Samuel Adams Scotch Ale
Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a beer glass. Appearance: Pours a dark amber color with golden and ruby hues. Mild carbonation is visible throughout the translucence. On top, a rocky white head holds steady at about half-a-finger. It has left a fairly heavy lacing on the sides of the glass. Smell: Good mix of hops and malts here...the malt is very caramel-tinted, and the hops are about halfway between floral and bitter. Also, a scent reminiscent of Earl Grey tea. Very nice. Taste: The hops bite first, with a very tea-like quality. After a moment, the oils dissolve and a sweetbread malt character overtakes the bitterness. Aftertaste is a perfect mixture of all aforementioned flavors. The flavor development in this beer is exceptional...if there were one or two more flavors equally distributed in this brew, it would have gotten a 5 from me. Drinkability: I like this better than Sam's Boston Lager. It's got more going on flavor-wise, and it goes down smoother than many Scotch Ales, probably on account of the lower-than-average ABV. Very tasty brew here, I would recommend it to those who enjoy red ales and/or Scotch ales.