Sprecher Bourbon Barrel Scotch Style Ale

Brewed by Sprecher Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Glendale, Wisconsin USA

Tap at Hop Devil Grill. Clear amber beer, thick off-white head. Aroma is sweet and full of vanilla and demerara sugar. Soft sweet caramel flavour up front, toffee and loads of oaky bourbon. Sweet vanilla, slightly earthy hop flavour as well. Peppery and the body seems a little hot and thin for the style. A bit too bourbon-dominated for my tastes, but it’s still quite good.

Tap at HDG Strong Fest. Copper with a big frothy cream color head. Aroma of dark Russian bread and antique wood furniture. Leafy and earthy malt flavor with some caramel and oak, though nothing which necessarily screams bourbon. A bit of gum and burnt marshmallow notes as well. Light to medium body, kind of a thin mouthfeel. Good, not mind-blowing.

"Aged in oak bourbon barrels" says a lot. Pours dark golden brown with a lighter golden head. Aroma is yeast, malt, peat, and ripened fruit. The flavor is strong with oak and bourbon. The palate is numbed with alcohol and the finish is a mix of sweetness, alcohol, and peat. If you enjoy single malt scotch whiskey, you will be reminded of something from the Spreyside region.

I tried this over the Holidays. I enjoyed it more than others here. I like the twinge of medicine that comes with peat smoked malt. It lacked any character from the bourbon barrel, though - must have spent very little time on it.

One liter bottle shared with some Quebecois and Ontrarians at the Montreal YeHa 2006 tasting, from a McAuslan glass. Murky yeasty caramel-colored body with little head that lasts....lightly smoky, peaty dry aroma is ok on first nosing but quickly takes on medicinal characteristics and a bit of a plastic quality....sweet, simple flavor profile, a bit of maple and lots of caramel, little to no peaty/earthy qualities and certainly no discernible smokiness to me....the barrel has rounded this to the point of mushiness; extremely dull and rather dissapointing.

Bottle. Pours a murky brown body with a sudsy white head. The aroma is strange in some aspects, while there is dark sugar, bread, caramel, and smoke most of the time...you find yourself with pungent cheese at other moments. Tastes pretty straightforward with a whack of sweet peaty malt, barrel, and alcohol.

Bouteille, de 1 l avec bouchon de céramique, partagée dans le cadre du "Montréal YeHA! Party 2006" chez Goldorak. Arôme: Odeur de beurre et de vanille avec une pointe de terre. Apparence: La couleur est brune. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de butterscotch et de petits fruits confits. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. (Rating #801)

Tasted at YeHA! 2006 in Montreal. App.: med.-dark copper and clear. Aroma: strong ammonia, wood, faint sweetness, malt, dried fruits, toffe, STANK of smear-ripened cheese...bizarre to say the least! Palate: med. body and med.-low carbonation. Flav.: grapes, raisins, molasses, licorice, alcoholic, a little woody, wine wine characteristics and a stinging finish (from the alcohol). Thankfully the cheese stayed out of my mouth.