Three Floyds Robert The Bruce Scottish Ale

Brewed By: Three Floyds Brewing Company in Munster, Indiana
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a six-pack purchased at Jewel in Chicago, IL; 2011
Style/ABV: Scottish Ale, 7.0%

Today we go to Munster, Indiana, where Three Floyds has been brewing beer since 1996. The brewery was founded by brothers Nick and Simon, and their father Mike Floyd - hence, the name, Three Floyds. The first brewery was originally located in Hammond, Indiana. Eventually Three Floyds outgrew their original location, and moved to Munster. The brewery is probably most famous for their Dark Lord Stout. If you haven't heard of it, Google it.

Today's beer, Robert The Bruce Scottish Ale, clocks inat 7.0% and packs 30 IBUs. According to the brewery website, this is a complex and bold Scottish Ale brewed with roasted and crystal malts, and balanced with just the right amount of hops. They describe the beer as ruby in color, with a malty nose, a caramel and roasted profile, and a full body. This is a malty beer for malt lovers.

But what is a Scottish Ale? If you consult the BJCP you will notice that there are three variations of Scottish Ales. The BCJP states that the Scottish Ale sub-styles are differentiated by gravity and alcohol strength. There is a good article on Scottish Ales at Winning Homebrew. According to their article:

The Scottish ales follow in the English tradition of having a confusing naming convention. The names are steeped in tradition and history, one thing the Scottish are famous for. To start with are the Schilling designations. These are remnants of the 1870 rating system in which the price of beer, including the taxes, was rated in the old pre-decimal shillings. 60 Shillings was a light ale; 70 Shillings was a heavy ale; 80 Shillings was an export; and 90+ Shillings was a barley-wine known as "wee heavy". If the names didn't confuse outsiders enough, it happens that the lighter ales, which were equated with the English mild, were dark beers. And the heavy beers, similar to English bitters, weer light in color. The fact that the breweries in Scotland still use these terms to describe their beers, shows how much the Scotts believe in tradition and history.

By virtue of ingredients - a large supply of malts and barley and a short supply of hops - Whiskey and malted beer is king in Scotland. Scottish Ales are malt forward and are balanced with some light hopping. Scottish Ales are brewed colder than most ales, and are usually cleaner with low esters and clean malt flavors. Because of this, the style gets compared to lagers like Bocks. This is a style of beer that can be very sweet, and some versions of they style may have a low to moderate peaty note (think whiskey). Peaty flavors are often earthy and smoky. Let's dive in and see how the Three Floyd's Scottish Ale stacks up. 

Three Floyds Robert The Bruce

The pour reveals 3-fingers of foamy, tan/eggshell/copper head. The head is thick and creamy, has good sustainability, is leaving nice lacing on the glass, and looks a lot like bread. There are not a ton of bubbles in my glass, so I would guess this has medium to light carbonation. The body of the beer is a dark brown/copper color, with hints of ruby and dark red. You can barely see through this beer. It might be semi-filtered, or maybe it has a very slight haze. The head retention on this is wonderful. I've been sitting here for like 15 minutes waiting for this to warm up, and there is still at least one centimeter of head atop this beer. Epic stuff.

The aroma on this beer is big raunchy malts with some hints of hop freshness. I'm picking up a light and clean hop note; herbal, earthy, fresh. There are roasted malts, some light nuttiness, hints of chocolate, caramel, a grainy or earthy note, and toffee. 

This is a very funky beer in terms of taste. My first sip was nutty, grainy, peaty, malty; I am pulling hints of chocolate and wood, roasted malts. There is a nice warming grain burn on the back end. There is some butter/diacetyl on the front of the tongue. I'm picking up peat and roast on the sides of my tongue, and hints of caramel, toffee, and chocolate. There are virtually no hops in the taste - MAYBE a hint of herbal or earthy, but I'm not even sure that is from the hops. This is a malt bomb with huge peaty, roasty notes.

