Belhaven Scottish Ale - Belhaven Brewery Company Ltd.

tjsdomer2

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Copper with an amber tint. It's a cloudy beer as well. Tons and tons of foam and lacing, making this beer very attractive!

Smell: I expected to find this beer malty, and it is as such with a caramel maltiness. However, I did not expect the hops, which I found as well. Sweet hops pervades throughout this beer. It's a very very good smell that doesn't need much else.

Taste/Mouthfeel: I like the taste. It's bitter, but sweet. Definitely caramel and hops, something I hadn't been used to. Farily complex, since it warms nicely and almost becomes a bit fruity, but only faintly. As for how this feels...holy cow! Amazing amazing creaminess make this as smooth as a baby's bottom! I hate to be cliché but I found this extraordinarily smooth! One of the best!

Drinkability: Another good pub brew!

Overall: The initial appearance raises expectations, as does the feel. Ultimately, this beer does not live up to those expectations, preventing a high A grade.

Serving type: nitro-tap

04-24-2010 06:41:45 | More by tjsdomer2

Lovely85

Florida

4/5  rDev +5.3%

06-20-2013 00:05:22 | More by Lovely85

KYGunner

Kentucky

3.75/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

I really like the coloring of the ale as it holds so many different hues. Brown in low light to cherry reddish in higher light it is highly carbonated with a bubbly head. No lacing was left after the head retreated quickly.

Caramel malted with a tinge of hop bitterness the aroma is pleasant but not overly pronounced. Some nuttiness but the malt is dominate.

The scent and taste fall rightly aligned as caramel malt leads the way. Some of a Nut Brown Ale like quality comes out in a nutty, malty yet dry taste. A touch of graininess ends with a slightly metallic aftertaste.

I like a good Scottish Ale and this is in line with the model for the style.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2013 22:51:15 | More by KYGunner

Riik3

Georgia

4/5  rDev +5.3%

06-18-2013 22:17:23 | More by Riik3

backphish

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -7.9%

06-10-2013 03:39:31 | More by backphish

cw13

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +11.8%

06-08-2013 13:14:20 | More by cw13

Pecan

California

3/5  rDev -21.1%

06-08-2013 03:22:20 | More by Pecan

HomrQT

Illinois

5/5  rDev +31.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

The beer of my house is now under the Belhaven flag. I'm a big fan of this beer and couldn't speak more highly of it. It's a sweet, smooth ale that doesn't get disgusting as you drink more of it. I would recommend this beer to anyone. It's quality through and through!

Serving type: can

06-07-2013 23:03:45 | More by HomrQT

NickBeery

Maine

3.75/5  rDev -1.3%

06-07-2013 00:23:49 | More by NickBeery

Beric

Michigan

3.48/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Serving: Clear bottle poured into footed pilsner glass
Served: 6 June 2013

Appearance: Deep caramel, copper color with hints of red-gold thrown in for good measure. Nice two finger head that slowly collapses into just a ring of small, cream colored froth around the edges. Nice streams of bubbles coming from the bottom of the glass. Minimal lacing.

Smell: Immediately after opening the bottle, you could smell the skunkiness (clear bottle). Thankfully this dissipated quickly, to reveal a smell that was malty with just the faintest hint of hops.

Taste: Tastes decent- very malty. It has a lighter malty taste than say, a Doppelbock, but the overall malt profile, in my opinion, is similar between the two styles. Not the biggest fan of Doppelbock, but this less intense caramelized malt taste is much better. Just the faintest hop presence, as obviously this is not a hoppy style by nature.

Mouthfeel: Somewhat watery, but the carbonation makes it nice and refreshing. Small bubbles lead to a good medium overall carbonation.

Overall: Overall a good beer. I like malty beers, but more roasted malts (i.e. in porters, stouts) than this kind of stuff. The very skunky smell originally present leads to the biggest downgrade in rating. Probably much better from a can.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2013 22:12:36 | More by Beric

Brewmeistermeisterbrewer

New York

4.75/5  rDev +25%

06-06-2013 16:41:36 | More by Brewmeistermeisterbrewer

domnalbrecc

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +11.8%

06-02-2013 19:53:12 | More by domnalbrecc

Hoptometrist

Oregon

2.78/5  rDev -26.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Served on nitro-tap into a nonic glass

A- Poured a dark sem-hazy brownish amber color with some visible carbonation, solid frothy off-white lace that stuck around forever and left some chunky dense lace

S- Light aroma, medicinal notes, mineral water, some fruity esters, but not much

T- Dominant flavors of cream, fruity british yeast esters, cardboard, and mineral water. Not flavorful and the flavor that was there was not that interesting.

M- Quite creamy and smooth up front, soft carbonation, finished quite watery though

O- A pretty bland beer in my opinion. Really didn't taste like other Scottish Ales I have had, although this is the first one I have had from Scotland. I thought this beer was pretty underwhelming and reminded me of less-flavorful versions of some British bitters and ESBs that I have had.

Serving type: nitro-tap

05-31-2013 04:31:24 | More by Hoptometrist

Blumstein

Texas

4/5  rDev +5.3%

05-28-2013 04:26:48 | More by Blumstein

ManIam

Illinois

4/5  rDev +5.3%

05-27-2013 23:08:04 | More by ManIam

Troville1990

Illinois

4/5  rDev +5.3%

05-24-2013 05:44:23 | More by Troville1990

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +5.3%

05-23-2013 23:53:15 | More by Slatetank

kvnstfrd

Missouri

3.75/5  rDev -1.3%

05-23-2013 13:23:52 | More by kvnstfrd

Rdc67

Kentucky

3.75/5  rDev -1.3%

05-22-2013 20:38:25 | More by Rdc67

pin

Australia

2.5/5  rDev -34.2%

05-21-2013 22:31:49 | More by pin

canders0927

Texas

3/5  rDev -21.1%

05-21-2013 15:01:37 | More by canders0927

johntfox

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -1.3%

05-21-2013 01:29:55 | More by johntfox

Mark88

Ohio

3.25/5  rDev -14.5%

05-20-2013 01:56:00 | More by Mark88

GTB

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +11.8%

05-17-2013 13:54:36 | More by GTB

mralbertson

North Carolina

2/5  rDev -47.4%

05-14-2013 03:56:40 | More by mralbertson