Belhaven Scottish Ale

It was a request from one of the viewers from IRC, LewisCooper, that I review a beer from the Belhaven line.  I wasn't able to find Belhaven Best, but I got a hold of their flagship beer- Belhaven Scottish Ale.  Belhaven is out of Scotland, and was established in 1719.  I wasn't blown away by this beer.

The beer poured a rich copper color with a nice off white head.  The appearance was quite inviting.  However, I didn't get much out of the nose at all.  The aromas I did get were of florals, a small hint of malt, and an even smaller hint of vanilla.  The mouth feel on this beer would probably be a solid medium.  It wasn't watery or syrupy but rested right in the middle.

My first impression of this beer was that it was an imitation of Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale, but it didn't give me much nut flavor.  I did get caramel, some vanilla, a wood like taste and a hint of vanilla, but everything was so undistinguished that I was left with the impression of a semi bland beer.  This is definitely a better beer than macro beers, and it is a decent ale, but it didn't impress me that much.

The beer was well built and it had some semblance of the style, but it wasn't robust enough for my impression of an ale.  I didn't encounter any tastes or smells that turned me off, but I also wasn't very turned on.  For that reason, I decided to go against the other reviews I've seen of this beer and score this a 6 out of 10.  It isn't horrible by any means, but it just isn't spectacular.  It isn't much of anything, really.

People who like ales may want to give this a try, and it might even make a great starter ale for people wanting to cross into the ale side of the beer world if they never had an ale.  Other than that, I really don't have many merits to bestow on this beer.  Thanks for reading and watching and please tell a friend.  Keep drinking good beer!

I will add the video review when it is done rendering.