Caledonian Robert Burns

Formerly brewed at Caledonian (Heineken UK)
Style: Old Ale
Edinburgh, Scotland

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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This beer started life as bottle conditioned, then became pastuerised. The claim on my 2002 version is that it has become bottle conditioned again. This is a pleasant brew with a nice yeasty/brown bread after taste - but slightly spoiled by the straight ahead sugar sweetness.

Tasted this in the Saltcot, Saltcoats (JDW) in January 2000. Cask, handpump dispense. Clear mahogany in colour with a thin creamy white head. Strong distinctive Caley aroma of soft toffee. Thin but creamy texture to the mouthfeel and good lacing. Pale malt complex gives a robust maltloaf base with sweet notes of velvet butterscotch, dates, maple syrup and rum soaked raisins. No strong hop presence noted in the short aftertaste as sweetness continues into the toffee laced malty finish. A cracking take on the old ale style and ticks all the right boxes for me. Excellent session ale to celebrate the national bard.

Cask Handpump at the Beer House, Manchester 25/01/2003 Golden coloured and slightly rich on the palate. Lasting malt hop finish.

Bottle Conditioned. Dingy brown with short head. I have been looking forward to this for a while, after all a Scottish (for now) Brewery producing a beer in the name of its favourite poet (some might say), it must be good. Well this is a real stinker, sweet and plummy are the best adjectives I can give it, other than that a total waste of time, no body, no interesting asides, a flabby raw ale as R.B would say.

Cask at The Anchor, Birmingham. No head, some lacing, pleasant caramel aroma. This was a nicely sweet brew, with big dollops of toffee and lemon. Very slight bitterness on the finish, but fairly restrained. A rather nice brew.

Handpump, Head of Steam, Euston, London. From previous comments, it seems this might be rather better from the cask than from the bottle. Mid brown colour. Malt dominates the aroma, as expected. Although it was smooth and slightly sweet in the mouth, in the Scottish style, there was also plenty of bite to balance that out and, if fact, it finished quite dry. Medium bodies, well balanced and easy drinking. A nice drop.

Supposed to be bottle conditioned but was as clear as a bell and no sediment in bottle. Citrus hops on the nose followed by a hint of malt. Chewy body with hints of caramel and toffee backed up with a yeasty bite in the finish.