Arcadia Scotch Ale

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Bottle - Mondial de la Bière, Montréal. Dark brown body with a lasting beige foamy head. Nice malty/hoppy aroma with fruity, brown sugar and caramel hints. Taste is well balanced and ends with a decent bittersweet, warming finish.

Poured a good sized deep tan head and the beer had a ruby brown colour. Good retention and better than average lacing that really stuck to my glass. Aroma was interesting with its slight smoky overtone, mix of heavy malts, and lots of dark fruit - most notable was cherry and then plum....also had a earthy aroma. Pretty stiff overall. Tastes of dark sweet fruits (cherries), dank wood, caramel, roasted malts and probally a touch of chocolate. Mouthfeel was fairly smooth, but I did notice the extra alcohol as a burn. Medium bodied and a slight bitterness and an aftertaste that doesn’t go away to fast. Not bad, a bit too harsh and I don’t think I want more than 2 in one sitting.

Pours clear dark brown with a beige head. Lightly sour aroma. Medium body. Sort of earthy, sweaty taste. Seems rather unusual for a Scotch Ale. Maybe more like an Old Ale?

THOUGHTS: Surprisingly sour. Very interesting. Not necessarily the best Scotch Ale, but a great beer. The alcohol was noticeable, but OK for the style. Not what I was expecting , but nice. Very Scottish if not exactly like you would expect a Scotch ale. Bonus point for being better than the sum of its parts. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Bottle conditioned. Poured a sort of cloudy, very dark brownish red with an average, off-white head that mostly diminished and left barely fair lacing. The aroma was very light nutty malts, and milk chocolate, more caramel malt, light to moderate earthy hops, cobweb-like yeast, raisin, plum, prune, apple, sour cherry, toffee, earthiness, candy a little wood, sour fruits and very slight smoke. The initial flavor was acidic and very sweet; while the finish was sweet, acidic and lightly bitter with a long duration. There was cherry, caramel, nutty malt, earthy hops, a little yeast, slight alcohol, sour cherry, slight metallic hops and more earthy yeast. The medium to full body was sort of oily then dry with fizzy carbonation and a moderately to heavily astringent and light to moderate alcoholic finish.

Tap @ brewpub. Dark brown colour, small head. Aroma of sour fruits, cookie dough. Flavour of sweet malts, fruits, aceton, dried fruits. Resembles an old ale style.

On tap at the Bocktown, nice place. Dark brown with virtually no head. Clean and nice aroma. At first, taste is leathery and then the alky morphs to the forefront. As session continues, lots of alky flavors get in yer face. Becomes difficult at times. Strong stuff and the 7.5% is readily apparent. Too much for this lager lover. Surprizingly, the finish is acceptable when comparing it to the alky impact of the taste.

Amazed I haven’t tried this before. Pour from a 12 oz bottle. Deep, dark color with a thin, tan, creamy head. As dark as many stouts. Delightful complex aroma of malt, hops, and chocolate with some fruitiness tossed in. Endorphins surge in the brain on the first taste – exceptionally balanced sweet malt, brunt malt, hops, and slight fruit flavors. A distinct ethanol flavor in the first few sips, but it quickly recedes. Creamy and aromatic in the mouth - this is what micro brews are all about. Fine quality, excellent craftsmanship, and really superb ale.

Bottle. Poured a brown reddish color with a little white head. Aroma was sweet fruit favors. Some plum, raisin, and sweet malts. Flavor was tart, and sweet. A vanilla aftertaste with fruits in the start. A decent beer.