Sprecher Piper's Scotch Ale

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Not as hearty and bready as some of the true Scotch Ales I had. On the thinner side as far as caramel malt and flavor...though I tasted a decent amount of liquid smoke. Seemed only about 5-6%, so was surprised it was over 8% ABV. A nice enjoyable beer...which I used as a dinner pairing.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Pours a light caramel color with a single-finger of head. There are a few bits of spotty lacing here and there along with a bubbly head. The nose is pretty light with a tad bit of chocolate and caramel. The taste is slightly cidery along with some caramel, peat, and toffee. The feel is quite thin and slightly astringent. Overall a bit above average Scotch ale.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Comes out of the growler a clear and bubbly mahogany, almost a Coca-Cola brown with a fluffy and frothy, if not persistent, buff head. Malty aroma has a strong syrupy caramel overtone and just a hint of cloves - and yes, a hint of roast malt. Flavor echoes the caramel and roast malt notes of the aroma, with touches of cloves and barbecue. Flavor is firm and smooth, if not too fizzy. Overall, satisfying and enjoyable. Let this Piper down your pipes.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

A smokey beer with not much more going on for it. not a bad idea as far as mixing a scotch ale with a smoked ale, you would think smoke and peat would work well, not that this doesn't, just not to over the top or remarkable.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Drank quite a few of these on draught at Milwaukee's Irish Fest while listening to Solas, Eileen Ivers, Saw Doctors, Gaelic Storm, etc. Perfect brew for the occasion; even made me forget that you can't buy Guinness at the fest(!) This one, though, is from the bottle: poured a deep amber brown with a thin off-white head. Pleasing nose of roasted malt, smoke, and fruity alcohol. Soft, smooth and full mouthfeel. Solid, sweetish peated malt flavors. Long, full finish with slight alcohol warming. Tastes like another.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Courtesy of BeerHunter - and think you very much for this is one of my favorite styles. Pours a deep brown-amber with a thin creamy head and some lacing. Little carbonation. Aromas of sweet and toasted malts, smoked peat, earthy sweet ripe fruits and alcohol. Taste is foremost malty with a slight smokiness and earthiness along with a very slight ripe fruit and a little hops finish with kick ass alcohol in the end. Loved it.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

This Scotch ale pours a medium amber color from a 12oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is smoky, peaty and sweet, touch of brown sugar. A medium bodied Scotch ale. The malts are caramel and sweet. Touch of smoke and peat. The hops are earthy and floral. Nice beer. Good carbonation, nice balance. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottle number 39319 FL, 063471541, Sampled October 2007
Hmm, a salty smoke character wafts from the beer as I pour this; I bet some peat smoked malt was used here. The beer pours with a frothy, initially two-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer sits in my glass a drab, concentrated, very dark, amber color, but shows a striking, brilliantly clear, garnet color when held up to the light. Wow, this has a lot of peat character here; I was expecting something on the subtle side based on the bottle description, but this is full on salty, smoky, pungently sweet, peat smoke character. The peat character is not huge though and I can get other aromatic notes from the nose; aromas of raisins, toasty grain, caramelized sugars and bright-sweet plum are all noticeable up front, but quickly disappear under the peat if you spend an extended time smelling this brew.

Sweetish and malt up front, this beer tastes of malt derived raisins and prunes up front. This quickly moves towards the phenolic peat notes that more or less dominate the finish of this brew. The peat-smoke character is not quite as dominant in the flavor as it was in the aroma, but it still plays a major role in the finish of this beer. Salty and earthy, with a smoky phenolic note that at times can approach burnt plastic. Despite the malt sweetness, this beer only has a medium heft to it; this helps to keep this drinkable, though a bit more body and malt might stand up to the peat character a bit more. The sweet notes lean towards complexly caramelized / maillard malt sugar notes, but don't quite get fully there. What should be rich & malty, somehow has a little bit too much of a simplistic, simple, sweet malt character to be great (this again going back to the body of the brew).

For those who like lots of peat smoked malt in a beer, this should be right up your alley. Despite a love for smoky, single malt Islay's, I prefer a very subtle backdrop of peat, that just perks up the complexity of a brew. While I would not categorize this as a heavy handed use of peat, I think this would be a much better for me if it had a bit less. Half this amount would still be quite noticeable, and even an 1/8 the amount that was used would add to the complexity of the base beer. While I don't quite think that this beer works, it is quite engaging, and quite contemplative; if the malt character were kicked up a notch (meaning bumping up the final & original gravities a corresponding amount through more malt used and a higher mash temperature) this beer would be quite a bit more enjoyable and even down right great. Still, I am enjoying this brew, so I certainly can't complain too much.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

This poured a light copper coloured body with a full tan head. Holds a pleasent and very noticable caramel aroma. Mouthfeel is creamy, sweet and enticing. Flavors of smoke, oak and toffee. very pleasent all around.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Orange/dark nutty brown colour, off-white head. Aroma is leather, malts and a bit hops. Flavour is quite the same with also some nuts in it. A lot like Orkney’s Skull splitter in my opinion.