Appalachian Jolly Scot Scottish Ale

Brewed by Appalachian Brewing Company (PA)
Style: Scottish Ale
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania USA

(abbreviated review, due to short notes) Sweet apple on the nose, thin mouthfeel. A little caramel, slight malt character. Nothing remarkable.

20061007 Sampled after Kennett. Aroam is earthy, farm fields, a hint of manure. Plain scottish peat and dusty malt flavors. Sweet. Unremarkable but drinkable.

Pours a deep red color with amber hues. A small light tan head that dissolves into a rim after a minute. The aroma is a sweet toffee with some plum and a bit of a bitter edge. The flavor is not quite as sweet as the aroma, though there still is a good bit there. Rich malty caramel with a yeasty spice and a decently dry bitter finish. This is a pretty thick beer, despite not having a whole lot of visible carbonation. The finish leaves a bit of stale beer flavor on the palate, but not in a bad way. Pretty tasty.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of Naka. Pours ruby read with small khaki head that dissipates to a small riming film. Lots of sweet caramel and biscuit in the nose with a slight crisp hop note. A moderate body with medium carb full of caramel and slight bread and biscuit. Very sweet and malty throughout with a crisp hop finish, with only a slight malt undertone lingering into the after with the mildest bitter. Tasty, sessionable beer.

I got this beer expecting something very different. I wanted an ale. Instead, this was a very mild, sweet (lager?). I thought of this as a Yuengling with extra sugar (I love Yuengling, but didn’t expect this when drinking a scot ale). I was very disapointed.

Not too bad, but weak and watery. Roasted caramel malt flavor. Typical scottish ale. Not much hop flavor. Nothing stands out. Easily drinkable though.

Feb. 2007 - Clear amber brown color, almost no head or lacing. Aroma was roasty. Flavor was caramel and roast, not smoke. Wasn’t that great. Watery mouthfeel and weak, even after warming.

Draft @ Camp Hill. Golden dark amber color, exceptionally clean and clear (filtered). Super sweet sugary plum, maple and wood in the nose, along with some artificial plum flavoring, a little sweet tobacco (think swisher-sweets). Seems more like a maple amber, but I guess that’s a decent description for this whole "Scottish Ale" category. A little too sweet, very plain overall, and still has that ABC oily texture that I don’t like so much.