On tap at the Magpie - arrived clear ruby with a nice two finger creamy white head. Nice aroma of sweet malt, caramel, and a surprising amount of hops (for the style). Round and candy sweet with a subtle smokiness at the front of the mouth, then fairly thin and soft leading into a mildly bitter finish where the alcohol makes itself known. Not amazing, but pretty solid and sessionable scotch ale.

Reddish in colour with minimal head. Sweet and malty in scent, pretty typical for a scotch ale. Bitter aftertaste. A decent beer, but it’s currently my least favourite scotch ale.

Reddish-brown with a small cream head. Aroma is malty and a bit fruity, maybe a hint of spice. Surprisingly hoppy for a scotch ale, with a fairly bitter finish, but far too thin-bodied for the style.

Cask at Volo. Pours a slightly hazy ruby-brown with a spare diminishing white head. Sweet, malty and fruity aroma. Flavour’s lightly smoky with malt, fruit and a hint of chocolate and hops -- it’s a touch watery but not too bad. Light bodied. Pretty good and a nice effort from F & M.

Draught. At Volo. *Also had a smaller sample on cask, my rating is combined. Poured bright deep chestnut with a beautiful thick lasting beige head that looked like the top of an ice cream float. Sweet malt aroma, fresh oats and light perfume hops. Soft sweet cereal aroma, some sweet mild spice and a touch of alcohol in the finish. Soft - again - mouthfeel, creamy and only mildly carbonated, with a pleasant little kick of chocolate and booze in the fairly quick finish - an excellent mild session scotch ale, the cask was about .3 better.