample.

Supplementary Review (by Mike)

Appearance: The Christmas Ale poured hazy amber with a tan, bubbly froth on top. If you swirl the glass around, the beer will slowly drain off the sides. There does seem to be a bit of carbonation as bubbles cling and rise against the glass edge.

Aroma: This beer comes off as slight sweet and somewhat toasted. If you hold your nose to the glass long enough, you can convince yourself that you’re smelling banana bread.

Taste: I get a fair amount of effervescence with this beer. Not that it’s a bubbly champagne, but it doesn’t fall flat on the palate. I get that metallic tinge with slight bitterness. The real flavors here, however, are the roasted malts balanced with some sort of spice (maybe cinnamon) element.

Overall: The beer tastes rounded, and I believe it’s because of the alcohol content. It’s not too high of an alcohol content at 6.2%. But that ABV does make the beer a little warmer and leaves a balance between the sweet and the spice.

Specifications from Goose Island:

ABV: 5.6%
ABW: 4.4%
Color: Toffee Brown
Hop Bitterness (IBU): 20
OG: 14.0° Plato
Malts: 2 Row, Carapils, Dark Chocolate, Roast Barley, Rye Flake
Hops: Pilgrim, Centennial, Tettnang
Availability: December – March

Serving Suggestions:

Preferred Glass: Willi
Food Pairings: Beef, Stews, Sausages
Cheese Pairings: Gruyere, Fontina
Cellaring Notes: Enjoy within 180 days

The Review

Appearance: The body is a ruby to toffee brown. The head is fluffy white, and as it subsides, it laces the glass. I poured into a Saison Dupont glass, the only example of a willi glass I own.

Aroma: Soft, caramel roast, raisins. Fleeting finish, with peppery rye notes.

Flavor: Mild Winter is only slightly sweet. It’s very reminiscent of a British mild or a bitter, with low hop presence and a slight toffee bitterness. I enjoy the fact I’m not drinking a boozy behemoth. I could comfortably quaff a few of these at a sitting.

Mouthfeel: Sweet, low carbonation. It feels slightly like corn or unfermented grain. The beer finished with little bitterness and no alcohol heat.

Overall: Mild winter is a great change of pace for the season. When friends are bringing out high ABV brews like Russian Imperial Stouts and barley wines, or spicy winter warmers, this beer would please a broad range of beer drinkers’ palettes. I know I plan to share this brew with my family (they’re typically drinking American adjunct lagers at get-togethers).

Thanks to Ken Hunnemeder at Goose Island for providing me this sample.

ABV: 10.8% ABV
IBUs:100
Malts: Pale Malt, Cara-Bohemian, Carafa III Special, and Chocolate Malt
Hops: Columbus (bittering), Citra (flavor/aroma). Dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin and Pacific Jade

Shawn’s Take

Appearance

I’m a dork when it comes to bottle artwork. (It must be my Hibbing roots; Bob Dylan made album artwork as important in the music experience as the record itself.) As a homebrewer, I’m torn when I see a gorgeous screen-printed bomber. I respect the care it took to create the graphic, but I cannot reuse the bottle to cellar my own homemade libations. This bomber is adorned by Stone gargoyle hoisting a beer stein into the air, as if he’s proclaiming craft beer as more than just a beer, but rather a cause worthy of backing. He’s superimposed over a “15″ commemorating the crystal anniversary of Stone Brewing Company.

Immediately after pouring this brew into the glass, the rocky, caramel head permutated, like you’d see with a strong stout: the head almost fills the glass, quickly cascading from the tan fluffy top into the solid, dark body. This beer is absolutely opaque, even darker in body than many stouts or porters on the market.

Aroma

Trying not to bring any preconceptions to the table, I was impressed at the piney, resinous notes from such an obsidian-hued beer. After a few sips, and when the head subsided, the hoppy aroma became overcome with coffee notes and a subtle presence of tobacco. The intense duality of this beer is certainly something to ponder; if you sat down and drank this beer cold, it would be an entirely different monster than when enjoyed as it warmed. The hoppy notes were much stronger when the head was still present, with a pleasant piney, resinous stickiness. As the beer approached room temperature, the hop profile I’d usually find in an American IPA shifted, and I found myself experiencing a new beer: a hoppy stout with a bitter finish.

