Belhaven Scottish Ale / Export (Bottle & Keg)

Bottle. Clear amber, white head. Aroma is pine, caramel and molasses. Flavor is strong pine, but I don’t detect any of the complexity that I expected from the aroma.

Tap at Paddy’s at Chateau Elan. The beer is a creamy malty drink. Almost overpoweringly so. Not too complex. Decent taste, aromas, and finish.

Tap at Papago <!-- br --> Aroma was like walking into a warehouse that stores empty kegs of beer, musty malt. Cloudy brown body with big head and good amout of lacing. Flavor had a malt backbone and to my delight was not overly bitter. Smooth on the palate.

Nitro tap. Pours a creamy medium amber, clear, fluffy off white head and some lace. Aroma is slightly peaty, toasted malts, and slightly nutty. MOre wierd charred wood and smoke peat flavor with some light caramel sweetness and a relatively clean finish. Smooth and easy to drink as long as you like some peat smoke.

500ml bottle. Huge head - maybe I poured it too warm. Colour looks like day-old Coca-Cola! The aroma is fantastic, full of flavour and very strong. There’s sweet coffee, perfume and damp wood in it. The palate is fluffy and peppery. The flavors dance around - starting with strawberry (?), middle of barley and a hoppy twist at the end. A beer to enjoy. Re-rate: tot. points 3,5. Close to Belhavens McCallum stout, it has the same sweetness. Some nuts and cork in it as well.

Pours copper with a full off-white head that endures well. Moderately carbonated. Has a mild malty aroma. The palate was slightly thin which made it a good selection with a heavy meal. The taste was malty with a bit of a smoky, roasted nuttiness in the finish. Overall, it was a very quaffable and enjoyable ale.

This is absolutely one of my favorite all-time ales. I first discovered by accident several years ago, and since then if it’s on tap, I’m drinking it. The color is a nice deep amber, the head a nice white. I do notice a bit of caramel in the taste and have always felt that the finish is smooth. I’ve had it on tap, and in cans and bottles and believe that as on tap is by far the best. I can usually find bottles here.

Bottle. Poured out a rusty copper color with a decent white head. Not much to the aroma other than a bit of malt. The flavor is sweet malt and caramel initially, and then gives way to a roasted nuttiness, with a bit of peat, smoke and bitter on the finish. It was a little fizzy for my liking and a tad too thin on the palate. I remember it being much smoother on tap, probably from the nitro. Overall a pretty solid brew.