Arcadia Scotch Ale

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

Dark Brown/Red Tints Coloring with Sandy Head. Nice Heavy Scotch Ale Feel to it. Toasted Malt and Dry Hop Finish. Simple Scotch but Simple in This Case = Easy Drinking Scotch Ale.

On-Tap at The Happy Gnome in St. Paul. I am a fan of few things, but Scotch Ale is one of them. I have few to choose from in my neck of the Tundra, but Arcadia hit town a while back, and it has yet to disappoint. This is the beer that separates the Scotch Ale from the Scottish Ale. This is definitely thicker, meatier, if you will, than my other fave in the latter category, Robert the Bruce. Highly recommend anyone who wants to know what all the hubbub is about regarding this autumnal style.

Ten years ago, before I got into beer in a geek-like way, I really liked "Scottish"/"Scotch" ales--something about the sweetness with the roasted edges. This beer brought all of that back. A pillowy head on a nut brown body, with a grape, raisin, Christmas pudding aroma, and a flavor exuding a hint of smoke amid the sweet caramel--perhaps even some fake maple syrup. There is a little bit of port and scotch blended here. The carbonation was fine, and after it started to fade there was still enough stickiness and alcohol to keep my tastebuds motivated. I like a little bit of alcohol feel to propel things. This might not be for everyone, but this particular mix of qualities in a beer...oh, baby, it hits all the right notes in me.

Brown color with a thin head. Aroma was fairly malty, with a little syrup. Actually smelled dry, too. Very rich malt taste with some smoke lingering in the background. More or less two dimentional, but it’s tasty enough.

Poured nicely with a HUGE frothy head. I’m not going to attempt to describe all the flavors that I noticed in this beer, because I was so overwhelmed with sweetness that I couldn’t really taste anything else. Almost tasted like it was mixed with large amounts of corn syrup. The 2 others I was drinking with that night agreed, too. Based on all the other decent comments here, I’m guessing that we may have just gotten a bad bottle or something - it’s almost like it didn’t go through a primary fermentation phase at all (alcohol was hard to detect, if any). Plenty of carbonation, though. We have one more bottle to test, and will do so next week. Purchased at Friar Tucks in Springfield, IL in a mix-a-six pack.

bottle-pours really deep crimson red with quite a bit of darkness deep in the glass. a sudsy tan head with big bubbles of carbonation. plums, dark fruit, soy sauce, lots of malt sweetness with a leathery tone as well. some chocolate, lightly fussel and some leathey tones as well again in the flavors. Damn, are there any arcadia beers around here that are not oxidized? man, some really bad cardboard in this one. This was my second try for this beer which was much better than the first one i tried to drink. Again, like all other arcadia beers, i will seek out a fresh bottle

Caramel malt flavor with some touches of smoke and peat. Nuts and dried fruits as well. Bit of whiskey, too. Alcohol is pretty well concealed. Very drinkable.

Head is minimal and nose abounds with roast scent and faint smoke. The maltiness is clear and prevelant but it never overwhelms the flavor and hops finish out with smoothness. The mouthfeel and finish are much the same as the aroma giving a nice symmetry to the ale. This is certainly one of the better US Scotch Ales.