Harviestoun Old Engine Oil (Bottle)

Brewed by Harviestoun
Style: Old Ale
Alva, Central, Scotland

Poured black with a creamy, burnt meringue head that dissipated quickly into a thin halo. Roasty, chocolate malt nose with a hint of vanilla bean. Smooth and malty intro that gently transitioned to a dark chocolate, roasty, sweet, raisiny persistent finish. Overall, a very good ale with a medium to full mouthfeel. My first black ale and a most enjoyable experience.

Bottle, thanks Jesse: I wanted to like this based on what I had heard about it, but I was wholly unimpressed. Maybe I had an off batch. Aroma was a bit of smokiness, and toasted chocolate malt. Flavor was a tad salty, with an underlying malty sweetness and a tinge of cured meat. Finish is sweet and chocolate malt. Just weird.

Oddly enough, without knowing what beer she was examining, my wife said the nose was of oil paint. Indeed, it could be said that the nose lives up to the name of the brew. The taste however is of sweet chocolate. A pleasant drink.

Thanks to robinvboyer for the hookup! Pours a deep opaque brown, pretty much like a stout, with a thin light brown head. Smell is very much roasted barley. Not a whole lot else, just rich roasted grains. Flavour is very rich and chocolately, not quite as bitter and roasty as the aroma would make you think, though it comes in pretty nicely bit in the aftertaste. Hop bitterness and citrusy sort of flavour is present, which it wasn’t in the nose, and it adds a nice fruity flavour to keep the beer light and offset the heavier malty characteristics, which is interesting and very nice. Carbonation is low, but it suits the beer very nicely. The beer isn’t really thick, but it’s not exactly watery either, very smooth. Very nice beer, my first of the style. Seems a bit like a brown ale, with more black.

bottle. pours almost like a stout, and has some of the same flavors at a stout too. good flavors of dark chocolate and liquorice.

Pours dark, almost black, with a small vanishing head. Roasted, malty taste with some liquorice and dark chocolate. Mildly carbonated, smooth mouthfeel. Slightly bittersweet aftertaste.

Århus2008. 33 cL bottle. Pours dark brown to black wth a redish glare and a lacing light tan head. Mild chocolate, malty and liqourice aroma. Flavour is roasted malt and liqourice with a light acidic touch. Ends with a liqourice and roasted flavour. Nice one.

Dense black pour with a dark brown head that disappears. Smells like a roasty porter with a bite of chocolate and black coffee underneath. Tingles the tongue I would almost say it is a light drinker. Roasted malt and chocolate bitterness finish out this one in a good way. Not sure why this is an old ale though.