Williams Brothers - Alba Scots Pine Ale

Dead Soldier 

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

Alba Scots Pine Ale
Williams Brothers Brewing Company
Brewed by Heather Ale Limited
FK10, 1NT
Alloa, UK Scotland
Est. 1988
www.heatherale.co.uk 

Brain Damage Quotient = 7.5 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 11.2

Postmortem Brew Review
Dark gold and clear in color.
Smell of fresh pine aromas; not hints, but rather real pine smell.
Off-white head dissipates rapidly and covers to wisp.
Some lacing down the side of the glass.
Bright pine flavors as if you are drinking the sap of a tree. Not much malt detected.
Modest carbonation.
Light to medium mouth feel. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
You've no doubt heard the word haggis. How many have looked up what it is? Mmmmmm, sounds delish! No??? Well, the Scottish are a little weird, but I can be weird-er. May I suggest a food and beer pairing?

As long as it's gonna be a Andrew Zimmern event menu-wise, let's keep the beer in the same region. Region of weirdness that is. Alba is a Scottish Gruit style beer, an ancient recipe that gathers those things directly from an area and combines them as a fermented concoction. While most IPA's tend to have characteristics of pine notes, Alba has actual sprigs of spruce and Scots pine thrown into the batch.  They are gathered fresh during the spring months.

The bottlers call this a "triple" style ale from a traditional Highland recipe. The Vikings brought us both haggis and Scottish Gruit. If it was good for those hardy souls, it should fortify us. Natural diet proponent Euell Gibbons once asked in a 1970's breakfast cereal commercial, "Ever eat a pine tree?" Well, now I can say that I have drunk one, at least. It's a bluuudy fresh piney baastaard!

Would I drink this again? Yes. Would I ever eat haggis? Uh, no thanks.

BrewDog - The End Of History

Totally Stuffed Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
The End Of History
BrewDog Ltd.
Unit 1, Kessock Workshops
Fraserburgh  Scotland 
Est. 2007
www.brewdog.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 55.0 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 (container) / 0.5 (sample)

Postmortem Brew Review
Near clear amber/orange color.
Strong, overpowering presence of alcohol and not much more on the nose.
Aroma can be noticed from a distance.
No head.
Some legs of lacing on the glass.
No carbonation detectable.
Taste is harsh and grainy like full on grain alcohol.  Stinging hops finish.
Lots of alcohol burn, straight down the throat.
Tough to determine body from sample but strong flavored to say the least. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
Oh yes I did.......oh yes I did! Muahahaaahaaa!

Pushing the boundaries is what it's all about with BrewDog James and the gang in Scotland. No one, repeat, no one at all can call them dispassionate. This is their latest attempt to top German brewer Schorschbrau in the quest for the world's strongest beer. It's freakin' 55% for crying out loud!

Once again, I'll let the brewer's speak for themselves: 

This 55% beer should be drank in small servings whilst exuding an endearing pseudo vigilance and reverence for Mr Stoat. This is to be enjoyed with a weather eye on the horizon for inflatable alcohol industry Nazis, judgemental washed up neo-prohibitionists or any grandiloquent, ostentatious foxes.

 The End of History: The name derives from the famous work of philosopher Francis Fukuyama, this is to beer what democracy is to history. Fukuyama defined history as the evolution of the political system and traced this through the ages until we got the Western Democratic paradigm. For Fukuyama this was the end point of man’s political evolution and consequently the end of history. The beer is the last high abv beer we are going to brew, the end point of our research into how far the can push the boundaries of extreme brewing, the end of beer.

Whew! If you are taking this too seriously, I think you are missing the point.  The only serious things here are the extremes to which BrewDog takes their dedication to pushing the envelope on beer.  And boy, has it ever been pushed.  Just look at the err, uhmm, well, I guess it 'aint exactly a label. It's a taxiderm-ied squirrel! Holy s#IT !!!

