Adelscott
A couple years ago two of my good friends went on a long vacation across Europe enjoying the culture, sites, culinary works, and beer. They came back and told me great stories of historic cities and amazing parties, but also fantastic beer - no surprise there. There was one beer which they kept raving on about, comparing it to the Innis & Gunn, which is one of our favorite beers. They both claimed that this beer called Adelscott was built in the same manner and the Innis, but even better! I do love the Innis, it is one of the beers that showed me the light - since this trip I have been aching to find this mysterious Adelscott. And of course, as stories of this nature go, it is not available anywhere in North America. Adelscott is brewed by Fischer in France, and seems to not enjoy the sea voyage. I conceded temporary defeat until a friend of mine was heading to Europe this summer on a one month backpacking trip. I gave him a list of a few beers to look out for in every county he would visit, and I was sure to include Adelscott. The great man that he is brought me back this can, and helped me realize a beer dream now two years old. Adelscott and the Innis & Gunn are similar, however quite different. The Innis is a rich Scottish pale ale aged in bourbon barrels, where the Adelscott is brewed with peat smoked barley, and is not aged in barrels at all. So Innis gets its whisky character from oak, Adelscott from barley - an interesting comparison nonetheless. The Adelscott I had was 5.8% abv, however I have seen bottles that list 6.4%. I opened the Adelscott up cool around 8C (45F) and poured it into a stemmed beer glass. The pour was easy and smooth building a lush white foam in the beer instantly. I slowed the pour a bit and let the slightly creamy texture of the beer build on its own power. The final beer was glowing brilliantly bright gold with a backbone of yellow and sunny orange. It was really very beautiful, and was strikingly bright and crisp with an amber lining and sunshine rays all throughout. A dense and airy 2 inch pure white head was build with a creamy cap - it showed very strong retention, but did eventually dissipate completely. The overall picture here was very pretty. A great start. The nose was pretty damn close to exactly what I wanted. Where the Innis bring to you the rich caramel and vanilla flavors of the oak, the Adelscott showed me sugary sweet pale malts, and the distinct clean flavor of peat smoked whisky. Thats what you get with this beer; the smooth and clasic flavor of peat smoke. It is gentle and balanced sweet by pale malts and lingers lightly on your nose. It was so obvious when I smelled it that I wanted more. The connection to a peaty smooth whisky is magical, my only complaint is that I would love an imperial version around 10%. The first sip was a masterpiece for me. Ignoring the peat for a moment, the Adelscott opens with smoothly crisp and very distinct pale malt sweetness. Sugary malts and honey play over your palate and lightly candied fruits emerge as well. Sweet apples and pears melt into your cheeks, and a soft malty backbone coats your palate. But the game changer here is the smoothness of a old friend names Speyside. Elegantly clean peated malts show up on the front of your tongue and back of your throat. This was the trick, the peat and whisky flavor is clean and delicate, but obvious and balanced. There is barely any hop aroma or flavor at all to add a bitter side to the beer - it is the peat and malt balance than makes this beer work. The finish is smooth and light with a slightly sweet, almost sugary malt end. The peaty whisky comes back, but its short and quenching. The mouthfeel was light and creamy, and fit this beer very well. I loved the 5.8% version as a session beer, if it was availbale at the LCBO, I would always have a few in my fridge. I would love to see an imperial version for sipping somewhere in the 8 to 12% range. But for now, I'll have to keep searching for more of the Adelscott. Pics at: http://definitionale.com/2010/11/02/tasting-the-adelscott/