Flavor

For a beer of nearly 11 percent, the body is full, hitting the palette in many regions, covering the alcohol heat extremely well. I taste a beer reminiscent of a foreign extra stout, with bitter cocoa and tobacco notes, quickly followed by a punch of hops, both bitter and floral. As the beer warmed, the hop nose faded and I couldn’t help but think the beer had highly roasted, almost smoky malts. The chocolate malt used in the beer definitely helped to ease the shifting flavor experience from a hop-forward brew to a malt-centric beer.

Overall Evaluation

No neo-style of American craft beer has been met with quite as much resistance as the Black IPA (or in some parts of the US, the Cascadian dark ale). Though many have tried to succeed in a creating a beer with a big hoppy aroma and flavor, it’s very difficult to overcome the intense roast profile of a dark-malted beer. I can only truly cite a handful of beers claiming to be a Black IPA that actually delivered a somewhat pleasant drinking experience.

The Stone Fifteenth Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA delivered. I was impressed at its novel take on the style, by amping it up a few more percent ABV and certainly a larger sum of IBUs. This beer had a well-thought concept that delivered more than a smoky, malty, hoppy mess (as other examples of the style showcased).

I’m not sure when Minnesota will be fortunate enough to see this beauty on shelves, but I know the IPA-loving crowd here in the Twin Cities will find this brew a welcome late summer muse.

Mike’s Take

Glass raised high, a Stone gargoyle adorning the bottle of Fifteenth Anniversary urges you to take up the cause of craft and to hurriedly pour this deep black beer into your glass. A midnight sun races up from the bottom of your glass and is overcome by a tumbling tan head rushing to the top. The malt aroma pounds the air just as your nose begins to pick up the piney hop scent.

Appearance

I’m fairly certain that the producers of Spinal Tap have a trademark on the phrase “none more black”, but there is no light escaping the body of this beer. Hold the glass up to a light and you see nothing except for the hole in your vision.

Aroma

The aroma of the beer has no real chance to set in on your palette. Confusion takes over as a mixture of gum balls and cigars dominate. Like my great aunt’s kitchen, everything smells old.

The piney hop aroma is evident from the bottle, but once the glass swirls and the beer has a chance to breathe, your abilities to smell hops begin to suffer. I am reminded of cocoa powder with a lingering, subtle sweetness. But the dark malts force their way in and a musty, tobacco odor emanates.

Taste

The first sip teases your tastebuds into thinking you are drinking in a creamy, rich stout. But soon the hop bitterness collapses the mouth around your tongue and the heat of the beer causes your tongue to cling to the roof of your mouth. Without thought my tongue continuously licked the roof of my mouth, almost in a scrubbing manner. Burnt ash lingers throughout.

Overall Evaluation

My natural reaction after taking a sip of this beer is to gasp for air. My senses are overloaded and not content with allowing any of the flavors to linger any longer. In the past when drinking black malt IPAs¹ I have often felt that I may not be able to tell the difference between it and a regular IPA. Sometimes there may be an extra nutty or caramel flavor but otherwise the same. With Fifteenth Anniversary there is no mistaking this beer as an IPA. Actually, I bet most would have a hard time classifying this beer in a blind taste test. As I stated before, the aroma is confusing and my initial taste led me to believe I was drinking a stout. The high alcohol will slow you down during your session, and the heat in the beer does get balanced out by any other attributes. In fact most all of the attributes in this beer are urging you to slow down, but there’s unfortunately not any one characteristic you will stop to focus on.

Thanks to Randy Clemens of Stone Brewing Company for the sample provided to write this review. Follow this link for the Stone Brewing press release.

At the beginning of April, Stone Brewing Company expanded their distribution to the Minneapolis and St. Paul markets of Minnesota. Shawn was fortunate enough to get his hands on a bottle of the company’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. I still don’t know how to classify this beer — and even Stone doesn’t give it a label — but it is of the India Pale Ale variety, only black. The beer was first released as the 11th Anniversary Ale in January 2009 but the creators were so taken with it their only conclusion was to continue production. I am joined this week by special guest Luke. Thank you to Stone Brewing for providing us with this sample.

Here is the rundown on the beer with information from the brewer’s site.

