Stay Classy Fountain Square!

Fountain Square Brewing Company has delivered a heck of a beer with Stay Classy Scotch Ale, a Ron Burgundy inspired scotch ale. Before I even started drinking the beer, all I could think of was "I love scotch, sotchy scotch scotch, here it goes down, down into my belly." Fountain Square really brought the scotch for this one. It was a great wee heavy scotch ale with a ton of barrel aged flavor. The combination just made you think of the good stuff from the aroma all the way into the flavor and a hot boozy finish.

It pours out like a "rich mahogany" with a dark brown with beautiful maroon highlights. There is a nice fluffy tan head that turns into really nice lacing along the glass. The aroma has a ton of whiskey barrel oak and vanilla tones followed up by big malty sweetness. Some dark fruits and bread crust smells mix nicely with the barrel smells. The flavor follows suit. There are a ton of toffee and caramel flavors from the malt. Some rich roasty character with the barrel flavors complimenting the whole brew. My only really complaint is that this beer is pretty sweet, but luckily Fountain Square kept a big punch of boozy heat on the back end. It cuts through the heat like a trident through a rival news anchor. There are a few herbaceous hop flavors, but the hops really take a back seat to the traditional UK flavors in this brew.

This is the first time that Fountain Square has released a bottled beer that wasn't part of their main lineup. It was a great beer, but the fact that they're bottling none standard beers is incredible! From what I can see on the four pack box, it looks like their non standard offerings are going to be part of something called the Finite series. This could mean 1221 in bottles or even Hop Your Face in bottles. Stay Classy was a great beer, but FSB makes so many awesome brews its exciting to see that they may start making local shelves soon.

I give this an a 4/5, I wish I had picked up more than a four pack.

If you weren't able to grab a four pack of this, you missed out, but keep an eye on the shelves. Fountain Square is going to be bringing out more great things.

Kilt Lifter

I was at Shallos a few nights ago and decided to start running down their draft list. This is a feat most mortal men cannot handle on their own, so we got some friends together and got started. One of the standout beers for me was Moylan Brewery's Kilt Lifter. This being my sixth Scotch ale review, no one should be shocked that I picked this brew.

Kilt Lifter is a wee heavy, which means that it has a higher amount of alcohol. This one is 8% abv. The beer pours a nice red brown color with a cream colored head. The head goes away pretty quickly. It smells bready and malty with just a hint of the booziness inside.

The beer itself has a nutty red/amber sort of flavor. Heavy with breads and a bit of cinnamon. All this is pretty sweet, verging on overwhelmingly so, but it does come around with a bitter smoked oak flavor mixed with the hops that helps settle it all down. The bitterness lingers a bit followed up by the boozy taste that you may expect from anything with this high of an abv.

It is a smooth almost creamy beer, which surprised me because so many scotch ales are lighter than they look.

This was not my favorite Scottish Ale, but it was well worth the drink. I give it a 3.5

Wee Muckle

Hip - Hip - Hooray!!! Hip - Hip Hooray!!! Hip - Hip - Hooray!!!

I am always pretty excited when I can get my hands on a few cans of Wee Muckle by Sun King Brewery. A Wee Muckle or Wee Heavy is the strongest of the Scottish Ales. This one comes in at 8.8% ABV. Since it was a can, I have had trouble finding the exact IBUs. It has a heavy caramely malty smell right when  you crack the can (as you can see, I was able to grab this in one of Sun King's pint cans. They are the perfect size to fill your favorite pint glass). You can smell the booziness of the alcohol as you are pouring it into your glass.

It poured out a milk chocolaty brown with about a half inch of tan head floating on top.

The beer has a very complex flavor. Right from the start you get hints of chocolate but they fade away as the more complex flavors of caramel, vanilla and dried fruits. Not surprising with such a hgih ABV you could also taste the alcohol in this, which is not something we expect from our average over the counter beer. The beer is very sweet and very heavy. I have a feeling finishing the entire four pack would fill you up and start getting you tipsy. The beer is not quite as heavy as a syrup or liquor in your mouth, but maybe as thick as a port wine.

This is an amazing beer for fall time. The beer is hearty and comforting. The added alcohol value warms your whole body from your stomach out to your arms. It is full of flavors that remind you of the harvest and settling down for a long cold winter. It is a touch sweet, but other than that it is very well balanced Wee Heavy.

 I am saving a can for the first real snow, because nothing would be better than sitting in front of a fire with a can of this watching the snow fall.

I give it a 5