Harviestoun Old Engine Oil (Bottle)

Brewed by Harviestoun
Style: Old Ale
Alva, Central, Scotland

From bottle. The aroma reminds me of old man wet farts in a sweaty rugby club with beer stained carpet around the bar. Some roasted cocoa and malt in there to. Great black colour with a frothy tan head. Nice smooth texture with a little bit of roasted chocolate malt in the flavour. Nice but not what I was expecting.

Sampled in a 22oz. Not bad. A pretty thick and creamy brew. Has a nice smooth finish, lots of malts and lots of well crafted bitterness. Great brew.

It really looks like old black engine oil. Roasted lightly-sweet and quite bitter aroma. Roots and earth flavor. Dry. Medium-low carbonated.

Dark brown with mahogany highlights and a creamy thin tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, salt, light smoke and light chocolate. Taste of roasted malt, smoke and perhaps a hint of chocolate. Body is creamy and low carbonated making it go down pretty easy. Finishes up dry with a salty liquid smoke taste and a mild zing.

Bottle, $3.99. Appearance is black with a beautiful, creamy brown head. Good lacing as well. Aroma is plum, chocolate, hay, and minerals. Flavor is very roasted. It starts with a touch of malt and chocolate, but soon becomes dominated by ash bitterness and roasts. Mouthfeel is medium, certainly not “viscous” like the bottle claims. Interesting; a much more challenging beer to drink than I expected. As the beer warms, some of this latter trait diminishes. A bit of tail-end warmth in your throat finishes this experience off. OK I agree this beer is complex and unique, but really, there is better tasting stuff out there for cheaper.

Well, I don’t have nearly enough experience with old ales to speak with any authority, but this is quite good. It doesn’t exactly blow me away. It reminds me of a good porter more than anything else, but it’s still quite enjoyable. The chocolate malt is assertive and bold. There are roasted notes and dark stone fruit notes, which for me is the biggest departure from normal porter territory. There is more bitterness than I was expecting and a mildly ashy flavor that I enjoy.

From an 11.2 fl. oz. bottle marked L8-254A-16:23.The pour was incredibily dark black but had almost no head. There was a little lacing along the glass. The aroma had an unusual quality about it that seemed like a mixture of floral hops, chocolate, raisin, and something that reminded me of hard liquor. I don’t drink hard liquor so I don’t know which one. A decent mouthfeel. There were hops, roasted coffee grinds, and a slightly dry finish. Pretty powerful brew.

As commonly acknowledged, motor oil is pretty much pitch black and slightly greasy, so is this one, though in addition Old Engine Oil leaves some nice lacing as the dense head little by little dissolves. Complex aroma has some roasted maltiness, bitterly dark chocolate, acidity and salty liquorice. Flavor is dominated by strong tough of dark chocolate. Light but supporting roasted malt base. Softly carbonated, creamy and very viscous and oily on the palate. Has nice, long, dry and bitter aftertaste. Quality stuff.