Belhaven Scottish Ale / Export (Bottle & Keg)

Brewed by Belhaven (Greene King)
Style: Bitter
Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland

355ml bottle, BB Jan 09. Pours an oddly appealing murky, chunk-laden, dirty bronze body, leaving whispy off-white lace on my glass. Grainy nose, reminds of a dark beer ’mash’; sweet caramel, roasted nuts, mollasses, burnt malt, and floral hops. Excellent body considering strength, smooth textured almost milky, moderate carbonation, touch of grainy astrigency. Particularly grainy malt flavour to the body, reminisant of eating crystal malt lending an overall sweetness, touch of burnt and nutty flavours, a hint of floral hopiness and subtle dark fruits in the background. Finishes quite abruptly, reasonably bitter, drying but somewhat quenching. Could easily see myself drinking many of these, a style i’m not very familiar with at all, but I must look into further!

Dark, cloudy, almost molasses in colour (reminds me of a dark, unfiltered wheat beer); hoppy traces in the aroma, but with strong blasts of rich, dark roasted barley; Has arich roatsed flavour, with an almost nutty element, very smooth; Plenty of roasted bitter after taste.

Nose is supprisingly floral, very caramel, and lightly grainy/malty. Nice amber color with solid lacing left from a thin head. Straight ahead malt character slaps the taste buds. Dark caramel flavors and just a hint of nuts. Initial hint of smoke, fades as malt takes over. There’s a nice dry finish which adds to the drinkability. There’s a mild tartness (odd) added by specialty grains, can’t put my finger on it (could be belgian aromatic malt?). Slight over carbonation for style, but has a fantastic mouth feel & finish. Overall exactly what you’re looking for in a Scottish Ale. Malty, sweet but not cloying, a complex malt character that’s hard to figure out. 500ml bottle drank with Scottish Eggs, Schlante.

Smoke was prodominent to me. Nice pint. Some sweetness. Not too flavourful, but okay.

No 432
Rated: 17.06.2008
Bottle brown, 500 ml
Appearance: Pours amber - orange to light brown, slightly reddish, well carbonated body, texture is clear, head is cappuccino - beige, frothy and medium in size, very interesting and firm lacing, head is decreasing very slowly.
Aroma: Spicy, fruity, orange peal, some fresh earthy hoppy accents, mild yeastyness, nice deep defined&balanced aroma with pale malt accent, slightly herbal and essential, peanut accents.
Flavour: Nice toasted pale malt base perfectly balanced with earthy but mild and not that bitter hoppy accent. Very soft carbonation on palate and calm touch of soft beer texture. Finish duration is medium.
Palate: Body is light to medium, texture is wattery to creamy, carboantion on palate is very gentle, finish feel is slightly astringent and with no hint of alcohol.

500. Split with dad after Highland Games in Enumclaw. Quick and dirty effort to meet the occasion with a bottled selection. :-)
Pours grainy dark brown with a pillowy, fluffy, thick tan head that lasts and lasts. Rich nose of peat, caramel, and brown sugar. Nice chewy body. The sweets come back around for the mid-palate; peat and brown sugar, mostly. Enormous amounts of flavor for the abv. Still made me very sleepy despite the not-so-high alcohol content. Loooooong peaty/biscuity finish. Served quite cold, so could have hop presence we missed, but I kind of doubt it.

A burnt amber with a distinctly tan head and a mildly sweet aroma, this lower alcohol bitter is really mild in taste as well, and easy to consumer by the pint. A ilttle nuttiness rounds out the flavor.

Pours a clear amber color with a thin creamy head. Light malty aroma. Quite smooth, nutty, malty and also a bit bitter. Light body and mouthfeel. A bit too light for me, but it was a decent beer.