Barrio Bourbon Scotch Ale

Brewed by Barrio Brewing Co.
Style: Scotch Ale
Tucson, Arizona USA

Serve in Thistle

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Why is some vato from New York rating a beer brewed within walking distance of my apartment before me? Oh well, the Bourbon Scotch Ale (on tap, obvs, at Barrio) isn’t anything spectacular. The beer wasn’t too far afield from a McEwan’s, but Barrio is good brewery so I expected a bit more than a knock off. I felt like it could’ve been a bit heartier, really. I like bourbon. I like scotch. I feel like a Bourbon Scotch Ale should be every bit as tasty as it sounds, and this just wasn’t.

Cask at the brewery. Pours a reddish brown. Lots of malty bourbon barrel and caramel aroma. Taste is big malt driven, caramel, earthy with lots of bourbon and oak notes. Really good.

Amber with a nice full head. Wonderful whiskey noses with a decent amount of malting behind the scenes to keep well-balanced aromatically. Likewise, sweetly balanced whiskey notes dominate the flavor. Not too much alcohol detectable despite the strength. Served off of cask--this one was excellent.

Arrives from the tap with an amber tinged, dark tan colored head that is a scant ¼-finger thick. The beer is a deep amber tinged, red color that shows a brilliantly clear, copper tinged, red hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of soft, Bourbon derived, sweet / toasted coconut, richly caramelized malt, touches of toffee and an unexpected, bright, almost fake berry character (like from an otterpop almost). This fruitiness is fleeting though, and is not always noticeable (which is a good thing). In the end the nose is a nice showcase for the Bourbon without it being overbearing.

Somewhat sweet tasting up front, this is more caramelized than simple sugar sweetness though; as it rolls across the palate the sweetness is accentuated by vanillin and coconut notes, as well as a touch of fruitiness. The finish has a soft bite of spicy bourbon and alcohol like notes as well as a touch of nutty / toasted malt / bread-like character; these notes help to dry the beer out somewhat, though the vanillin and coconut notes definitely linger a bit on the palate. The beer is, of course, a bit colder than I would prefer, which seems to substantially deaden the malt character (though at this point that is purely conjecture). There seems to be a hint of tartness to the finish, that seems reminiscent of Bourbon, though I am not entirely sure. There is a soft bite of hop bitterness here and the beer is fairly well carbonated, both of these help to carry the medium, somewhat viscous body that this beer has; though in truth, I would think that a little less carbonation might work a little bit better here. The caramel malt character adds hints of toffee, sweet caramelized bread notes, a definite toasted bread note and just a nice, rich caramel note.

I really like how subtle the Bourbon influence is in this beer. It is about at the right level to not overly dominate the beer; though it is the most noticeable note in this beer, but there is enough malt to stand up to this. This is surprisingly good, I wasn’t expecting to like this nearly as much as I am; I really like how balanced it is and I really appreciate that it is really not very hot at all.

On tap at Barrio Brewing. Pours a clear orange amber with a thin white head. Aroma of sweet bourbon. One dimensional in aroma. Flavor of sweet malt up front (actually it tastes like vanilla ice cream) with bourbon and oak in the finish. Sweet, certainly, but not too bad and drinkable at a slow pace. 6/4/8/4/14 (3.6/5)