Sprecher Pipers Scotch Ale

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

16 fl oz bottle purchased at Gomers in Lenexa, Kansas. Pour is hazy, a bit murky ruby cordovan with pretty settling that builds up a lasting one inch tan head. Very little lacing. Aroma of sweet grassy caramel malt and some mildly smoked peat. Behind that is more straw, and a nice soft cherry fruit. Nice inviting nose. Taste is the fruit sweetness first, followed by grassy caramel toasted malt and finishes with the smoky peat. The smoke is more pronounced than the nose, but is nicely ingrated with the sweetness. Palate is medium to full, lowish carbonation and a mineral grainy finish. The sweetness edges on cloying towards the very back, and becomes more honey than caramel cherry. I enjoyed this one quite a bit, nice beer.

Bottle. Pours with a hazed toffee colored body and a khaki white, creamy, largish head. Aroma of raisin, peat, butterscotch, vanilla, charred wood, caramel, and copper. Taste is strong in peat, smoke, earthy tones, beef jerky, liquid smoke and metal with a touch of dark fruits and caramel. Light carbonation and full mouthfeel. A bit astringent on the finish with the smokey peat.

Pours a murky brown red color with a very full tan head. Aroma has a very strong fruitiness to it, lots of caramel, apple, cherry and dark fruit, light smokiness, along with a bunch woody, toasted malt notes. Flavor starts off with a nice smooth smokey/peat flavor, the taste then does a 180 and provides a very caramel, light cherry, raisin/prune/dark fruit sweetness and finishes with a great woody malt presence. Balance on this beer is fantastic (perfect amount of smokey/peat flavor that isn’t overbearing), density is nice and heavy with sugary feel and the alcohol is pretty well hidden. This beer is fabulous and one I highly recommend you find while its around! One of my new favs that really represents this style well and one I would love to brew up myself sometime as a clone recipe.

16 ounce bottle. Pours a ruby red color with a very slight haze. Small head head decent head retention and lacing. Aroma is caramel, light toast and faint fruity notes. Taste is caramel, toffee, smoke. Fairly straightforward and tasty. Slightly warming alcohol. Medium bodied. Decent beer.

Dark brown colour with ruby notes, off-white creamy head. Malty nose with hints of smoke (wet birch-wood?) and dark fruit. Malty taste with dried fruit (raisins, prunes) and hints of smoke. Medium to full body, sweetish and warming. Nice balance. Would be lovely on a chilling winter afternoon.

Bottle courtesy of FlssmrBrewAlum. Pours a hazy brown with a nice light brown head. Aroma is caramel, malt, peat, wood and earthiness. Flavor is wood and peaty, caramel, biscuit, toffee, smoke, dark fruits and a touch of bitter hops. This beer is not sweet like most scotch ales i’ve had and the alcohol is very well hidden. The peat and smoke flavors really shine through as a result. Excellent Scotch Ale.

[2081-20090410] 1pt bottle. Sweet raisin malt aroma with heavy brandy and sweet currants. Hazy, dark red brown body with a medium-lasting creamy light tan head. Smoky mossy earth flavour has a lots of peat and a long dirt finish. Medium body is alcoholic throughout. Fine, though a little boozy.
(c/o GregClow, w/ him, jerc)

16 oz bottle courtesy of the brewery (Glendale, WI) on my trip there in February. Pours a reddish brown, dark and pretty, nearly transparent, decent offwhite tannish head that laces a bit, eventually dies down to a small layer. Aromas are heavy on peaty malts, caramel and vanilla swirl with biscuits and toffee, toasty malts with a nice creamy sweetness. A nice full Scotch Ale feel. Initial is a bit light on body, taking on a light smokiness even initially. Kind of a shocker to me. Caramel, toffee, and toasty malts mix with creamy sweetness, peat and some fainy whiskey notes, moving into an interesting smokiness on the backend of the palate. The sweetness does not take center stage, as the interesting smokiness does. Smoked meat even, with malty sweetness and ruggedness, light bittering hops are definitely there, putting some much needed balance into the fold. Overall, a little light on body but the flavors are interesting, enjoyable, and overall a good experience. Cheers.