Traquair House Ale

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

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.

Bottle from Sam’s Quickie Mart in Bull City! Not a cheap bottle. Five Bucks. But I had been meaning to try this for quite some time. On initial pour, dark mohogany color with little to no head and a nice off white lacing and no aroma to speak of. Keep in mind this beer was in a cold refrigertor. It needed time to cool for the aromas to wake up. Very nutty and malty nose. Flavor is malty too, a little bit of smoke and alcohol, with a pleasent hop bitterness. You can tell this beer is really well crafted. Great balance of flavors. Even though it has that noticable bit in the flavor is still blends well together for an enjoyable experiece.

Bottle from Systembolaget. I’ve got to be honest - after the first sniff and sip of this beer I hated it. I even contemplated a drain pour, but I’m glad I didn’t because this beer’s aroma transformed remarkably so many times during the 30 minutes I sipped it. Upon opening I was hit by bubblegum (just like the gob-stoppers I used to buy as a child) and a distinct metallic nose. The beer poured a red tea colour with fizzy sepia head that foamed and frothed itself out in under a minute. My first sip reminded me of busgrogg, a Swedish ’drink’ where you mix a cheap low strength beer with a dash of moonshine. The alcohol is very obvious, dominating the very thin palate and leaving a sensation like you’ve just garggled with mouthwash. What saved this beer from certain 2-point-something was the way the aroma evolved in the glass. From bubblegum it shifted to sweet porridge and oats, then caramel and finally delicious butterscotch. I’ve never experienced such a transformation before - which lifted this otherwise strange brew out from the very ordinary to the rather intriguing.

well, i was going to call it burgundy until i saw the light hit the glistening, deep dar, but unhazy brown. the pour off the 11.2oz (330ml) bottle yields a beautiful above average (1.5-2") head that slowly erodes to reveal a quite respectable bubbly head. luckily, this does not mask the aroma in any way. even with a rather stuffy nose, i can still pick out the malts - quite pungent indeed. tart fruit, citrus to be exact, maybe even close to the fruits in a monk’s cafe - complimented by the lemongrassy hoppiness coming across in most ipas and i2pas that i have sampled recently, leave a lsting distinct impression that this will not be a typical esa. the tasting reveals a very well balanced ripe fruity, slighty toasted hop character as well as a chewy, peaty, and seaweed (most likely from the geographic region of brew) malt flavor. the finish is a bit dry, but somehow leans towards the balance i spoke of earlier. the finish is about average. remaining is a tart finish without being either sweet or sour, while still supporting the character of the aromas. congrats to the brewers. worth the price? no, but close, 2 bucks cheaper and i’d buy a case

Malty aroma that speaks of a scottish ale. Flavor is clean and dominated by malt. Alcohol is very prevalent in both the aroma and the taste. I had to check the label for alcohol content, I would have guessed higher than 7.2% Not sure what all the fuss is over this beer.... it tasted like a regular scottish to me.

Dark reddish with small brown head. Aroma is malty and sweetish with lots of dark fruit. Taste is the same add lots of bitterness. The beer has a full body and feels good to wirl in your mouth. I also like the alcohol wich is warming yet never sticky. Only bad thing is I was having a cold drinking it, thus might be missing several aspect of it. None the less a great beer.

(Bottle) Pours beautiful, deep red to brown. Haavy malty, sweet aroma with toffee, caramel and fruits. Light notes of chocolate, smoke and liquor. Smooth, malty mouthfeel with tones of chocolate, toffee and caramel. Ending with some light sour berries and alcohol. Medium body. Nice.

I was shocked to see this was an English Strong Ale, as it has all of the taste and appearance of a Scottish Ale. Brown pour with an off-white head. Nice aroma of caramel, smoke, and earthiness. More caramel and smoke in the taste, with some peat, toffee, and a lot of malt. Smooth taste and mouthfeel. Delicious.