Style: (Black) India Pale Ale ABV: 8.7% IBUs: 90 Hop Varieties: Chinook, Simcoe, and Amarillo First released: January 2009

Last night, Leslie and I decided to begin our adventure in exploring Odell beers at Stub & Herb’s. We arrived a few hours after the release and special cask tapping of Woodcut #4, but I was happily surprised that the members of the Odell crew were still hanging out, chatting with craft beer folks, excited to see 7 different Odell beers available.

I already knew which burger basket I planned to order (the Inferno, substituting for a Boca burger), so I asked Jon Landers, the bar manager, which beer I should enjoy first to start my evening. He told me that I should check out the Odell sampler. I was able to try three year-round offerings, and one seasonal, in manageable seven-ounce pours. My thoughts, brief as they may be, are as follows:

• India Pale Ale (7.0 % ABV, 60 IBUs) – light, floral nose; taste soft notes of peanut; crisp, slightly bitter finish.
• 90 Schilling Ale (5.3% ABV, 27 IBUs) – Wow. Immediate notes of hazelnut, with a creamy, nutty finish. Think Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar, but slightly smokier, and more full-bodied.
• 5 Barrel Pale Ale (5.2% ABV, 36 IBUs) – soft, grassy nose; light, slightly bitter finish. Definitely a great introductory beer for those not keen on hops, but interested in learning about wet hopping and dry hopping.
• St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale (6.5% ABV, 46 IBUs) – slightly astringent nose; medium-bodied mouthfeel; more present hops in the finish. It’s a quenching beer, not overtly-bittered by hops.

Another beer I sampled at Stub & Herb’s was a rare, cask-conditioned rendition of the fabled Woodcut. The crew from Odell clarified for me that it’s not the same beer as the bottle-conditioned namesake; this barrel-aged, double Märzen was dosed with Brett before being casked. The Woodcut #4 was immediately my favorite of the night, and the frontrunner so far in my journey this week. It had a funky, tart nose, reminescent of Russian River Consecration, or a room-temperature New Belgium La Folie. It was a bit lighter in body than those two heavy hitters, yet had a creamier mouthfeel, hitting just the right taste buds to fulfill my craving for sour, funky beer.

Originally, we planned to head home to Saint Paul, but as we were departing, a few of the folks mentioned we should stop by The Happy Gnome. I knew I was going to leave a few Odell beers to be sampled later this week, however I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to some of a rare, 5-gallon cask of Odell Friek, a five-way blended kriek, tea-bagged with whole raspberries. I was instantly reminded of a lighter rendition of a Cantillon 100% Kriek. The Friek’s nose was mildly funky, had a tart mouthfeel, and a fleeting presence of raspberry seeds, with a merlot-like finish.

The final beer I sampled on the first day of Odell Welcome Week was their Saboteur, an oak barrel-aged brown ale with Brett. Ringing in at 10.5% ABV, it’s definitely a sipper, but remarkably quaffable. The Brettanomyces presence is soft, but lends just enough funkiness to make this brown ale really interesting. I detected a soft fruity nose, nutty caramel body, and a funky finish, making this brew extremely interesting. It’s not too funky to be a figurative “one-trick pony” and it’s just funky enough to make a typical brown ale drinker raise an interested eyebrow.

I look forward to seeing many of you at some of the other events this week. If you’ve been out to a tasting or beer dinner already, what do you think? I would like to hear your thoughts. Cheers!

But, if she was to claim one place as home … it would be New York.

So here is the deal: I grew up in NY, just 60 miles north of NYC. My parents still live in the Hudson Valley. My father commutes to White Plains every day for work.

Naturally, I have a bit of New York pride in me. So when I discovered Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. during Great American Beer Festival 2009, I was excited. Okay, so maybe I fell in love with Captain Lawrence. But it was not for its NY location, but for its awesome beer.

It happens.

I met Scott Vaccarro during GABF. He kind of, sort of, almost remembers meeting me. But then, he also admits being “slightly intoxicated” during GABF. Which is completely acceptable. After all, what happens at GABF… stays at GABF.

Scott is doing phenomenal things, not just for the New York beer scene, but for the craft beer scene in general — as I am sure you all know. Captain Lawrence has won the Gold at GABF for two years now in the American Sours category, which is a category extremely coveted at this time. They are also dabbling in several barrel-aged experiments.

But what people don’t know, is that Captain Lawrence produces amazing classic beer styles as well. Case and point? The Kölsch.

