Scotch Ale
Scotch ale is the Edinburgh version of Burton Ale: dark, with a bittersweet, sometimes slightly metallic tang, and generally strong. Scotch Ale was first used as a designation for strong ales exported from Edinburgh in the 18th century. The term has become popular in the USA, where strong ales which may be available in Scotland under a different name are sold in America as "Scotch Ale", for example, Caledonian's Edinburgh Strong Ale or Edinburgh Tattoo, is sold in the USA as Edinburgh Scotch Ale. As with other examples of strong ales, such as Barley wine, these beers tend toward sweetness and a full body. Examples from the Caledonian brewery would have toffee notes from the caramelizing of the malt from the direct fired copper. This caramelizing of Caledonian's beers is popular in America and has led many American brewers to produce strong toffee sweet beers which they label as a Scotch Ale.
Scotch Ale or Whisky Ale is a designation used by brewers in France and Belgium for peat-smoked malt flavoured beers. Even though the malt used by distillers in Scotland is no longer dried by peat burning, some peat smoke flavour is added during malting by an additional process. Although recent research from brewing historian Ron Pattinson shows a lack of evidence for peat smoked malt being used by any Scottish breweries, American craft brewers often add peat smoked malt in their versions of Scotch ale. These malts are occasionally used in beers where the peat smoke flavour is reminiscent of whisky. The most popular French example is Fischer's Adelscott. The brewer Douglas Ross of the Bridge of Allan brewery made the first Scottish example of a Whisky Ale for the Tullibardine Distillery in 2006; this beer was made with unpeated malt and aged in whisky barrels that had not contained a peated malt whisky so has a vanilla and nutty profile.
Scotch Ale is sometimes conflated with the term "Wee Heavy", as both are used to describe a strong beer. Examples of beers brewed in the USA under the name Wee Heavy tend to be 7% abv and higher, while Scottish-brewed examples, such as Belhaven's Wee Heavy, can be found between 5.5% and 6.5% abv. McEwan's Scotch Ale is also 8% abv.
In North East England, "Best Scotch" refers to a beer similar to Mild Ale but with a drier, more burnt palate.
Read more about this topic: Golden Ale (UK), Strong Pale Ale
Famous quotes containing the words scotch and/or ale:
“It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding. The only idea of wit, or rather that inferior variety of the electric talent which prevails occasionally in the North, and which, under the name of “Wut,” is so infinitely distressing to people of good taste, is laughing immoderately at stated intervals.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)
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Nor bring us in no white bred, for therein is no gane,
But bring us in good ale!
Bring us in no befe, for there is many bones,
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And bring us in good ale!”
—Unknown. Bring Us In Good Ale (l. 3–8)