Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Engineer’s Reserve

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

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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On cask. Super dark brown pour with no head. Huge medicinal bandaid and nail polish remover in the nose lead to a flavor of roasted smokey malts, and bakers chocolate. Medium body with low carbonation and a chalky finish.

Tap @ The BeerMongers... Poured jet black with no head. Thin body, hardly any carbonation. Some roast, and lots of malt sugars. A bit drying towards the end with hints of yeast spice and dark fruits. Sort of one dimensional. Coffee, burnt/toasted sugars, and vanilla. Hops were all but present.

Bottle, pours pitch black with light brown, fluffy head. Thick lacing. Big roasted quality in the nose, meaty, with a touch of chocolate. Dark chocolate on the tongue, with molasses, a burnt, earthy note, touch of smoke. Quick finish. Surprising and unique.

Bottle-Pours a black color with a thick head that fades slowly to nice lacing. Aroma of roasted malt and chocolate, with some coffee and dark fruit to round it out. Very inviting rich aroma.Ttaste is similar to the aroma, with roasted malt and chocolate up front there is a bit of coffee and dark fruit to round it out with a mild bitterness and a dry finish. Body is quite full, smooth and creamy. very well balanced. No hint of the 9% ABV. Overall a very good beer that is not overpowering. Nice choice when you want something different.

Poured at a good temperature and with a medium size, tan, foamy head that soon settled to some swirls and a ring plus some lace. Color (with the help of a bright light) is a clear, almost opaque brown black red. Aroma is a heavenly, volatile blend of coffee, malt, cocoa, dark ripe fruit, vanilla. Flavor’s like nose, has good interplay between malt sweet & bitter, carbonic tang, and hop bitter plus a bit metallic. Body is good, full and decent carbonation. Finsih is like flavor, fairly long, and the barest hint of alcohol. Very good beer.

12 oz bottle. Deep brown with a small light tan head. Aroma of toffee, chocolate, coffee and light alcohol. Flavor is bitter roasted malt up front with some coffee, caramel and cocoa, alcohol well hidden. Full body with mild carbonation and a thick creamy mouth feel. Very nice beer, rich and flavorful and fairly drinkable.

Bottle 330ml. @ [ Edinburgh Danish Invasion Tasting) by cgarvieuk - Edinburgh ].

Clear dark brown colour with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, something ? Flavour is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, roasted, dusty, pale malt, earthy - grassy. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20120422]

Bottled. Poured very deep brown with a well-retained, creamy khaki head.. looked great in the glass. The aroma picked up a hefty dose of roasted barley and chocolate notes, with airy cocoa and fresh grassy hoppage around.. the hops were well-represented, and the brew smelled very fresh. The flavor opened with roasty baker’s chocolate and licorice, with coffee roast not far behind.. near-burnt barley joined on the middle.. light-moderate, fresh herbal and fruity bitterness around.. finished with lots of roasted black malts and a fresh bitter complement. Medium-bodied and on the sweet side.. a touch tacky at times.. for the most part, the hops complemented the heavy malt bill well. Well done.

Served from cask. Pours fittingly oil black, with a nice ring of head. I don't get a lot from the aroma other than some malt and a little chocolate. The taste has some bitterness and is much less thick than i expected. Good beer overall. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Picked this up at Bier Thirty last week, I think I paid about $7ish. Poured into my slim tulip... short lasting dark brown head.. big bubble lacing is okay at best... the brew is pretty much black except for the most remote ruby highlights near the stem. Nose shows a bit boozy light dark malt.. not nearly as "black" as I would expect.. Flavor is more dark.. but odd. Something that I associate with fermented out molasses.. background char that is sweetened a bit by dark raisin... some pronounced cocoa with warmth.. Palate dies off pretty quickly. Body seems thinned out by EtOH.... carbonation is pretty solid but goes away quickly on my tongue.. Not sure that I would identify this as any type of "porter"... Strong ale, probably... or a damn boozy porter, I guess too. 3.5/3.5/3.5/3.5/3 Okay..... glad I got a chance to try it, but I want Harvieston to bring back the Special Reserve... I would like to try that again.

Bottle from Wine and Cheese in Clayton, MO. Pours black with a slight light tan head. Aromas of roast/burnt malt, plums/prunes and coffee/sweat. Weird, but ... Very full bodied. Flavor is lightly smoky, very dark fruity, a bit earthy. Also lighter fruits towards the end. So this is a heavy, fruit hop ale? Finishes sweeter than not, but not very. Excellent.