Belhaven Scottish Ale
Belhaven Scottish Ale is another from my Beer of the Month club. It’s the main export brew from Belhaven Brewery, a solid, er, Scottish Ale at 5.2% alcohol by volume.
Appearance: Very nice shiny bright copper in color, with a good two fingers of creamy pale tan head. Very clear.
Smell: Full of biscuit and caramel, very rich and bready and slightly nutty-sweet. Steady background of hops, lightly bitter and clean.
Taste: Nutty, malty flavor that’s very rich without being too sweet… there’s an edge of roasted malts lurking about the back. The hops hold the line, maintaining a very cleansing bittering presence. A hint of honey.
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and clean… filling, quenching presence in the mouth—makes you want to keep drinking.
Overall: I enjoyed this quite a bit, a classic, iconic Scottish Ale right from the source (as it should be).
On BeerAdvocate, it scores a grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.25 out of 5 and is in their 66th percentile.