Callys Smokin Scottish Ale

Brewed by Cally’s Restaurant & Brewing Co. (formerly Calhoun’s)
Style: Scottish Ale
Harrisonburg, Virginia USA

Deep amber, with slight head. Sweet Scottish malty aroma. Hint of smoke in the taste, but basically it’s your average Scottish sweet ale, a bit of caramel, malty with bitterness popping in at the end.

Barrel Draught from the jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 29/09/2005 Golden coloured strong in alcohol and hoppy. Rich on the palate. Slightly dry smoked finish.

on tap-pours a creamy diminishing tan head with copper/amber color. Aroma is malt. Taste is medium malt, a little sweet, a little hops. OK carbonation.

Frothy, lasting off-white head tops the medium amber shade. Restricted aromatics appear nevertheless balanced in this caramelly, cerealic, toasted bread reminiscent ale that shows more hop character in mouth, then evoking leaves and flowers. I expected more of a smoked beer, so the faint smokiness didn’t give me any satisfaction, but the underlying woodiness added some needed depth. Light bodied, thin, faintly roasty, moderately bitter for the style. More than fair.

Crystal clear, dark amber ale with a small, khaki head. Nice lacework. Light caramel and smoke in the nose with earthy notes as well. The flavor is thin, but well-balanced with very subtle hints of caramel and oak. Light-bodied with a watery mouthfeel and fizzy carbonation. Short, dry finish. Thanks to Scott Jackson for hauling the growler up to the DC/MD/VA/WV gathering at Founders in Alexandria, VA.

From the Growler at the DC gathering. The beers were coming thick and fast at this stage and this was the only Calhouns beer I managed to sample before time was up. Later in my trip, I passed by Harrisonburg, but didn’t have time to stop, thus blowing my chance to be the #1 rater of a US brewery. The beer was a pleasantly roasty, malty Scottish ale of the type that seems more widely available in the US than in Scotland these days. Very woody. A bit difficult to get perspective on this one amongst so many blockbusters, but I thought it was pretty good. Thanks to Hopscotch’s friend (a new RB convert?) for bringing it along. RE-RATE. On tap at the brewpub. Mid/deep copper colour. Less woody than my previous tasting. Rather restrained aroma. Quite full bodied with plenty of malt, a touch of chocolate and a sweetish edge. (6/4/7/4/14)

2004 growler @ DCMDVA gathering. Dark brown, clear appearance, with no head. Smells lightly smokey in the aroma, more of an ash/tobacco note, quite faint. A hint of nutty malt and some bitter notes. Flavor is dry, lightly roasty and a touch bitter, with some creamy, milk-like sweetness. Like the other 2 beers I tried from Calhouns, it was horribly thin and watery.

Had this at the DC/MD/VA/WV/PA gathering. Growler courtesy of ??. Amber body with light smokiness/peatiness. Nice roasted malt taste along with more peatiness and hints of fruit. Hint of thinned tobacco as well. Body was a bit on the thin side. Finishes with more smokiness/peatiness along with roasted malt, and a hint of caramel. Not too bad.