Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Scotty Karate Scotch Ale

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Marshall, Michigan USA

Serve in Thistle

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Tap at Michigan beer fest 06. Cloudy hazel body with a slight white head. Storng whickey aroma, quite overpowering, but in the cold tent it was definatley an inviting warm smell. sweet caramel and scotch flavours. Alsomost syrupy, some earthy malt flavour present. Strong alcohol flavour with a slight burn. Good

On tap for Beer Bout IV at The Tribes Alehouse in Mokena, IL. According to the Dark Horse brewer, this was aged for six months. Pours a cloudy amber-orange colored body with a finger-width, dense and creamy, tannish head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing throughout. Aroma is caramel with lots of sweeter vanilla-bourbon. Barely a touch of earth and a hint of dark fruits. Flavor is similar. Lots of sweeter caramels and vanilla-bourbon up front. A bit more of an earthy scotch ale flavor, which is nice. Finishes very smooth and dries nicely with lots of vanilla, bourbon, caramel, and a pleasant earth to balance. Light bitterness with a light booze, but not enough to distract. Lengthy aftertaste following a medium, smooth body and soft, moderate carbonation. Drinks nicely. Overall, a pretty solid barrel-aged beer. The aroma is a bit too one-dimensional and consists mostly of vanilla and bourbon, but the flavor gives off more of the scotch ale element and the strong vanilla-bourbon blends nicely while still playing a large role. This is on the sweeter side of things, but it’s well balanced and wraps up very pleasantly without ever getting overly boozy. Enjoyable beer and definitely glad to have had the opportunity to try.

Draft. Poured clear dark brown color with an average off-white frothy head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Moderate to heavy vanilla, bourbon and cherry wood aroma. Medium to full body with smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium sweet flavor with a medium bourbon sweet finish of moderate to long duration. Very enjoyable brew

From bottle. Dark redish brown with no head. A bit of an alcohol wiff. Big bourbon taste. Also sweet syrup and rather flat.

MBG winterfest. Hazy brown with minimal head, strange because plastic cups almost always form head regardless. Aroma so dominated by bourbon I am afraid to drink it. Flavor you guessed it completely dominated by bourbon. Really nothing else detectable in this beer.

Tap @ MBG winter beer fest Cloudy brown no head light film. Huge bourbon aroma and flavor not much else there. Get me a pint of makers mark....

draught. pours a murky brown-mahogany with no head. the aroma is earthy and has a whole whack of bourbon in it, along with cherries and grapes. very boozy and sweet flavour that I can’t say I care for too much but there are also dark chocolate and caramel notes. smooth body but the bourbon is way overdone in this. it’s ironic that they gave me such a large sample...if only that had been for the IIPA.

Tap at MI brewer’s guild fest winter-06- Thanks to Jadoreblanche for sharing! Cloudy brown/orange body with just a small ring of white head that sticks around. Strong, and I mean strong scotch whiskey aroma tag teams with caramel apples and vanilla extract. Caramel whiskey flavours team up with toffee, candy apples, vanilla, and wood. Strong alcohol presence in finish, full bodied. A bit of a burn here as well. Good though.

UPDATED: MAR 7, 2006 On tap: Huge aroma of bourbon with hints of vanilla and just the slightest detection of caramel barely sneaks thru. Hazy orangish-brown with a small tan head. Tons of bourbon in the flavor with just the slightest hints of caramel. Base beer is hardly noticeable with the bourbon just dominating the flavor. A tad thin. Even with so much bourbon flavor, it is rather smooth and suprisingly not as hot as the regular version. I like the taste of bourbon so I didn’t mind drinking this and I liked it, but personal preference aside, I would say this was a bad attempt at bourbon barrel aging. Bourbon just dominates everything about this beer.