Mr. Stoat takes time out
of his busy schedule to
pose with me at BBC2010

I was truly lucky just to be in the presence of Mr. Stoat at the 2010 Beer Blogger's Conference held in Boulder, CO.  The guys at BeerTapTV were chosen to receive the bottle-wrapped-in-a-squirrel, as the one and only media bottle! I was luckier still that Erik and Romey from BeerTapTV allowed me a sip. After I watched the panelists take a sip, I had a feeling there would be some left over to taste. I watched them wrinkle their noses, smack their lips and stroke their throats as the potent liquid did its thing on them.

The beer was seriously strong, I got about a half ounce sip and my lips and tongue tingled like I just had the hottest Buffalo Wings, ever!  They stayed that way for about 30 to 45 minutes.  The alcohol burn was laser-like as it snaked its way down my throat. Grainy and super strong. If you aren't paying attention, it is 110 proof. That's stronger than most shots of whiskey, or tequila, friend.

The only thing this squirrel is missing, are some nuts...and you will need a big pair of them to drink much more of this!

Mr. Stoat with Romey, Erik and Ashley

Disclaimer: No humans were harmed during the drinking enjoyment of this beer.

BrewDog - Sink the Bismarck!

Sunken Sailor

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Sink the Bismarck!
BrewDog Ltd.
Unit 1, Kessock Workshops
Fraserburgh  Scotland 
Est. 2007
www.brewdog.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 41.0 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 (container) / 1.5 (sample)

Postmortem Brew Review
Cloudy amber/orange color.
Fruity sweet with heavy malt smell and some slightly acrid scents.
Absolutely no head.
Slightly detectable "legs" of lacing on the glass.
Tiny amount of carbonation.
Taste is deep smoky like the that of burning rubber.  Lots of biting hops throughout.
Warms the back of the mouth and throat; quite a bit of alcohol sting.
Tastes intensified as it warmed to room temperature.
Heavy malted body, complex flavors. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
Let's let the brewers speak for themselves: 

Sink the Bismarck! is beer, amplified. With the volume turned full up, it is important you that you be careful with this beer and show it the same amount of skeptical, tentative respect you would show an international chess superstar, clown or gypsy. Sink the Bismarck is a quadruple IPA that contains four times the hops, four times the bitterness and frozen four times to create at a staggering 41% ABV. This is IPA amplified, the most evocative style of the craft beer resistance with the volume cranked off the scale. Kettle hopped, dry hopped then freeze hopped for a deep fruit, resinous and spicy aroma. A full out attack on your taste-buds ensues as the incredibly smooth liquid delivers a crescendo of malt, sweet honey, hop oils and a torpedo of hop bitterness which lasts and lasts.

I got a burnt rubber like taste, not entirely detestable, but certainly not a drink to be quaffed in any kind of quantity.  BrewDog duked it out with Schorschbrau in the strongest beer "arms race" for ABV supremacy.  This was BrewDog's second salvo fired at the "sausage-muncher's" attempt to dethrone them for the crown.

Sink the Bismarck! is one heck of an alcoholic concoction, but certainly it seems aimed at grabbing some headlines, and $$$ rather than a serious, drinkable beer.  That aside, it is still fun to watch these two brewers from the sidelines.  Even more fun, is the chance to get a taste of this rare, and extreme example of brewing. And taste, I did, since it won't likely pass this way again.

Thanks to the fellow who brought it with them to this year's Beer Blogger's Conference, else I might not had a chance to sample it, at all. 

Just like the real battle ship, it was very tough to sink, indeed!