As fate would have it, I was visiting the State of New York for the Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Workshop (yeah, that’s a mouthful). The trip ended up being ended and I had the opportunity to visit my parents in “down-state” NY (yes, there is such a thing as down-state NY … despite what all those Manhattan brats will tell you). And just around that very time, Captain Lawrence was releasing its exmtrely coveted Rosso E Marrone.

Technically, Rosso E Marrone is considered to be an American Sour “fermented with grapes and aged in oak barrels.” From what I understand, the base beer is a standard brown ale. The beer spends about two years in oak wine barrels and then an additional 6 months in the bottle before it finally ready to be released. Grape juice was incorporated into the beer after about one year in the barrel — which adds to its complexity.

Don’t ask me how I was one of the first people in the door that day and left without a single bottle of Rosso. What can I say? The Wench gets distracted very easily.

I met a bunch of fellow bloggers in the sunny, yet extremely chilly (errrr 20 degrees) parking lot of Captain Lawrence around 9AM. Most of them had been there since 8am. Seeing as I had just driven 5 hours from Syracuse to my parents house and did not get to sleep until 2AM, getting up early that morning was a bit hard. And CL is at least an hour (with no traffic) from my parents house.

Prior to arriving, I received ample warning from both the head brewer, Scott Vaccaro, and assistant brewer, Rich Baker. I anticipated some sort of line, full of hardcore beer geeks. But I did not anticipate a full blown-out tailgating party.

After what seemed like an endless drive with my father When I arrived, the CL parking lot was buzzing with 200 plus slightly intoxicated, shivering, yet very happy people.

Since I knew that we weren’t allowed in the brewery till 10AM (on the dot), I had chilled down some non-NY beers the nights before — couple of Russian River Supplications, The Bruery’s White Oak and Bar Harbor’s Cadillac Mountain Stout.

Although my parents can drink me under the table, they opted not to attend the crazy beer release. And I don’t blame them. While I know they recognize and appreciate good booze when they see it (my parents are brats … ahem … wonder where I got it from?), I also know that they are a bit “beyond” camping out in parking lots and waiting on ridiculous lines just to get a taste of the “hottest new trend.”

There is one exception (maybe two exceptions) to this rule. And that is Ohio State football. My Dad will do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, for Ohio State football. I think he would have given me up for adoption on the Black Market as a child just to score a ticket to the MCHGAN game. There were times that my Dad visited me while I was attending OSU, and I know he had a better time partying than I did. While I was busy being a good student and dedicated athlete, my own father was attending tailgating parties and drinking at campus bars. Ahhh… those were the days.

When my Dad witnessed the craziness of the CL parking lot, he opted to drop me off instead of join me in the debaucheries that ultimately ensued. And so, I dragged myself … my mini cooler of craft beer, my over night bag, and my entire case of Supplication … out of the car and proceeded to search for my, until then, virtual friends from the Twitter and beer blogging realm.

The friends were easy to find. I was naturally drawn to the crowd that had two kegs, a grill loaded with bacon, and a beer pong table.

I was pleasantly greeted by a cup (plastic to be exact– deal with it, we were in a freaking parking lot) of Rodenbach Grand Cru. Not a bad reception, if I do say so myself.

That morning (for quite possibly the first time in my life) I made heads turn. While I would love to say that my awkwardly unattractive self attracted the attention of everyone I passed by, it would be a lie. In my hands I carried a case of Russian River Supplication — what some people may consider “The Holy Grail” of beers … and I had a case of it … in New York … which was UNHEARD of.

The case of Supplication was for the assistant brewer of Captain Lawrence, Rich Baker. And it subsequently got me into the brewery before anyone else on the line. By then, my feet were numb. My fingers were frozen. I had barely enough beer to warm my insides.

But all my troubles melted away as I was literally fed tasters upon tasters of Captain Lawrence beer. Luckily, the first beer I was given to taste was the Kölsch, and because of that, I can vividly recall all of my tasting notes.

Most over-saturated and over-stimulated American beer drinking palates have a hard time acknowledging and enjoying the more “simpler” styles. It is a shame, but can we really blame them? After all, it is the American way — bigger, stronger, bolder = better. Right? Right? Okay … so this is a debate for another time.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Kölsch, it happens to be a very unique and rather intriguing style. The style originated in Cologne, Germany. The Kölsch is made using pale malts (or German Pils malt) and it is highly attenuated, clear and hoppy (Noble hops, though –either Hallertau, Tettnang, Spalt or Hersbrucker). But the most important aspect of a Kölsch is its fermentation process.

