Inveralmond Ossian Ale (Bottled)

Brewed by Inveralmond
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Perth, Perthshire and Kinross, Scotland

Pours a slightly hazy golden yellow with a small head, nice lace, and a faint peaty sweet & floral aroma. Tastes like a blonde ale - somewhat fruity, with faint neutral bittering hops and some citrus (cascade) and floral notes. Faint almond & white vinegar taste. Lightly creamy body, sub-par carb. This would be excellent with a chilli or another spicy food, but on its own it doesn’t really stand-up. It’s too fruity to be a traditional bitter, but lacks the proper yeast to be a blonde. Ossian reminds me of the Italian "ossia", which means "or". This is either a bitter OR a blonde, OR possibly neither.

Amber with a nice head and lace. The aroma has a lot of earthy/smoked peat notes. The flavour is slightly sweet with notes of roasted malt, caramel, smoke fruit and flower. The finish is long with a discrete bitterness, that develops and grows stronger.

[Sampled in 2003.] One of the first PA’s I had and it really hit something heartly. I thought it was an IPA with all those cascade hops, buts it’s just a bitter. Otherwise I still think it’s a nice brew with a good balance.

My Bottom Line:
This fantastic blond bitter boasts a bustling osmosis of honey-smeared biscuits and sharp citrusy, floral hoppiness. Drier and thus perhaps more bitter than its cask-conditioned brother, this easy drinking pint is sure to please the thirsty hop lover.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-Sumptuous foam garnishes the clear blond.
-Sweet maltiness bounces from honey to caramel, and back.
-Obviously, the expansive, big-bubbled carbonation doesn’t try to emulate the cask feel.
-The wooden, leafy hop finish lingers ad vitam eternam.

Bottle; best before March ’08.

Bottle picked up by my dad in Perth w/c 07-08-06. Pours a warm dark golden colour, some hops in the aroma, taste is a touch sweet toffeeish bit fruity and malty but not bad at all.

Bottle from Super Saver. Coppery pour with little head. Aroma of slight hopcit, heavy caramel malt and tannins. Tastes caramel malty, dry, tannic, with some finishing hops. Finishes liquid caramelly without much sugar. Not bad.

From the bottle.

Pours dark amber with a veritable jellyfish storm of floaty bits and a scant head. The aroma offers some cracker malts; the flavor is mild, with a bit of floral hops, hints of smoke and whiskey, an endearing cracker malt, and a gentle dry finish.

From a bottle this is neither a standout nor even worth repeating, though it might be good to try on cask if in the mood for a mild bitter.

Bottle: Bronze color with a small lid of beige bubbles. Earthy malt and light grass with a touch of toffee in the background. Seems to have a lightly peat flavor mixing with a wild honey flavor. An interesting ale, yet nothing beyond ordinary.