Jack Russell Scottish Ale

Date: July 07, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Roadtrip
Appearance: clear dark brown, fine beige head, bits of lace
Aroma: sweet and smokey aroma, sweet chocolate, smokey scotch
Overall: sweet chocolate aroma, dark caramel sweetness, smokey peat, light earthyness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

From a 12 oz bottle this splashed into the glass a brown color with a thick tan head. Light lacing.. Nose of coffee and sweet malts. Medium mouthfeel. Flavor of smoke, sweetness, and not much else. Sweet finish. OK.

The aroma great. The flavour is just off the coffee toffee, mocha flavours are all present. I just can’t put my finger on why I don’t like it.

12 ounce bottle purchased at Corti Brothers in Sacramento, CA. Aroma is robust with a nice roastiness, coffee, caramel, and some leathery notes, too. Light metallic hops detected. Virtually transparent amber streaked mahogany body with a smallish, quickly dissipating light tan head. Surprisingly fruity, astringent, sour-ish start, which becomes roasty, chewy, leathery, and a bit burnt in the middle. Nice carbonation to finish. Flavorful, but I wish there wasn’t that astringent touch in the beginning. So far, the best beer from Jack Russell that I have had.

12 oz. bottle from Corti Brothers. Rich, sweet, roasted malt aroma, with significant smoke. Nearly opaque dark brown color with a beige head. Medium bodied, moderate carbonation. Starts with smoke. Lots of smoke. Rauchbier. Roasted malt flavors come next. Always sweet. Hop? Is there a smoke hop? The finish is mildly sweet, and long, lingering smoke. Whoa. It’s smoke. Ok, there may be some floral hop, but the finish is not bitter.

Decent scottish ale, good malty start with a balanced hop finish. Pours copper, slightly hazy, with a white head. Fruity and earthy malts up front. I didn’t get any smoked flavors like they say above. Boosting the smokiness would have given this beer more character.

Reddish clear dark brown with a moka head. Buttterscotch aroma with peaty notes. Sweet peaty malt, a bit smoked, vanilla notes. Medium bodied. On tap at brewery, August 2005.

On tap at Jack Russell. This brown ale poured with a large tan head, eliciting a sweet malty aroma. The flavor, too, was sweet and malty, but the smokey flavor normally characteristic of a scottish ale was barely noticeable. I really like scottish ale, but was a bit disappointed with this one.