Ale Asylum Sticky McDoogle

Brewed by Ale Asylum
Style: Scotch Ale
Madison, Wisconsin USA

Serve in Thistle

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On draught at the brewery taproom in Northern Madison. Pours a semi-hazy caramel amber brew with a creamy off-white head that slowly dissipates to a heavy off-white ring and film top. Some sticky lacing which explains how it got its name. Aroma of dry roasted caramel malt, a slight dark grape raisin character with dry leafy hops and some light peat. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonation with flavors of semi-dry caramel malt and some hollow dry hop bitterness and character. Finish is slightly dry, some mild bitterness that lingers around after the finish and then a light peat flavor. I am used to most scotch ales and scottish ales to be peaty and malty. Ale Asylum’s version has some dry hop added to make this a memorable beer.

Draft, 2006 GTM. Nondescript aroma. Cloudy, reddish amber. Very large, off-white head. Malty, not much to it. Beautiful lace. Nice beer but not much to it.

On tap at the brewpub. Slightly hazy, coppery orange-red body, thin off-white head. Aroma of toast and sweet berries. Sweet body with berries and caramelized sugars dominating the palate, with little peatiness. Bitter, rindy hops develop and last well into the finish. Needs more earthiness or peat to balance the sugars.

Draught at the tasting room. Dark reddish-orange color with thin off white head that didn’t leave much lace. Not much in the way of aroma other than light toasted bread and subdued brown sugar. Flavor was similarly uninspiring. Smooth mouth feel.

Lightly hazed copper color with a moderate off-white head. Light caramel, peat, and hints of sweet cream in the aroma. Flavors follow well with the aroma. There are some mild fruit flavors, with light berries and peaches that add to the caramel and peat. Finish is not real long, but enough malt to make this a very good heavy session brew.

Great Taste of the Midwest 2006


I started with a few beers I knew would not stand up after hitting the major ones later in the day. This completes my list of Ale Asylum beers to date, though I am sure they will soon have another as I chase the never ending treadmill of perfection.

Aroma / Appearance - Candy sugar, peat, caramel, cherry pie filling, wheat and smoke complete an interesting nose. It’s not quite what I would expect from a scotch ale but it is not offputting either. The body was a hazy amber with a one-finger head extending to the top of the 4 ounce sample glass.

Flavor / Palate - Sweet sugar malts, peat, caramel, cherries and honey glazed ham round out what I was able to detect. Perhaps a larger sample would make some things stand out more. Very smooth and easy to drink, it was gone before I knew it. The finish was light and woody with a lingering taste of candied apples. Not bad - hopefully next time I visit they’ll have it on tap.

Hazy brown-amber body. Butter, mint caramelized malt. The flavor brings in tangy malt alogn with green stemmy hops. Primarily sweet, good mouthfeel.

The beer pours to a very dark chestnut colored body with a lasting white head. The aroma is a sweet powdered sugar and strawberry leaf hops with a light smoked malt. The flavor is peaty, strawberry hops, sweet milk chocolate, walnuts. Creamy, velvety, nicely textured.