Erie Brewing Ol Red Cease & Desist Scottish Ale

Rated 12/8/06: Scottish Ale eh, don’t know about that seems more of a Strong Ale at best. I checked around and the word is out that this seems to be listed as a Scottish Ale, I just don’t buy it. Anywho, this beast of burden is decent and packs a whallop. Candy sweet aroma tends to flare the nostrils. Amber pour, head, minimal splotches of lacing. This one bites you on the way down, fuller than I expected and the finish is reminiscent of a good whiskey. Sweet and a tad fruity, this one is candy sugary. Wow, respect the serving and take your time.

Darker translucent reddish brown color. Mildly sweet spice aroma, very wintery. Taste of sweet light molasses with brown sugar and caramel. Medium body that goes down smooth and easy for a 9.3% abv beer. Gets better as it warms.

Bottle. Aroma is nothing to get even slightly excited about. All I’m picking up is a slightly metallic scent and a touch of sweetness. Pour is a nice brown hue with a minimal head that is almost completely gone after a minute. Flavor is fairly pleasant... it develops from an initial sweet malt presence to a bit of a spicy transition phase that ends with a bit of an alcoholic presence. I’m still picking up some metal in there from time to time... either in the nose or an occasional sip. Body is slighly heavy... not really syrupy, but just kind of thick. I am picking up some fruit presence that others have noted, but it is subtle and seems to get buried between the heavily caramel malt and the alcoholic finish. Ho hum!

Dark brown with quick fading tan head. Aroma is malty and a bit spicy, but nothing special. Taste is same, with dry alcoholic biscuity finish. $2.25

(bottle - 12 oz) Sampled from a bottle at Gunner’s Tavern in St. Mary’s, PA. Dark red color with a very thin tan head. Aroma is light with some candy sugar, malts, alcohol, and some cherries maybe? Flavor is very interesting. It begins slightly sweet and malty with a very dry middle and an extremely dry finish with a little bit of alcohol and malts.

12 oz bottle compliments of Chris McKim @ the Brew Kettle: Pours medium red/coppery amber and has a short lived off white head. The aroma is sort of lightly vanilla frosting/diacetyl and faintly cherry lollipop like. Not sure how they got that combo (at least not on the cherry end of things), but both are light and uninspiring. c-------.l,uy... Damn cat just jumped up on the key board, so I left it in for S&G’s since that was more interesting than this beer so far. Very light caramel aroma w/ a hint of roast. Flavor is flat on the tongue to say the least. A bit of toasty malt and caramel, very little fruitiness, hints of alcohol. Finish is on the medium sweet side, but the aftertaste is short lived and fairly clean. Well hidden alcohol, lighter medium body, medium carbonation... Mash higher young man! Leave some sweetness and unfermentables in this beer! Not horrible, but for 9.3% ABV, I expected a lot more from this one! As always, I do not look @ styles prior to rating, but this beer was just a big disappointment in a big way!

Bottle. Clear amber color with no head. Malty rye aroma. The taste was of sweet rye with mild roasted malts in the back ground. Dry from begining to end. Gave the rest to my dog.

I liked it! Unlike many raters who rate a beer according to their particular taste, I try to rate a beer on it’s faithfulness to style. This is a good attempt at a big Scottish Ale. Sweet, not too hoppy, and high in alcohol fits my bill. Luscious hop flavor blended with caramel malts is a winner. I’d like this recipe.