This is a big thick beer. This is a heavy beer with low carbonation and a thick mouthfeel. You do feel some of the 7% ABV on the back end, and there is a nice grainy and dry alcohol finish. I'm also getting some peanuts and peanut butter hints on the back end: fun, right? This has wonderful palate depth and solid complexity. The front end is: thick malt with hints of nuts and roast and peat; this rolls into the middle which is caramel, toffee, sweet, chocolate, woody, earthy, butter; the back end is grainy and dry with a touch of alcohol burn. 

Rating: Above-Average
Score: 88%

I don't have a lot to amend here. This is a super malty, grainy beer that has a nice dry finish with hints of grain. This reminds me a bit of whiskey, more so in spirit than in taste. The heavy malt presence is something different: this is not a beer I would drink all the time. However, I would LOVE to pair this beer with something Asian and a peanut sauce. Actually, this beer would go good with any nutty meal or any peanut dish. I can recommend this beer, and in fact I enjoyed it quite a bit. I will pick this up again in the future, and you should too.

Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Brewed By: Breckenridge Brewery in Denver, Colorado
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a six-pack purchased at Jewel in Chicago, IL; 2011
Style/ABV: Porter & Spice/Herb/Vegetable, 4.7%

The mother fuckin' second coming...

Today I watched my hopes and dreams crumble as the Denver Tebows pulled a stunning victory over the Pittsburgh Rapists. Actually, I'm very happy for Tim Tebow. I would love to see the Broncos go to the Super Bowl - it would be beyond entertaining. Big Ben may or may not be a rapist, I guess those politics don't matter. I figured Big Ben and the Steelers would rally past their injuries and beat the Broncos. I was wrong. I went 1-3 this Wild Card weekend. I figured the Bengals would come out on top, the Falcons would face the Mr. Hyde Giants team, and the Steelers would win. This is why I don't gamble...

It seems appropriate to celebrate a Denver victory with a Denver beer. Today's beer is brewed by the fine folks at the Breckenridge Brewery. The brewery website is clean, and totally worth checking out. You can find info on the beer, as well as info on the brewery's history. The brewery was founded by Richard Squire in 1990 as Breckenridge Brewery & Pub. The original Brewery & Pub was located in Breckenridge, Colorado. In 1992, the brewery opened a sister brewpub in downtown Denver. The brewery finally opened a brewing and bottling facility (for national distribution) in 1996. The brewery outputs around 30,000 barrels of beer annually, and ships their beer across 25 states. 

The Vanilla Porter is a beer I've seen readily available around Illinois, so it seems appropriate to finally try it. According to the website, this is a Herb and Spice beer. I'm not sure if this is a chicken and egg situation, because the BJCP has put this specific beer under the Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer category. The Vanilla Porter is brewed with Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Black, and Roasted Barley malts. It is also brewed with a handful of hops including Chinook, Tettinang, Perle, and Goulding. In addition to the malts and hops, this beer is brewed with vanilla beans from Paupau New Guinea and Madagascar. This beer is described as having a smooth roasted chocolate flavor with a creamy vanilla finish. Sounds yummy, right? 

Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

The pour yields a bubbly and foamy looking Porter-style beer. The pour yielded about two fingers of tan/bread-colored head. The head has large bubbles, and even though the head shrunk pretty quickly, there is still a wonderful cauldron effect. This beer looks to be well carbonated with clingy lacing. The body of this beer is very dark brown or black in low light. In bright light this beer is dark brown with reddish hues escaping. You cannot see through it. 

On the nose I'm getting vanilla, wood, chocolate, and tons of roasted malts. There are lots of sweet cocoa and chocolate notes, sweet vanilla chocolate, vanilla, hints of grain or oats, and hints of wood. There are also light pulls towards a fresh or herbal note.

On the first taste I'm getting a lot of grain, roasted malts, hints of herbal and earthy hops, and then vanilla and hints of a woody finish in the back. The mouthfeel is a touch thin, and the carbonation doesn't support as many flavors as you might expect. 

But...as the beer warms up, and as I swish it around my mouth, I am starting to pick up on some different flavors. I'm getting a lot of chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, and some smokey roast from the malts. 

This is medium to highly carbonated, has moderate (okay) palate depth, and is not very complex. This is a medium-light Porter with good drinkability but a slightly watery profile and mouthfeel. I'm getting water, tingly carbonation, vanilla, herbal hops, grain, and burgeoning vanilla and cocoa on the front; the middle rolls into grain, sweet malts, vanilla, cocoa, hints of roast; the back end is grainy and watery vanilla. 