The Kölsch is an odd beer because it is fermented with ale yeast (specifically Kölsch yeast, if you want to get technical) at cooler than average temperatures. Post fermentation, the beer is lagered for at least one month before serving.

Captain Lawrence’s Kölsch was pale gold in color with a brilliant clarity and a delicate head that dissipated rather quickly. It was was medium-bodied, crisp, clean and very well attenuated. To me, it was perfect.

For there, the beers get more an more blurry. There were lots of beers, lots of laughs, lots of crazy stuff … and lots of pictures.

I do vividly remember four of the beers, though. Westie 12 reared its ugly head … I mean showed its beautiful face. And it was glorious. I took a “nap” with an Oak-aged YETI (numbered and all) on some bags of malt. I had the rare opportunity to taste a 14 year old Lambic from Canada. And the whip cream on the sundae? I got to taste the Rosso E Morrone at Captain Lawrence.

A fellow beer blogger/connoisseur in our group decided that he would be freaking awesome and open a bottle of the super limited and nationally coveted Rosso.

Verdict? Freaking amazing. Sour, fruity, oaky … super delicious.

In summation, the morning/early afternoon at Captain Lawrence was epic. Epically awesome.

Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout

Winter 09-10 bottle Tasted Jan 5, 2010 10% ABV – Russian Imperial Stout

From the bottle:

In the last century, British brewers made strong stouts for the Czar’s Court. They were called Imperial Stouts. Our Black Chocolate Stout, brewed once yearly for the winter season, achieves a chocolate aroma and flavor through the artful blending of six varieties of black, chocolate and roasted malts.

I know more about Brooklyn Brewery through Garrett Oliver’s book, The Brewmaster’s Table, than firsthand experience with tasting their brews. Where I live in Iowa, the only beer of theirs we can get is a collaboration with Schneider (brewers of the great Aventinus!), the Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, a wonderful Weizenbock that has left me with a very positive impression of the brewery. While on vacation here in Washington, D.C., I found some of these in my sister’s fridge, and after having a small taste from a friend’s glass last Friday, my interest was piqued. So let’s get down to it.

The appearance is an inky, pitch-black. Had a good inch of head which quickly receded and had no visible lacing, which I’m fine with in a Russian Imperial Stout. Black is the color of a true RIS, and judging by the opaque color, impenetrable to light, Brooklyn knows this very well!

Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout

Last Friday, I remarked to my friend that it was not particularly chocolatey, but sticking my nose down deep into this glass, especially as it warms, I get a lot of chocolate malt. More like dark baking chocolate than Hershey’s-style American chocolate, just the way I prefer. More nuanced and doesn’t really beat you over the head with it like many chocolate stouts can (Ommegang’s Chocolate Indulgence, I’m looking in your direction!). Black, dark roasted coffee is also apparent in the nose.

The flavor is not what you’d expect. Less sweet chocolate and more earthy—a bitterness not unlike espresso. The mouthfeel is smooth, and while the taste starts bitter the chocolate malts make their presence known, with some subtle sweet and roasted flavor. The chocolate, thanks to the malt, is more of a bitter cocoa (again, think baking chocolate) than sweet milk, which keeps the drinkability higher than your average RIS, while the bitterness keeps me from drinking too quickly. A lot more complex as it warms, the 10% ABV doesn’t hit you over the head in taste, but rather is more apparent in the nose. It becomes less apparent as the it warms. This one is far better at cellar temperature than served cold.

More RIS than Chocolate Stout, Brooklyn Brewery has created a wonderful winter beer, one that I think would age very well. I could see this one mellowing out and perhaps becoming closer to what people might expect if they hadn’t had it before (slightly sweet) but I’m very pleased with this one. Would like to try with a year on it, but I flew and didn’t check a bag, so can’t bring any back with me, sadly!

