Penobscot Bay Old Factory Whistle Scottish Ale

Brewed by Winterport Winery / Penobscot Bay Brewery
Style: Scottish Ale
Winterport, Maine USA

Bottle/22 - Poured a quite dark brown amber with a nice reddish tint if you hold it up to the light. Head is small and off-white and faded to a very thin covering over the beer. Aroma is somewhat malty, but not that sweet... plenty of roasty aromatics. Flavor is well balanced, but not that pronounced... not sweet, but malty with enough hops to provide the offset. Finish is mildly bitter. Not a great "Scot", but not that bad either...

Bouteille de 22 oz partagée avec MartinT. Arôme: Odeur de caramel fruité avec une pointe de noix grillées. Apparence: La couleur est brunâtre. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de caramel fruité avec une pointe de noix grillées et de chocolat. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût légèrement fruité. (Rating #2748)

My Bottom Line:
Black grape fruitiness and cushy Munich and caramelized malts suddenly plummet into a dryish finish of wooden, leafy hop bitterness in this strange but drinkable Scottish-style Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A slice of foam covers the clear auburn.
-The malt signature is almost smoky as well.
-There aren’t nearly enough dextrins to make this interesting for the style.
-The body is svelte and the carbonation effervescent; again totally off-kilter for what they were trying to achieve.
-The malt flavors are decent upfront, but rather poor in the second half of the flavor profile.

Bottle.

On tap at brewery. Reddish color, an in between cloudiness that looks like it’s not intended. Aroma is toasty, yeasty and somewhat malty. Hop flavor arrives first, a little prickle. The rest of the sip is fairly round and warm, not thick enough to chew but not too thin. Beer is well balanced but it’s either too subtle for me or it doesn’t have enough of anything. Not enough character! I want to support a local brewery but I don’t want to drink an after thought (they make delicious wines and have for some time). At $6.50 for a 22oz bottle there should be way more to recommend this beer then what it has. I might come back for more if it was in the $3 range.

22 oz bottle purchased while on vacation in Maine. Pours a muddy orange/brown color with a huge untameable head. Not an attractive beer. Aroma has a nutty, earthy scent to it, spoiled by a metallic like scent. Palate is medium bodied and highly carbonated. Very active mouthfeel. Flavor has some sweetness, with malt and caramel, but again spoiled by a metallic, medicinal taste. I wouldn’t go out of my way for this one.

22oz bomber obtained at The Lighthouse in Manchester, Maine. Pours a crystal-clear dark copper brown body with a half inch of short-lived light tan head. Smells a slightly peat-smoked dark chocolate nut banana with kind of a cola-like quality. Dark chocolate and nut dominate with some dry roastiness and just the slightest hint of peatiness. Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation. Overall a rather well done Scottish ale, rubbing up against the Wee-heavy style. A bit of a sipper but one sip definitely invites another. A solid balanced malty brew. Good stuff. Impressed with this brewery thus far!

Time to catch up before BCTC. Bottle at PilsnerPeter’s Spring Throwdown. Thank to everyone who brought great beer and ribs and pickles and everything! Reddish brown with big bubble head. Mild maple syrup sweet fruity aroma. Roasted caramel with English bitter and lingering roasted bitter sweetness. Ok. Whew. I’M ALL CAUGHT UP!

Bottle purchased at global bev in Ellsworth. Pours a reddish dark color. Aroma is sweet with spices and a hint of grains. Flavor is really weird...like muddy water mixed with beer. Strange beer, and not in a good way.