Highland Tasgall Ale

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Asheville, North Carolina USA

A really dark brown with a a healthy though diminising tan head. Darker than I’d expect for a scotch ale, but nice looking. The nose is toasty, weird for the style. A bit of prune, chocolate malt obvious. A little cinnamon? A bit creamy (in mouthfeel too). Feels a bit thin also on the palate, with subdued carbonation. Roasty and somewhat unclean toasty flavor, really bugs me. Prunes raisins, diacetyl, with a really roasty toasty aftertaste. Not just too much for this style, but unclean in any style I think. Not a huge fan.

Bottle from mj. Cloudy, light brown body with small tan head. The aroma is light chocolate, light roast, raisins, herbal and spicey. The flavor is light caramel, chocolate, herbal and fairly dry. Medium body is slightly thin and watery.

Murky brown and medium opaqueness with light at the sides of my glass. Nose of maple, tobacco, chocolate, strong porter characteristics all over this beer with the smoked and chocolate malts. Doesn’t taste so much like a porter - more of a sweet creamy chocolate and light scotch/maple, sweet and moderately thick... good stuff. Different.

22oz bottle, courtesy of mj. Pours a cloudy, yellowish-brown color; patchy lacing. Plenty of milk chocolate and wet malts in the aroma. Lively carbonation; medium-to-full mouthfeel: plenty of roasted malt and milk chocolate, similar to a well-roasted porter; very tasty and drinkable. Medium, roasted malt and caramel finish.

Not much aroma at all. Muddy brown body. Full palate. Really creamy flavor with tastes of hazelnut, almonds and some sweet chocolate in the background. Really great flavor.

On tap @ Barley’s. Tasgall ale pours a deep red/brown color with a creamy tan head. The nose is of caramel and roasted malt. The flavor continues with strong malt flavors that are combined with a hint of chocolate. There is also a bit of hoppy bitterness the comes through from the middle to end. The beer was very easy to drink.

The color was deep ruby red. The head was thin and off-white. The aroma was alcohol, crisp, and some spice. The flavor had a bite. Alcohol and spice were the main flavors. The palate had a wonderful bite. It was nicely carbonated. The finish was warm and clean.

Tasgall Ale pours a deep brown color and initially has a dense and creamy dark beige head that leaves thins lacing marks after each drink. Sweet, chewy caramel with some roasted malt undertones waft from the glass as the aroma reaches my nose. This is followed by a rich, malty flavor prominently exhibits chocolate and caramel. A trace of char/charcoal is also detectable from the roasted barley which is a nice little bonus. The slightly escalated level of hops make a minor appearance in the finish as the mild bitterness they lend balances well with the roasted coffee-like and lightly charred finish. The alcohol (8.0%) is well buried in the flavor, but it definitely sneaks up on you later on! The carbonation level is moderate and is comprised of very small bubbles creating a smooth, easy to drink beer with a nearly full body and slight chewy and sticky characteristics. This is a very good Scotch Ale. The extra touch of bitterness really rounds out this beer nicely. 22 oz bottle from ross (Jan 2007). Thanks Ross!