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 78%

I'm trying to figure out if the slightly watery and thin vanilla profile is the result of the hops and the herbal quality, or if it is just a slight drop off. The carbonation is definitely amplifying the effect.

Overall I really like this beer. You get some good waves of vanilla and cocoa, and this beer has a good density and feels like a "quality" or "craft" beer. That's pretty impressive, especially considering the price and availability of this beer. I see this beer everywhere, and not for a bad price. This beer drinks very well, and tastes pretty damn good.

Samuel Smith's Organic Strawberry Fruit Beer

Brewed By: Melbourn Brothers (Samuel Smith) in Tadcaster, England

Purchased: Single large bottle (1 pint, 2.7oz) from Jewel in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Fruit Beer, 5.1%

I like organic things and I like fruit. It was inevitable that I would try one of Samuel Smith's organic beers. I always see these things lining the shelves, so I finally broke down and grabbed their Organic Strawberry Ale; strawberries are my favorite.

The Tadcaster brewery was founded in 1758, and is Yorkshire's oldest brewery. According to the Merchant Duvin website, Samuel Smith is one of the last remaining independent breweries in England, and one of the last to ferment their beer in stone squares. If you pick up a bottle of Samuel Smith beer, you usually get some information on the ingredients and brew process. The website states that the hops are hand-weighed, and the water used in the beer comes from a well sunk over 200 years ago. Samuel Smith has a lengthy history as a brewer, and they are well known for their Oatmeal Stout, which is quite delicious. In addition to all this great history and beer, Samuel Smith's beers are vegan products. So...fuck yes, vegetarians?  

Today's beer, the Organic Strawberry Ale is brewed at the Melbourn Bros. Brewery in Stamford. This is supposed to be a beer with subtle strawberry flavors. This beer clocks in at 5.1% ABV and packs 14 IBUs.  

This is a lovely pouring beer. The body of this beer is a wonderful hazy orange color. This is a very bubbly and effervescent beer, with tons of bubble. I got 5-fingers worth of huge, thick, slightly orange/white head. The head is thick and creamy, foamy, bubbly, and leaving some lacing. This is a semi-transparent beer, with a good haze preventing you from seeing all the way through. 

Samuel Smith's Organic Strawberry Fruit Beer

The aroma on this beer is all strawberries. I'm smelling huge strawberry jam; Smuckers strawberry jam, homemade strawberry jam. I'm smelling earthy and fresh strawberries: strawberry juice, fresh strawberries. I'm smelling hints of mint, strawberry tea; I'm also picking up similar berry profiles like raspberry. There is also a rounded malt quality on the nose: maybe caramel or something else sweet. 

Yummy. This tastes really good, with a ton of strawberries in various waves of sweet and fresh. There is also a solid malt roundness, infusing the beer with some "roundness" and "heaviness" in the form of sugar, caramel, and even toffee. I'm tasting a lot of creamy head, cream, caramel, hints of grain or bread, fresh strawberries, strawberry jam, strawberry soda, mint, strawberry tea, and strawberry juice. The strawberry is dominant, but in a subtle way.

Rating: Above-Average  

Score: 83%

This is stellar stuff. Smooth, creamy, fresh, refreshing. I could drink this all day long. Samuel Smith has yet to steer me in the wrong direction, so props to another excellent beer. This is a creamy, well-carbonated, crisp and refreshing beer. It drinkings medium-light, or light-heavy. The palate depth is awesome, and the mouthfeel is great. This has medium complexity. The front is creamy carbonation, smooth malts, burgeoning strawberry; the middle is a wash of strawberry, tea, herbal, mint, freshness; the back is rounded out malts, lingering strawberry and sweetness. The finish is crisp, a touch dry, and strawberries. 

If you like strawberries or fruity beers, I highly recommend this beer. There is a nice balance of strawberries and rounded malts, and this beer is crisp and delicious. This reminds me of a Cider...only with strawberries. This is good stuff. Not something I would drink all the time, but if I had a strawberry craving? Definitely.