Sockeye Off-Kilter Scottish

On Tap at Sockeye Boise. This was last years release that was aged for 1 year. Pours out a dark mahogany topped with a tan cream head. Sweet brown sugar all over this one. A little smoke on it aswell. Very good.

Draft at brewpub: Dark reddish brown color with a medium sized foamy beige head and good lacing. Nose is musky of malt and earth. Taste is dark fruits with smokey hues and an odd sweetness. The flavors were competing a bit. It could have been a little better balanced. Finish is more smokey and a little bitter.

On Tap at brewpub: Brown with red hues when held to the light and not much head. The aroms is alcohol and something a bit strange I couldn’t identify. The taste is sweet and smoky, tangy leather flavor with a ting of bitterness. The aftertaste is grain as well as cardboard. At times, it seemed weird and I couldn’t tell if it was due to what I was eating or what.

2005 Batch: pours with naught the head and a slightly cloudy, burnt amber body; caramelly, peaty aroma; smokey and quite malty and thick, some notes of earthy hops, peat, toffee and medicinal phenolics; almost cloyingly sweet, initially, but with a definite bitterish finish; thick and chewey palate; slightly undercarbonated even for the style, but quite a nice example.

I felt like something was missing from this one. It has good appearance with its head, lacing, and amber/brown color. The aroma was pleasant but it foreshadowed what was to come: nothing great. The malt is sweet but subtle. Other flavors are present but very weak. Decent beer, but Josh can do better.

Aroma is delicious with complex malt and a sweet caramel and light hop nose. Color is dark ruby brown with small head and lacing all the way up. The flavor is has notes of fig and cheese with a startling good balance of sweet malt. The mouthfeel is very light given the flavors, but rounds out everything. Overall this was a great scottish served at one of the best brewpubs in town, another winner from Sockeye.