McEwans Scotch Ale

Brewed by John Smiths (Heineken UK)
Style: Scotch Ale
Tadcaster, England

Serve in Thistle

UPDATED: JUL 9, 2008 Where to start. After reading the positive reviews on this beer I decided to try it. Poured a dark brown body, with minimal head and a little bit of lace. A malty sweet type of taste with a skunky, horrible aftertaste. The aftertaste lingers, and lingers and lingers.... awful! I’ve got to wait a few minutes before I can take another sip. I paid $4.50 for this beer at my local pub. I could barely finish it but I had to I paid $4.50 for this crap. The only positive thing about this beer was that it had an 8% alcohol content. I doubt I will ever get this beer again.

Dark brown to black in color with red highlights. Aroma has some toastiness, nuts, and a little cararmel. Taste is sweet with some of the same of the aroma and some maltiness.

Pours very dark; beige head; a little clinical and citrus-like in the nose, which gives way to a tofee and sweet caramel flavor; excellent brew

Pours almost jet black, a very deep red when held up to the light. Head is tan colored and thin and dissipated quickly. However, a nice lacing is left on the sides of the glass as the beer is drunk. Nose of raisins and nuts (trail mix, anyone?). Flavor is coffee, toffee, chocolate with hoppy accents. Finish is toffee-sweet. I live 0.5 miles from the Abita Brewery, and this brew reminds me strongly of Abita’s Turbo Dog. And from me, that’s a nice compliment.

pours nearly black dark ruby red with a thin head. Some odor of dark fruit, but the odor is not very strong. As far as scotch ales go, this is a lot softer than a lot I’ve had. There’s some caramel in the taste, and a slight hop bitter finish. Its easy to drink, but there are better scotch ales out there.

Tasted 3/7/08. 12oz bottle. Viscous yet clear with a dark brown hue. Moldy off-white head. Maple syrupy toffee bready aromas. Good nose. Medium bodied and malt driven. Low acid and smooth effervescence. Flavors of brownies and a slight trace of fruity esters. All malt and so easy. Sparse hop finish. Tight hops. Really good drinking. Fudgy with a touch chocolate. Good coating finish. Leaves a slight tingling effervescence in the finish. Solid brew! A standard!

Brackish color. Smells of molasses, cereal, some sour component. Taste is heavy raisin, some caramel, some cereal. A little too sweet. Finishes much the same with heavy raisin, slightly sour.

Malty, smooth, rich, and creamy. I like this Ale a lot. I kind of forgot about this beer when I was rating Belhaven, but I think this one is better. Most beers from this region are decent beers. I wish I lived in Great Britain.