Highland Tasgall Ale

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

Bomber courtesy of Ross, thank you! Scotch ales are amongst my least understood style of beer. Often I get confused between a "scotch ale" and a "Scottish" ale. My understanding of the style "scotch ale" is a malt oriented beer with strong leaning towards scotches. Since hops never did flourish in Scotland, but grains did (and still do), Scottish brewers have been aiming at pefecting heavily malted, sweet, and smokey beers using ingredients that are readily available to them. This one is brewed in North Carolina, which is thousands of miles from Scotland, but what’s clear is that Highland has done their homework. This beer is the deepest amber known to man. It pours almost still, with just a modest ring of beige foam. This beer transports you to a cloudy day in Scotland almost instantly. You’re sitting on your porch.You can smell the chimney smoke of your neighbour’s home, the single malt scotch that perhaps your father is enjoying while sitting in his chair inside. The fresh peat and wet wood of the nearby forest, where you used to play as a child. Your mother is just finishing cooking up dinner, and while you’re not sure what she’s made, you can smell the burnt sugars and figs of whatever it is. You close your eyes, your mouth waters, and you think of all these aromas you are smelling. Could there be something that tastes exactly how it smells..........suddenly your not in Scotland anymore.......but you’ve got a bottle of Highland’s Tasgall ale in front of you, and almost instantly you’re not surprised.

Bottle courtesy of Ross. Bottled at the brewery. Toasty malt aroma, with some plum notes, but not in your face. Pours cola brown with a foamy diminishing head. Slick but fizzy mouthfeel. Flavor of dark fruits , molasses, spice, and a hint of peat. Could use a little sweetness. Moderately bitter finish twith some Semi dry red wine notes. This has a pleasant lingering spiciness. An interesting take on a scotch ale, and Highlands best beer IMO. Although I need to rerate the other beers with non-contracted samples.

A very dark brown Scotch Ale, with a light tan head. Rich and creamy - great, full mouthfeel, with a rich, bitter coffee/chocolate finish. Not too sweet at all. It is very nutty and full-bodied. Very good.

Thanks to ross for this bottle - deep reddish-purple pour, with well-sustained, off-white head - nice smoke and peat presence, with hints of plum, chocolate and caramel, along with a fig-and-toffee, almost english barleywine aroma - the flavor is equal amounts dry and malty - dry cocoa and smokey qualities couple with medium caramel and chocolate malt swetness - light peat flavors - some gentle barleywine character from the aroma comes late to the flavor - slight alcohol warmth - a unique and tasty scotch ale - someone please send me some more!

650ml bottle. My first Scotch Ale. Pours dark red with a thin tan head. Chocolate maltiness, toffee, and a bit of scotch. Somewhat fruity taste, mostly chocolate malt. Bitter bready finish. Not that different from strong stouts.

22 oz. bottle courtesy of ross. Pours a deep brown with a thin tan head. Plenty of dark malts in the aroma along with some vanilla extract, chocolate and a sour nuttiness. Harshly carbonated upfront, yet still goes down smooth. Lots of sweet, chocolatey malts to start. Caramel, plums, raisins and smokiness in the middle. A nicely bitter hoppy finish with a mix of biscuits and dark coffee. Delicious.

Bottle. Small tan fizzy head that mostly diminished, sparse lacing, mostly opaque with a little light coming through to see that there was some carbonation, and a dark brown hue with a little orange peeking through. Malty, chocolate and a whiff of scotch. Nicely done. Sweet, malty, chcolate, vinuous but not overly done. Nice flavor. Mouthfeel was tingly. A nicely made scotch ale and worth seeking out if one enjoys this style.

Very dark brown pour with a nice brown/tan head. Sweet malty aroma with some chocolate, bourbon and dried fruit. Active carbonation but smooth tasting. Very sweet initially. A little bit of alcohol creeps into the middle. Lots going on in the finish which is moderately bitter and sticky. Chocolate, plum, raisin just a lot of fruit maybe some citrus hops... some smoke and peat. Nice!