My score:   4/5

Oktoberfest by August Schell Brewing – a rich auburn color and creamy head. smells of grain and the taste is toffee like with a light body. I really like how the beer finishes with a sweet crispness. 3.5/5

Dogtoberfest Märzen by Flying Dog Brewery - a dark amber color with a thick foamy head that dissipates quickly. smells of caramel and spice. a medium body with the flavor falling to the back of the tongue. the thickness comes from a mix of roasted malts and spice. 3/5

Pumpkin Ale by Buffalo Bill’s Brewery – surprisingly more true pumpkin flavor than I had believed it would be. I had built this beer up in mind as being the liquid pumpkin pie of beers, but this was not the case. It’s a true pumpkin flavor that comes through on this beer and it’s low on the spice. 3.5/5

Bob’s ’47 Oktoberfest by Boulevard Brewing – smells floral and has a bitter bite in the taste. 3.5/5

Horseman’s Revenge by Olde Main Brewing – a very tasty, local choice. 4/5

Harvest Ale by Goose Island Brewing - this beer certainly focuses on the hop flavoring and it comes through quite a bit more strong than one might expect. This isn’t quite reaching the levels of an IPA, but for that, I commend it. 3.5/5

The true winner for me this season was the Pumpkin Ale from Schlafly – a true 5/5 for me. You will all hear more about this in an upcoming Happy Hour episode.

Russian River Brewing Company – Pliny the Elder Style: Double/Imperial IPA ABV: 8.0%

The Beer Genome Project Happy Hour #6 Show Notes

0:00-3:21 - Introduction 3:21-10:56 – Review of Pliny the Elder 10:56-16:49 – Recap of St. Paul Summer Beer Fest 16:49-17:22 – Conclusion

Robert the Bruce

Style: Scottish Ale ABV: 9% IBU: 35 Serving type: Bottle

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but here in the midwest, Three Floyds Brewing Company is kind of a big deal. A popular day of craft brew celebration is Dark Lord Day, a date set ahead of time by Three Floyds for fans of the Dark Lord brew to gather, redeem their golden tickets, and drink a lot of beer. Now I have never been fortunate enough to try one of these Dark Lords, but I hear it’s epic. Maybe next year I’ll battle my way to Indiana and get in on the fun.

Tonight, however, I will review a bottle of “Robert the Bruce” by Three Floyds. I bought this beer from Beer Crazy on brewery name alone – since I had heard murmuring of Dark Lord. In my corner of midwestern breweries, however, the Scottish Ale style of beer already has a few formidable contenders. Olde Main Brewing of Ames, Iowa brews a local favorite – the Off KILTer Scottish Ale. As well, Brau Brothers of Lucan, Minnesota distribute their own Scotch Ale to the greater Des Moines region. To me, both of these local beers prove to be great tasting, and definitely worth the trip to find. But, will “Robert the Bruce” clobber the competition?

Appearance

First off, props to Three Floyds for the psychedelic bottle cap. It looks like the frame of a swirling green and purple comic book with three hands reaching out to the drinker, offering hops and barley. They have to be taking this seriously, right? Robert the Bruce pours a dark, but see-through brownish red. It’s a darker beer, but it certainly lets a lot of light through and doesn’t look heavy. The end result is a beer that looks like a great, light summer drink. A refreshing alternative to the light lagers that litter our summer days. If you crank the bottle you’ll get a little foam on top, but otherwise this seems like it would be a headless beer. Beware Ichabod. Small bubbles float slowly to the top, leaving a ring of foam around the edges of the glass.

Aroma

I love it when I can smell a beer as it pours out of the bottle. It’s even better when the beer smells great. Out of the glass, Robert the Bruce smells a little like cocoa powder used for my winter hot chocolates. It’s a pleasantly sweet beer, and not strong enough to come off as artificial – scents of caramel tend to be this way for me.

Taste

It’s gone! I drank it all before I could get to this part of the review. Well, there is a bit left at the bottom. I’m going to savor that until the finale. This is one incredibly smooth beer, with it’s variety of roasted malts and tiny bubbles. A bigger gulp will reveal a smokiness surrounding the entire flavor of the beer. Tasty, and ends a bit dry. You’re going to drink it dangerously quick, and not even take notice of its 9% ABV.

Overall Evaluation

Do you like malty, sweet beers? Do you enjoy it when a beer doesn’t attack you with hops? Robert the Bruce has something he’d like to say; “Drink this beer!”. This is a style of beer I feel is often forgotten, but I’m almost never disappointed by an entry. The variety of ingredients used in a Scottish Ale brings out a unique combination of flavors. Again, it’s for us malt-heads, who need to take it easy, or we’ll down far too many of these. 4.3/5.