Eleventh Meeting

We're here in Crystal for the eleventh meeting of the Wild Turkey Beer Club. The theme: Scotch Ale. The mascot: Mr. P. We're missing Tom J and Derek from the mix, and we may have a female guest taster in Kayla McFarm Ham.

First Beer: Moylan's Kilt Lifter. This CA Wee Heavy checks in at 8% ABV. It pours a dark copper. The taste is caramel and bread crust. This is Joe's selection, and one of his favorite beers of all time. People are eating brats right now so the conversation has pretty much ceased.

BPA: 3.32

Next up, we have Great Divide Claymore Scotch Ale. Suggested pairing is lamb shank, after you kill it by hand. This one is 7.7%, but it pours awfully dark. "This is really yummy, and you can quote me Tom." -Brent This beer doesn't have a malty introduction, according to Belfry, and agreed by everyone. It's far more bitter than the last beer we tried, without any of the sweetness.

BPA: 3.1

Colin's second offering is Founders Dirty Bastard. Founders is among the top breweries around, so we all expect this one to garner among the highest ratings. This doggy arfs around 8.3%. This one is quite a bit hoppier than a last few, which is unusual for the style. The conversation is wandering off topic to the land of reading. Which some believe poisons the mind.

BPA: 3 (ed. note: surprisingly low)

Colin has a single 12 oz pour of our only Scottish produced Scotch Ale tonight, Orkney Skullsplitter. This one is 8.5% and was brewed by the one and only Highlander. It was stirred with his Kurgan sword. It smells of Werthers originals, just like a standard nursing home. It's sweet and boozy, but with a malt backbone.

BPA: 3.67

Tom's offering is a growler of Town Hall's Hope and King. Nope, we don't. I forgot it at home. DAMMIT. We'll review it next week or something, so what, I don't care.

EDIT: It's the week after, and I've remembered the growler of the Scotch Ale. Let's do this! It's a pretty smooth drinking Scotch, and not nearly as flavorful as the other ones. I think our taste buds are calibrated to Pilsners right now, so we're going to rate this right away.

BPA: 2.9

Guhhhh

Next is French Broad's Wee Heavy-er. I've neve heard of this brewery, so we're all interested to give it a try. It smells of Belgian candi. Wow, this is a Weir one. It's quite sour, but the malts and cinnamon are obvious.

BPA: 2.28

Waxed. Swing-topped- Grolsch style. This one is Sprecher Scotch Ale Aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels, coming in at 10.2%. It smells of boooooze. Holy cow, it is just a big fat liquid Werthers. It has a slight boozy burn, but it's sweet and caramelly. BOOM! That was a popular beer for sure. And the least likely of the bunch.

BPA: 3.75

Last, but maybe least, is Brent's Odell 90 Shilling. Zang! There are some hops there! It's only 5.3%, and you can tell that it's not quite the same as the last few. It tastes more like an IPA or a lager than a Scotch.

BPA: 3.10

Welp, that's it for now. I forgot my growler of Town Hall, but I'll bring it next week, and it will wreak drunken vengeance on us after we're through with whatever we taste.