Cigar City Big Sound Scotch Ale

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Scotch Ale
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Thistle

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Bottle. Pours dark reddish brown with a thick beige head. Aroma is of deep roasted malt, caramel, light smoke and some coffee. Flavor is big roasted caramel malt and toffee, some bread and slight currant undertones are also present. Totally devoid of peat. Very rich but still very drinkable, slight bitter finish.

(Rating #5000) Bottle…This beer rocks!... Pours too dark and murky to see through – I’d say burnt caramel with a small, creamy, off-white head. Good retention. The aroma is a luxurious, odd mix of singed caramel, smoke, tobacco and a gob of charred marshmallow. Tough to figure out, but very nice. Full-bodied with a creamy/sticky mouthfeel and ticklish carbonation. The flavor is a swirl of all things sweet, caramelized, singed and toasted – espresso, chocolate, caramel and toffee. Finishes sweet and rich and leaves me wanting to pop the top on another bottle immediately. Quickly! I’m hooked and need my next fix.

Bottle. Poured a ruby brown with a medium richly beige head. Appeared low in carbonation on the pour. Really big melanoidin nose, full of caramel, toffee and that weird vinous grapiness I get in the most melanoidined out beers. Full mouthfeel with notes of smoke and caramel, yielding to some chocolate and coffee in the middle. Carbonation is appropriately low, so this big soft mouthfeel comes from the richness of the malts. There’s a melange of fruitiness in this. There’s a bit of alcohol warmth on the finish but its well displayed alongside the malts. This is a sipper due to its richness.

0.75L bottle pours deep mahogany with clear amber to rose edges and full tan head. The initial aroma as the pours ends is a pulse of cherries. Upon further inspection I get more cherries, faint dark grape jam mixing with a growing cornucopia of malts like biscuit, melanoidin, caramunich, toffee and other notes I can’t put my finger on . . . maybe chicory too. The taste starts smooth and sweet moving toward increasing levels of roasted maltiness. But first I get cherries and toffee mixing with a brief pulse of dark grape jam. Then an array of malts descend on the palate jabbing away with toffee, biscuit, melanoidin, more toffee and malt roastiness. Beyond midway coffee and chicory goodness enter and help bring the dark fruitiness and malts toward the finish. It ends with chocolate, chicory, faint dark roasted coffee beans, figs, cherries, toffee and mildly drying roasted malts. This brew has tons and tons of flavor and is a bit much for one person (me) to finish off a big bottle.

Draft at Redlight Redlight. This one pours a hazy, dark brown color with a small, foamy cream colored head. The head settles leaving rings of lacing around the glass. The aroma is really rich and malty with toffee and caramel coming forward to go with hints of dark fruits, roast, and some earthy hops. The flavor follows the rich malt theme with sweet toffee and creamy caramel coming first to go with some figs and stewed raisins. There is a slight hint of cherry in there as well. Some cocoa and roasted coffee come through to balance out the fruit sweetness. Toasted malts and earthy hops bring nice bitterss on the backend and tie everything togethe nicely. The mouthfeel is full and very creamy with a lingering roasty finish and a touch of the alcohol warmth. This is a big, rich, and malty scotch ale with great flavors and complexity. Really well done. I would love to see what some smoked peat would add.

I have been looking forward to trying this one for a while! 75cl bottle from Whole Foods (Tampa, FL). Pours a murky, muddy, dark brown to black with one finger tan/cinnamon head that settles slowly. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of roast, caramel, raisins, figs, some hints of cocoa. Flavor is sweet and malty with notes of toffee, light roast, caramel, figs, raisins, cocoa, dark ripe fruits, some hints of earthiness and cream. Generally medium to full body with a pleasing syrupy, malty finish.

Pours a murky brown/black. Thin tan head. Nose is initially boozey then roasty as hell. sweet caramel nose. Flavor is a wonderful alcoholic malt bomb. Roasty, dark fruits, some charred flavor. Mouthfeel is very full, slightly oily. Very very smooth. Drink this one on the warmer side to let the alcohol come out. Beautiful. Incredible scotch ale.

UPDATED: MAY 11, 2009 Murky, foggy brown body with creamy mocha head. Roasty, Toasty malt with caramel notes and toffee on the nose sweet fruit mild chocolate and bright finish. the bottle fermentation gives the beer a soft and subtle mouth feel. All around solid.

UPDATED: MAY 6, 2009 Draft at Redlight Redlight. A dark, chewy looking, muddy brown body is crowned by a small layer of creamy, khaki colored foam. Thin, broken, frosted glass sheeting coats the glass well. The nose is really rich and malty, showing a huge nougat component, stewed raisin, medium-dark cocoa, caramel, figs, and sweet, dark cherries. There’s a good deal of barley roast going on as well, which brings a nice earthiness into the fold. Flavors follow suit, rich nougat, and caramel leading the charge. A bevy of dark, stewed fruits lend sweet complexities, fig and raisin showing strongest. Again, rich barley and cocoa roast bring an earthy, toasty balance to all the fruity sweetness. The mouthfeel is full and lush, very creamy, finishing with some alcohol warmth and lingering roast. A bit of stickiness is all that holds it back. Joey and Wayne were shooting for an ultra-malty, rich, imperial wee heavy, and I would say they passed with flying colors. A little smoked peat would put this over the edge.

draft @ redlight redlight. Rich toffee and caramel malt aromas. Pours a cloudy rich brown color with a thick off white head. Rich malt flavors, toffee, caramel with hints of darker molasses and dark fruits like caramelized figs and smoked dates in the flavor. Very smooth beer.