BrewDog - Tactical Nuclear Penguin

Nuke'd Penguin

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Tactical Nuclear Penguin
BrewDog Ltd.
Unit 1, Kessock Workshops
Fraserburgh  Scotland 
Est. 2007
www.brewdog.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 32.0 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 (container) / 3.0 (sample) 

Postmortem Brew Review
Brown/black color.
Plum fruit aroma, heavy malt smell and some other undefinable scents.
Zero, zip, nada head.
Clear "legs" of lacing on the glass, similar to bourbon or scotch.
Absolutely no carbonation.
Taste of tobacco leaf, then malty, malty flavor.
Warmed the back of the mouth and throat.
Slight alcohol sting, less than anticipated.
Tastes intensified as it warmed to room temperature.
Heavy malted body, viscous mouth feel. Very complex flavors. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
This beer's label claims, "made with barley, hops, yeast, water".  Those are indeed the four sacred ingredients for beer.  However - Reinheitsgebot be damned!  Tactical Nuclear Penguin's (fun to say) unusual name implies that you are in for a full on 'red alert' experience of a lifetime. A label quote reveals that, "BrewDog's beers are the epitome of pure punk."  That says a lot about an in-your-face 32% ABV beer.  Want more proof of punk?  Look at that packaging it comes in.  A brown paper bag with a penguin head drawn in magic marker and a piece of butcher's twine.  That has got to be punk for some kind of a 'fancy-pants' decanter!

I would like to say up front that neither myself, nor my pal Dean, (the purveyor of this bottle of TNP), compared it to another equally famous, high ABV beer.  We viewed TNP for its own qualities, alone. Having said that, this beer does stand on its own merit even though we admitted that 'other high ABV beer' had perhaps been a bit more stately.  But the Penguin did not disappoint from a novel beer experience. If you want more of the experience yourself, visit the BrewDog website to see how it's made. The label notes, "No Penguins  were harmed in the making of this beer; some humans did get very, very cold though. It was worth it."

The brew: First off, it had a dark brown, bordering on black color to the body.  It was served chilled, as per BrewDog's recommendation.  It was served in small two to three ounce amounts; look, you're not gonna drink all 12 ounces of this no matter what you think. The aromas and taste and body are surreal as it goes for a standard beer, but then again, this ain't no light beer.  Earthy flavors and aromas emanate from the glass and get more complex and funkier (in a good way) as it warms up a bit.  At times there were tobacco or even cough syrup; think industrial strength cough syrup. It was all over the taste map and kept going as it warmed.

More label notes say, "This is an extremely strong beer, it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost." Friendly, anxious ghost, huh? I don't think they mean Casper...I guess they're talking about me, The Reaper.  Ha-ha, muahahaahaaha! 

Not nuclear enough, you say?  The world's strongest beer ever has a "Best Before" date of January 18, 2021. I'd say that this thing can survive a nuclear fallout!

The label boasts, this is, "...beer for the dedicated." 

'Nuff said.

Bellhaven Scottish Ale

Dead Highlander

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Bellhaven Scottish Ale 
Bellhaven Brewing Company Ltd.
Spott Road
Dunbar, East Lothian Scotland
Est. 1719
www.belhaven.co.uk

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.2 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 16.0 (On Tap) 

Postmortem Brew Review
Amber bodied color with ruby tones.
Virtually no aromas. Faint yeast smell.
Double forming head gives nearly three finger tan head that lasts.
Quarter inch head near bottom of glass.
Copious lacing covers the pint glass.
Full malt taste. Creamy sweet finish.
Medium bodied.   Creamy soft with a touch of hops in the finish. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Wonderful creamy smooth and sweet. "Magic" to quote Bellhaven.  I am inclined to agree.  The most magical part is how that ale keeps its head to the bottom of the glass.  My mustache mopped it up with each creamy sip.  I also enjoyed the Scotch taste the beer brings forward.

Scottish Ales are quickly becoming a favorite and this one is worth finding.  A great way to warm a winter's day.

