Traquair House Ale

Brewed by Traquair
Style: English Strong Ale
Innerleithen, Borders, Scotland

pours an almost dirty brown with no head. nice sweet smell. nice malty flavor good finish as well. pretty good but not worth 5 bucks for a 12oz bottle

12(ish) ounce bottle, poured into a trappist (Chimay) glass. Pours a very dark brown, almost opaque. Has a very thin head that dissapears almost immediately. Smells malty, citrusy, smokey with a hoppy background. Very little hop in the taste, more fruity malt, very much like a brown ale. Palate is kind of disappointing. The carbonation it has is extremely tiny bubbles, feels almost flat. Not a bad beer, but not worth the price tag ($3.99/bottle)

(Bottle) Pours dark and brown, with some sediment in here despite being filtered. Medium palate with some dark malty and fruity notes and a little bit of smoked wood. Alcohol is nicely hidden. It’s a pretty decent beer, but not worth $5 for a 12 oz. bottle.

Bottle. Overall, I am very impressed. I am always skeptical when reading "Older brewery in oldest house..." et cetera. It always seems like a ply to pawn off cheap beer on to unsuspecting individuals. This, however, is not the case here! A deep, vibrant, brown ale with a quickly diminishing head. Very dry flavour with a bitter hop finish, with hints of nutty malts. Excellent.

From an 11.2 oz bottle (thanks to my fellow beer-loving boss for bringing this to dinner ... he makes more than I do!). A deep mahogoney brown that doesn’t let the merest hint of light escape. The thin white top invites you in. Although the aroma is light in nature, it’s nice musty caramel flourish draws you in even more. Finally ... I get to taste it! Nice. Exceptionally well designed, this is a beauty. Deep and tantalizing in it’s roastiness with a full complement of oakiness, caramel, toffee, dark plum and buttery finish ... but done in such a manner as to not offend anyone. God, I love beer. (#2668, 1/28/07)

Pours dark bromn with an off-white head. Nice woody maltiness with alcohol well hidden. Medium bodied. Somewhat spicy finish with a little bitterness.

Pours dark and relatively murky for a supposedly filtered beer. The nose is musty, not quite right in my opinion, but it doesn’t smell spoiled. Mostly dry, not much malt, earthy, slightly oaky. On the right side there are some figgy prune smells in here. It was hard not to give this end a below average rating. The palate is unimpressive. Largely dead carbonation, not much mouthfeel. Reminiscent of a Sammy Smith. The flavors are a bit bigger though, again, reminding me of the Sammy Smith Imperial Stout. Big ass prune to plum to fig to raisin. Perceptible alcohol and diacetyl. Just the most gentle of hops. More butter in the finish, though balanced by that nondescript musky funk. Finish is bitter, slightly roasty, again, with some diacetyl. Aftertaste has stronger roast and fingering dark fruit. Not a huge fan quite honestly. But interesting.

Bottle at home. Excellent first impression. Lovely, dark brown oatmeal color. Short-lasting head. Very spicy scent. Spicy, sugary and tangy flavors. Can taste orange fruits. Smooth finish.