Ottos Arthurs 80/- Scottish Ale

Brewed by Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Scottish Ale
State College, Pennsylvania USA

Cask. Brown, still body with no head. Aroma has malt sweetness, wet grains, and pears. A strong bitterness lasts all the way through to the finish, grainy malt flavor. Mostly just a grainy wet cereal, plain and boring.

On cask at Zeno’s. Pours amber/red/brown with white head. Caramel and cherry notes, slight biscuit. Watery caramel with mild chocolate. Not much hop presence to speak of. A nice scottish.

From cask at Zeno’s. Nice malty aroma with light peat and some dry hops. Caramel and biscuit, smooth and clean. Medium dark amber with haze topped with foamy lacing head. Medium body with light carbonation. Starts malty and light with mild wood notes Light toast and neutral bitter end. This is a nice smooth Scottish ale.

Sampled on draft at the brewery this beer poured a dark red-caramel color with a medium sized khaki head. The aroma was sour, tangy and lightly fruity. The flavor was bitter, tart and sharp. There was moderate tangy fruitiness and sour malts followed by a long tart and fruity finish. Not nearly as malty as I would have expected and rather thin in the body. Disappointing.

On cask at Zeno’s Pub - State College. Noses a little brown malt and light caramel through some husk. Pours a nice cascading cask pour in ochre and tan, with a good fringe of off-white. Flavor is unfortunately not that great. There’s a lot of husky astringency and bitterness. Really bitter and not balanced. Dry and pithy. Some metallic characters show through a traditional scottish malt profile. Slightly oakiness. Not sweet, but not balanced. There could be a little more residual character, a nip more nuance, and maybe some smokiness. Fresh at the least, but not a real winner. Finishes on some searing hop oils.