Orkney Red MacGregor (Bottle)

Brewed by Orkney (Sinclair Breweries)
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Stromness, Orkney, Highlands & Islands, Scotland

Sweet barley malt nose with some hops. Deep reddish amber in the glass with a firm head and persistent lace. Flavour starts well and the mouthfeel is smooth and gentle, but doesn’t develop brilliantly and leaves a slight cloying aftertaste.

Bottle. Dark red amber colour with a thick off-white head. Mostly malty aroma with some fruit. Nicely balanced flavours of malt and earthy hops, some dark fruit. Dryish with a sweetish finish. Medium bodied, smooth and lightly carbonated. Enjoyable.

Bottled. This beer pours a dark red with very little head and a very malty aroma. It’s medium bodied and goes down smooth with a caramel malt flavor that’s well balanced. This is an enjoyable beer, but doesn’t pack a lot of flavor.

A good flavoursome beer, clean amber, with an impressive head that dies nice & slow, leaving good lace. Fruit dominates the nose and palate, with clean malt on the finish. Really liked this!

A stiff, khaki head holds above a honey-hazed coppery/brown body. Aroma is weak with bitters, fruitiness, light caramel and powder. Nothing wrong with the flavor, but there’s not alot there... light malts finish with tea bitters. Not enough bitterness to call this an ESB, not enough "oomph" to call it a Scotch Ale. I’d dub it an English Mild.

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This bitter pours a light brown amber color from a 500ml bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is caramel, peat and smoke. A medium bodied bitter. Malts are caramel, and earthy. Hops are mild and earthy. Nice balanced. Milder bitter. There is a very nice understated smokiness to this beer, Soft carbonation blends with a soft mouthfeel. Would make a nice session ale. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Bottle 19/08/2002 Mid brown amber coloured and slightly sweet on the palate. Some dryness in a malt finish.

The Red MacGregor is a delicious, malty, mild tasting Scottish ale, with lots of flavor and character. The draught form of this beer is only 4% abv, making it a great session beer. They have boosted the abv up to 5% for the bottled product, and that is the sample I am reviewing here. The Red MacGregor Ale pours to a beautiful, bright, deep, ruby red color with a tight off white head, and a soft to moderate amount of carbonation. The nose on this beer is wonderful, with lots of sweet malty, slightly peat smoky aroma, and some flowery hop aroma. The palate is soft, with some nice chewy malt texture. Flavors of sweet malt, toffee, a hint of raisin, and a touch of peat coat the tongue. Red MacGregor finishes with more good malty flavors up front, then ends with a mild flowery hop bitterness that takes the cloying edge off this beer.