Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA (USA) (Bottle)

Brewed by Belhaven (Greene King)
Style: American Pale Ale
Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland

[Bottled at Stockholm Beer Festival] Clear amber, rich brief head. Strong fruity perfumy hop aroma. Medium sweet and fairly light bodied. There’s some caramel and bread, but it’s dominated by peachy hops. Medium bitterness. Un-scottish.

500ml bottle: Pours a clear amber-gold ale in my glass...wonderful 2 finger rocky cap that lasts and laces. Aroma is Pacific NW all the way with the Cascades giving the floral grapefuit tones and the challengers with the fresh pine notes..all this over some substantial bready malt sweetness. Chewy Maris malts meet up with juicy grapefruit -pine hops from the get go and the hops slowly gain power over the mid palate...finishes wet and lightly bittering with a metallic aftertaste that battles a malty biscuit aftertaste. This is a good rendition of an American Pacific north west APA and fanciers of that style will like it. Ample out front NW hopping, sturdy malts and a satisfying 6.1%ABV ...very drinkable and satisfying.

Full west coast hops aroma, light copper, pours a rocky, two fingered cream head, leaving very pretty lace. Flavour of oranges, red grapefruit from those hops, some fine malt backing up this offering. Nice throat-burning sensation from the hops, great bitterness, well balanced. Great!

Bottle- Aromas of floral cascade, perfumey hops, pine, and citric rinds. Pours a deep amber,with a solid white , two finger cap, with pretty lace. Tastes pretty piney, bitter, lemon zest, bready matls towards the end, and the challenger really give the cascade a go. This could be the first UK IPA that I actually really like. The UK, and an IPA?? Who knew?

500 ml bottle. Darker golden color, hazy, moderate head. Pretty mild on most fronts, the hops seemed to be of an herbal variety, alittle dusty. Light bitterness. Light to medium bodied. I’ll take a pass on it if I see it again.

On draft at Doyle’s in Tacoma. I was warned that this was not a typical IPA, and that proved accurate. Not a lot of body or hop presence. At first I thought the primary flavor was herbal in nature, perhaps heather (Harmon Brewery here in Tacoma did a Scottish heather beer this summer.) About halfway through the pint I pinned the character down to a very light, barely smoked peat flavor, which seemed appropo of the source, and still backed by a very subtle herbal touch. It was interesting, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to have it again.

500ml bottle. Pours a clody deep straw with a nice thick puffy head. The aroma is nice and hoppy with something else that I’m guessing is thistle or something The taste is nice and lightly bitter with some interesting hoppy notes. It isn’t an amazing IPA but it is interesting and quite drinkable.

Every year I go to the Estes Park Highlands Festival. It’s a pleasant weekend trip to a pleasant place where Irish and Scot enthusiasts, by blood or by interest, can get together and wax poetic about the ruggedness of the Highlands and the indescribable fashion of kilts. Still, it lacks in good beer. Guiness, Harp’s, a mix of the two and the persistently execrable Smithwick’s all make appearances alongside a tent of vintage Glenfiddich scotch, but nothing for my tastes. Two days prior to the festival I popped open a bottle of celebratory beer to make up for the event’s lackluster boozer offerings. What would celebrate Scottish heritage more than Twisted Thistle IPA – a beer very proud of its northern birthplace, in name at least. The swaying thistles, a startling purple on the Highland green evokes a sigh of longing for the Scottish windswept knolls. It harkens to a land of ebullient and stout men and woman trudging through long grass in skirts to have at a thick stew to keep a nipping wind at bay. It is a very Scottish beer indeed, where romantic day dreaming is concerned. The reality is more…crushing. It’s a standard orange and autumnal colored beer, with a head like an old man’s – lackluster gray but brimming with persistence. The aroma blends honey tea, orange, lemon, hops and an unexpected element of glazed carrots to make a semi-sweet and semi-savory smell. But the flavors fail to match up to its olfactory counterpart. At first it tastes pretty flatly like chemicals with a pleasing texture, but the taste sits in the back of the throat long after it’s been given the eviction notice. It has a hops element to it, but that may be it. Chemicals and hops. Really a terrible way to emphasize such a linear taste, and a terrible way to deprive a youth in his kilt of tasting the flavors of Scotland a few days before his birthday bash at the Scottish festival. Scotch and its shoe polish connotations are a definite preferred alternative to get the Scottish pride stirred before he mingles with his own.