Dark Horse Scotty Karate Scotch Ale

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Marshall, Michigan USA

Bottle, purchased from the mega beer store, Super Liquor II, in Coldwater, MI. Off white head, with some lacing. Brownish red color. Aroma is smokey and peat. Tastes of carmal and peat. Maybe just a little too sweet. Mouthfeel is very sweat and earthy. Very drinkable, hard to imagine that it is 9.75%. Didn’t feel the alcohol. Overall nice beer. Need to get up to the Dark horse to try on tap.

(Tap) Pours a very dark brown color, with a light colored head. Aroma of burnt caramel, peat, and alcohol. Notes of dark fruits, sweet chocolate, and alcohol in the taste. Very good body, with good balance as well. A very good scotch ale in my opinion.

Draft at Ashley’s in Ann Arbor. Pours brown. It has a few spices and is smooth, but bland overall. Slightly sweet. There isn’t much to it.

Murky amber; bright orange glow lingering at the bottom. Damp, malty fruit aroma; crunchy candy sugars, peat, and peaches seared in bourbon and caramel. Crusty sweetness of peppermint, bubblegum, and creme brulee burns a brisk edge into the fruity forms, hinting late of some tart lactose sugar. Taste is simple and concretely organized; maple wood and syrup, leafy bitterness and apple peel, smoked chocolate malt and cherry pit. Dense; detailed. Fruity heaviness in acerbic raspberry juice, some banana, black cherry; made dirty with a type of natural mineral dusting that lends a rich, earthy moss bitterness but no unpleasant metallic twang. Smooth, wet and rustic palate with the lightest burn of alcohol; finishes dankly and lightly bitter with an aged hop and hot scotch dryness. Lucid, balanced, and agreeable; a pleasant scotch ale.

Picked up single 12-oz bottle at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours a semi-hazy brown amber brew with a thin off-white head that has some retention and spotty lacing. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, some apricots, maple syrup and a touch of peat. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonation with flavors of malty caramel, some roasted nuts, toffee and some spiced peat. Finish is slightly dry, a little yeast in the background with some sweet caramel in the background.

Bottle. Prune, raisin, and cherry malt aroma. Cloudy dark amber with minimal head. Dried apricot/prune and malt flavor with a mildly astringent/bitter finish. A bit cloying but overall a nice brew.

pours a dark hazy brown shade of amber with a small beige head. nose is sweet with wood, maple syrup, copper maltiness, nuts, peat and spicy notes. flavor is monstrously malty and a bit too far on the sweet side. toffee and floral hops stand out with earth, nuttiness and some bourbon characteristics lingering in the background. alcohol comes in late and gets quite noticeable as it warms. finishes surprisingly dry and lightly acidic leaving some yeasty dryness and spice in the aftertaste. medium body and mouth feel (although it is a bit on the sticky side).

bottle. Dark brown pour..slightly hazy. Nose is sweet caramel malt...dark plum, raisin fruits...flavor is nearly identical. Full-bodied, a little alcohol burn...more fruity malt. Good scotch ale, just not one of the best.