Moylans Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale

Brewed by Moylans Brewery & Restaurant
Style: Scotch Ale
Novato, California USA

Pours a clearish, caramelly, brown color. Thin, sudsy, white head that leaves some lace. Smells like peanuts or peanut butter. After a good whiff you get the sense that the peanut smell is from smells of the malts and the hops mixing together. Smells good, just different. Tastes malty, again peanuts, with an earthy hop undertone. Very earthy hops. Again different, but good. Intermediate thickness, coats the mouth. Full, but subdued, carbonation. I wouldn’t call this a traditional scotch ale, but it’s way more drinkable than most other scotch ales I’ve tried. No rotten fruit taste like most of the others.

Pours a slightly fogged deep amber/brown. Nose is strong malts with a sweeter earthy edge to it. A lot of it smells like grape soda. Flavor is sweet yes. Has a nice earthy edge to it, but it lacks a real complexity that would make it interesting. Feel has a low carbonation to it and a slick liquid. Overall this is a good wee heavy, but not great by any means. It doesn’t totally suck, but it won’t blow you away either.

Not real sure what the heck happened with this beer. It’s possible that it was past it’s prime, but that’s really just a guess since I couldn’t find any dating on the bottle. I guess the only reason I’m thinking it’s past it’s prime is because it really didn’t strike me as a Scotch style ale. I didn’t get any of the classic Scotch petey/earthy/smokey combo I have with other beers. This beer was more or less fruity and sweet without much change in either the palate or nose from those characteristics.

The beer pours out a dark amber/brown color with a medium thick, off-white head that left little/no lacing. The aroma was a strange one. All I could keep getting was apples and cinnamon. That’s it. It wasn’t nasty in any way, just sweet apples and cinnamon. Flavor was the same way, with enough of the fruity sweet malts to really notice it lacked any balance. I do love sweet beers, but I don’t think this was trying to be sweet. I’d like to try another bottle or on tap (pretty easy to do around here) to compare and re-rate at some point.

deep copper with beige head, it has a milky tea nose and a slight touch of munich malt aroma. it tastes like chocolate milk with coffee, but the mild bitterness balances the brew quite well.

Pours a dark rust color, but not dark enough to be opaque. You can easily see through and notice the clarity. Head is a nice height but a bit fizzy, as it dissipates quickly to an ultra thin halo, which slowly dissipates to nothing. No lacing whatsoever. Aroma has an odd vegetal quality that’s out of place and unappealing. The lack of head retention makes it difficult to detect any other notes. Taste is one dimensional with cola-like sticky sweetness. There’s also an unpleasant peaty off-flavor in the finish. I don’t detect any smokiness, hoppiness, or rich booziness. Mouthfeel is ok here. Too thin for a normally rich style, and the carbonation is too fizzy and not dense enough. Finish is quite dry, an indication of the thinness. This is one of those beers that needs to have its recipe reformulated. There’s a flaw in every facet of this beer, and it seems only tolerable when ice cold. Compare this with Alesmith’s Wee Heavy and you can tell it’s very obviously deficient. Not one of Moylan’s better beers.

Dark copper colored body with a medium sized dense khaki head. The aroma has some cut wood with bread crust. There is also an anise note. The taste has some light caramel with a dry woody finish. The body is fairly thin and that helps to make this fairly drinkable. There is also a little bit of cola character. A decent brew, but overall, it’s boring.

650 ml bottle from Bevmo. Pours a translucent dark amber witha small off-white head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is light with sweet malts. The flavor is weak for a scotch ale, there is a touch of peat and some sweet dates. The mouthfeel is full and creamy. The finish is long and sticky with a touch of alcohol showing through. Overall: Not an inspiring ale. Not recommended.

Hazy orange/amber with a thin short lived head.Aroma is semi sweet malts. Tasted of semi sweet malt and hints of caramel. Mouth feel was a tad thin but very drinkable.Not too shabby. Add on: As it warmed there was a bit of smokiness goin on.