Claymore Scotch Ale
Great Divide Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado, United States 🇺🇸
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy Regular|
Score
7.02
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Named for a medieval Scottish sword, Claymore Scotch ale is a tribute to the legendary "Wee Heavy" beers of Scotland. A malty, deep-ruby-hued ale, it features a generous amount of caramel sweetness, a reserved hop profile and a subtle warming character, at 7.7% alcohol by volume. Claymore will be available in six-packs and on draft through mid-April.
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7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Pours brown with a tan, creamy head. Aroma is earthy, lightly smokey, with obvious caramel and hints of cherry. Taste is sweet with notes of honey and caramel, but with an underlying burnt brown sugar bitterness. A faint sourness is also present, especially going into the finish. The interesting mix of sweet/bitter/sour is the beers strength, at the same time it all comes across with perhaps a touch too much modesty. Theres nothing earth shattering here, just a pleasant cup. Body is medium, perhaps a touch too much carbonation. Probably drank it a couple degrees to cold. Very pleasant.
Tried
on 01 Jun 2017
at 12:08
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 4/24/2017. Pours clear very dark brown color with a 1 finger dense and fluffy light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, and nuttiness; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toffee, smoke, raisin, plum, fig, herbal, wood, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/light roasted malts and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, and nuttiness; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toffee, smoke, raisin, plum, herbal, wood, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/woody/spicy hop and roast bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dark fruit, herbal, wood, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malts and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light dryness from hop/roast bitterness, lightly increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly sticky/chalky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Minimal warming alcohol for 7.7%. Overall this is a great scotch ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malts and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV. This was not as yeasty and more bitter/roasty than I would typically expect in the style; but it was still a very enjoyable offering and nice example of the style.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 May 2017
at 05:43
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle. Clear deep amber color, tan head. Aroma of burnt caramel. Taste has caramel, toffee, toast. Very tasty.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Apr 2017
at 07:39
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
355ml bottle bought at Vinmonopolet Hamar.. Deep dark ruby body. Low, off-white head. Spotty lacing. Aroma of brown malts and raisin. Flavours of brittle caramel, dark dough and dreid fruits. Drying, malt-fruity finish. Fine bodied. Like it. (Shared with Johnny, Leif, Gunnbjørg and Dag Erik, Ottestad 05.03.2017).
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Mar 2017
at 03:18
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Minimal beige head immediately left flotsam on a dark brown still body. Rich aroma of dark fruits, demerara, & some dark spirits. Thick, almost chewy texture. Leaves a clean prickly feel on the back. To the fore this is sweet, syrup, brown sugar, slightly malty, dark fruits & hints of malt. This gradually changes over the tongue to tangy back with apricot, grape & an almost barrel aged aft.
Tried
on 19 Feb 2017
at 14:31
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Fra flaske på Mi2 Cardinal feb-17: brunsvart nesten uten skum, og akkurat nok karbonert til at inntrykkene kommer til sin rett. Sjokolade, mørke karameller, dessertkaffe. Myk bitterhet i den lange ettersmaken. Slank for sin voltstyrke, et velsmakende, maltdrevet øl som fikk mange fornøyde smil rundt bordet.
Tried
on 14 Feb 2017
at 13:47
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Shared bottle at Mi2 at Cardinal 13.02.17. Clear daek brown. Small and pale brown head. Aroma and molasses. Taste of molasses, dark chocolate, dark syrup and dark malt.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Feb 2017
at 14:37
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Shared bottle at Cardinal, Stavanger. Pours dark brown with little beige head. Aroma of caramel, dark bread, chocolate. Tastes sweet with some bitterness. Medium bodied.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Feb 2017
at 14:35
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
11.02.2017, 12 oz bottle @ home:
Nice creamy mediumlasting head. Aroma is slightly sweet, caramel malts, dark sugar, dried dark fruits, minerals, grass, "knekk", fruit stones, raisins. Taste is slightly sweet mineraly, raisins, minerals, grass, "knekk", weeds, caramel malts, dark sugar, dried dark fruits. Medium bitterness, slightly dry mineraly mouthfeel. Nice.
Nice creamy mediumlasting head. Aroma is slightly sweet, caramel malts, dark sugar, dried dark fruits, minerals, grass, "knekk", fruit stones, raisins. Taste is slightly sweet mineraly, raisins, minerals, grass, "knekk", weeds, caramel malts, dark sugar, dried dark fruits. Medium bitterness, slightly dry mineraly mouthfeel. Nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Feb 2017
at 15:52
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
355 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 7.7%. Very dark brown colour, thin beige head of poor retention. Malty aroma, some caramel and a hint of wood, but a bit anonymous. A faint hint of smoke. Malts, caramel and wood in the medium sweet flavour too, minimal hops. Not a bad beer, but this is not my favourite style.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Feb 2017
at 22:04