Orkney - Skull Splitter Ale

Dead Viking Warrior

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

Skull Splitter Ale
Sinclair Breweries Limited
The Orkney Brewery
Orkney, Scotland UK
Est. 2006
www.sinclairbreweries.co.uk

Brain Damage Quotient =8.5 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 11.2 

Postmortem Brew Review
Brown with ruby tones.
Malted smell with distinct hop aroma.
Fruity, fig notes in aroma.
Minimal head that dissipates rapidly.
Some lacing throughout the glass.
Medium bodied, complex mouth feel and zingy hops finish. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Tickling hop notes after each sip were found on this high ABV ale from Scotland. As distinct as the hops were, they were subtle, punchy even, but not overpowering. Nor was there a hint alcohol aftertaste as in some high ABV's, but a strong buzz prevailed after sucking the brains out of this noble lord.

The label's bold looking Viking however, was not nearly as subtle. With a winged helmet, leather shield and bright read warrior cloak, it was no surprise what lay in wait inside this brown glass vessel. Red lettering and matching red foil neck wrap showed this was not a beer nor Viking to take lightly. This dude was going down fighting!

Reading the bio of Thorfinn Hausakluif (Skullsplitter) added to the charm of this brew. He was the 7th Viking Earl of Orkney from the tip of the northern Scottish Isles and roamed those islands and seas around 1,000 AD, making him an official 'dead soldier' in the Reaper's book. I feared him not, as the barkeep's church key was enough to decapitate Thor and claim his broadsword for king and country. Muahahaahaaa!

All hail the Vikings...Long live Thor! Long live Orkney!

Newcastle Brown Ale

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

Newcastle Brown Ale
Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd.
2-4 Broadway Park, South Gyle
Edinburgh, Scotland
Est. 1927
www.newcastlebrown.com
www.scottish-newcastle.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 4.7 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 

Postmortem Brew Review
Brown color, slight reddish tinge when held up to light.
Malty and nutty flavor, the way a brown ale ought to be.
Slim caramel color head with little lacing.
Light to medium mouth feel, good aftertaste of slight hops. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Newkies, as they have been referred to, have been invading the US shores for sometime now. They are getting a loyal following, introducing the masses to what a proper brown ale should be. And who says the Brit's drink everything at room temp? The front of the bottle label says "Drink Cool." It doesn't seem they're attempting to offer tips on style with that statement.

Here you'll find no overpowering hops, no extra fizzy pizazz, no 'smart' packaging. Just good old fashioned, honest to goodness brown ale in clear bottles. It doesn't hurt they have some flashy yellow labeling, but the clear bottle shows the ultra good, solid liquid craft inside.

Get off the lagers for a while and lose yourself in something unique, "...The one and only!"

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Black Ale

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Black Ale
Harviestoun Brewery
Hillfoots Villiage
Alva, Scotland
Est. ????
www.harviestoun.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.0 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 11.2 

Postmortem Brew Review
Dark black in color.
Chocolate smell and aromas.
Tan to brown colored, well forming head with significant lacing.
Full bodied.
Roasted caramel flavor with bittersweet finish. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Viscous - Chocolatey - Roasty is right on the label of this proper English ale. I enjoyed it immensely. It also has an old English roadster on the label. This leads me to think that, what with the (lack of) reliability of old English cars, this fellow was a mechanic in a previous life. When his auto broke down, he started to make beer. Well, it flows out of the bottle thick and black just like old engine oil. But it tastes soooo much better. It's, "Brewed in small batches", so I'll have to keep an eye out to find more of this stuff.

2/5/11 Reaper Update - Enjoyed myself another of these beauties and it reads exactly as it did from nearly three years ago. Down to the letter of writing in the 'postmortem', this ale delivers. Will seek out again and again. Delicious and consistent.

Tennent's

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

Tennent's of Scotland - Lager
Tennent Caledonian Brewery
Glasgow, Scotland UK
Est.1885
www.tennents.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.0 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 11.2 

Postmortem Brew Review
Golden in color.
Fast evaporative head.
Minimal lacing of glass.
Hoppy aroma.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
A decent beer from Scotland, considering they're more famous for scotch. One leaves you feeling full. A smooth tasting beer. Now...where did I leave my bottle of Dewar's?