Ölbeat 326 (BC17 #13): Swannay Barrel Aged Orkney Porter (Isle of Arran)

Brewery: Swannay Brewery
Country: Scotland
Style: Imperial Porter
Abv: 10,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is black with a small tan head. Aroma has chocolate, nuts, roast and oaky-spicy alcohol (very nice!). Taste begins with bittersweet fruity chocolate. Sweet roasted malts, dark chocolate and booze-soaked fruits take over. Towards the end spicy chocolate and dry oaky-fruity alcohol mix deliciously, while sweet roasted malts give the liquid a solid backbone. Aftertaste has sweet fruity-spicy chocolate and dryish oaky-bitter whisky.

Rich and sweet barrel-aged Imperial Porter. The sweet chocolate-roasty basic porter is obviously nicely present, the aging of 12 months (in previous editions 18 months) in Isle of Arran Orkney Bere casks shows up in fruits, spice, oak and booze. The whole package is delicious. The brew has a fine story and tastes simply great.

Ölbeat

"I am a mountain / I am the sea / You can't take away from me." Well, OK, the Orkney Islands are mainly quite flat but there are some steep coastal cliffs. But the Isle of Arran is called Scotland in miniature: there are some mountains. And certainly, presence of the sea is always strongly there in the Scottish islands.

Biffy Clyro: Mountains (YouTube)

From the 2009 album Only Revolutions, the song was written by Simon Neil.

Ölbeat 283: Emelisse / Bad Hair White Label Barley Wine (Yura / Old Pulteney BA)

Brewery: Brouwerij Emelisse (Bad Hair Brewing)
Country: Netherlands
Style: Barley Wine
Abv: 12 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark coffee brown with a thin tan head. Aroma has sweet chocolate, dark fruits and boozy caramel. Taste begins with silky milk chocolate. Fruity caramel sweetness and spicy-oaky whisky takes over with boozy bitterness. Towards the end sweet chocolate rises with warming alcohol and growing bitterness. Aftertaste has bittersweet boozy dark fruits, smooth chocolate and lasting warming alcohol.

Sweet, strong and delicious barrel-aged Barley Wine. Fruits, chocolate, caramel - all in aroma, delivered in flavours, too. The whisky adds oak, spices and booze and enhances fruits and bitterness. At least Old Pulteney is clearly present - and hopefully the name of the other whisky on the label is misspelled (Yura -> Jura). Despite one wrong letter, this is a magnificent brew from Emelisse.

Ölbeat

Barrel-aging is based on experimenting with beer. This experiment was done with fine Scottish whisky barrels. So I searched for experimental rock from Scotland. Had some questions - the brew gave me excellent answers. And there we have it.

Biffy Clyro: Questions and Answers (YouTube)

From the 2003 album The Vertigo of Bliss, the song was written by Simon Neil.

Ölbeat 094: Traquair Jacobite Ale

Brewery: Traquair House
Country: Scotland
Style: Traditional Ale
Abv: 8 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark reddish brown with small natural white head. Aroma has caramel malts, syrup and sweet spices. Taste lifts off with sweet syrupy malts. Sweet malts continue in the lead with a caramel hoppy bite  and some sweet spices added. Towards the end we get some sugary alcohol and berry flavour. Aftertaste has malty sweet and gentle bitterness.

Magnificent traditional ale. The union of  caramel malts, gentle hops and sweet spiciness really makes this spectacular. While and after enjoying you have a really warm and comfortable feeling.

Ölbeat

Although tempted to attach this traditional ale to a traditional Scottish song like "Ye Jacobites by Name", I finally chose a modern rock ballad by a Scottish band. The song just echoes the same kind of simple beauty I tasted in the brew:

Biffy Clyro: Skylight (YouTube)

From the 2013 album Opposites/The Sand at the Core of Our Bones, the song was written by Simon Neil.