MacLean’s Scotch Ale

Brewed by MacLean’s Ales
Style: Scotch Ale
West Grey, Canada

A light edgy amount, with slight colour, a little at end of cask. A little head. Creamy mouthfeel, bittersweet peaty not too bad. Drinkable.

on tap at the Kiwi . Poured a slightly hazy light amber-orange with a 1 finger white cap that reduced to a good lace that stayed Medium carbonation. Best nose of all the F&M brews....aromas of toast, caramel malts and a thin whisp of sage or pine. Starts bolder up front than other brews from this brewer, with a nice oily mouth feel and medium body where the toasty-caramel malt sits in almost perfect balance with the musty-sage hopping. Finish is clean with a mellow hop aftertaste. The outstanding character of this brew for me was its uncanny, almost perfect balance. Strangely, one of the best balanced ales I ever tasted... A nice session brew...much like a light scotch ale....I’ll buy more

Cask at the Victory Cafe, Toronto. This beer was brown with very little head or carbonation. I picked up a brown sugary aroma with some honey. The flavour had some grassy hop character and pine, water as well as caramel malt, brown sugar; there was a bit of oak in the short, slightly bitter finish.

On cask at Victory Cafe. Appearance: Ruby orange, small head. Aroma: Caramel, sugar, lemon, hops and malt. Flavour: Bitter malt, caramel finish with a light body.

Cask at Victory Cafe Cask Ale Festival. Nice reddish brown colour with small head. Sweet malt flavour with fruit and hops noticeable. Balance aftertaste. Very nice beer.

On tap at the Magpie - arrived clear ruby with a nice two finger creamy white head. Nice aroma of sweet malt, caramel, and a surprising amount of hops (for the style). Round and candy sweet with a subtle smokiness at the front of the mouth, then fairly thin and soft leading into a mildly bitter finish where the alcohol makes itself known. Not amazing, but pretty solid and sessionable scotch ale.

Reddish in colour with minimal head. Sweet and malty in scent, pretty typical for a scotch ale. Bitter aftertaste. A decent beer, but it’s currently my least favourite scotch ale.

Reddish-brown with a small cream head. Aroma is malty and a bit fruity, maybe a hint of spice. Surprisingly hoppy for a scotch ale, with a fairly bitter finish, but far too thin-bodied for the style.