Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA (USA) (Bottle)

On draft at Doyle’s in Tacoma. I was warned that this was not a typical IPA, and that proved accurate. Not a lot of body or hop presence. At first I thought the primary flavor was herbal in nature, perhaps heather (Harmon Brewery here in Tacoma did a Scottish heather beer this summer.) About halfway through the pint I pinned the character down to a very light, barely smoked peat flavor, which seemed appropo of the source, and still backed by a very subtle herbal touch. It was interesting, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to have it again.

500ml bottle. Pours a clody deep straw with a nice thick puffy head. The aroma is nice and hoppy with something else that I’m guessing is thistle or something The taste is nice and lightly bitter with some interesting hoppy notes. It isn’t an amazing IPA but it is interesting and quite drinkable.

Every year I go to the Estes Park Highlands Festival. It’s a pleasant weekend trip to a pleasant place where Irish and Scot enthusiasts, by blood or by interest, can get together and wax poetic about the ruggedness of the Highlands and the indescribable fashion of kilts. Still, it lacks in good beer. Guiness, Harp’s, a mix of the two and the persistently execrable Smithwick’s all make appearances alongside a tent of vintage Glenfiddich scotch, but nothing for my tastes. Two days prior to the festival I popped open a bottle of celebratory beer to make up for the event’s lackluster boozer offerings. What would celebrate Scottish heritage more than Twisted Thistle IPA – a beer very proud of its northern birthplace, in name at least. The swaying thistles, a startling purple on the Highland green evokes a sigh of longing for the Scottish windswept knolls. It harkens to a land of ebullient and stout men and woman trudging through long grass in skirts to have at a thick stew to keep a nipping wind at bay. It is a very Scottish beer indeed, where romantic day dreaming is concerned. The reality is more…crushing. It’s a standard orange and autumnal colored beer, with a head like an old man’s – lackluster gray but brimming with persistence. The aroma blends honey tea, orange, lemon, hops and an unexpected element of glazed carrots to make a semi-sweet and semi-savory smell. But the flavors fail to match up to its olfactory counterpart. At first it tastes pretty flatly like chemicals with a pleasing texture, but the taste sits in the back of the throat long after it’s been given the eviction notice. It has a hops element to it, but that may be it. Chemicals and hops. Really a terrible way to emphasize such a linear taste, and a terrible way to deprive a youth in his kilt of tasting the flavors of Scotland a few days before his birthday bash at the Scottish festival. Scotch and its shoe polish connotations are a definite preferred alternative to get the Scottish pride stirred before he mingles with his own.

Okay, you want to know why this beer isn’t in the top 500 or more like top 1000? It is absolutely tasteless. No hops and really little of anything.

Bottle. Good aroma and look. Keeps a decent head. Taste is good but falls flat on the palate. Very mild but pretty well balanced.

Bottle. Amber beer with a nice off-white head. Citrus and earthy/grassy aroma. Slight citrus and earthy flavor with good malt backing. Decent hop flavor, but not very bitter. Easy to drink.

Pours a deep golden color with a thick rocky white head. Aroma is fruit and spicy hops. Full rich creamy mouthfeel with sweet malt flavor and citrusy notes as well as a sharp, but not overdone, hop bitterness. Refreshingly good.

from a 500 ml. bottle. Poured a burnished copper color with a nice fluffy white head. Nice lacing down the imperial pint glass. As I expected with a Scot’s ale it had a nice iodine malt flavor. Something some might read as phenolic. Good balance between alcohol warmth, malt sweetness/mouthfeel, and hop bitterness. I distrusted this beer as authentic UK b/c of the cascades, but I have to say the use is judicious. It doesn’t have that US microbrew pine/grapefruit overdone thing. For anyone who sees cascade on the label and thinks it’ll be like 3 Flloyds, forget it. If you want a nice, balanced IPA with a Scot’s twiist...try it.