Smoke on the Bayou

Murky brown black pour with tan Nisha head. Mostly milky chocolate. Not a ton of smoke. Ok though.

Bottle. A- Smoke, fresh cut grass, mild sugar cookie. A- Dark mahogany color, dark liquid, beige head. T- Smoke, umami, grassy, slightly bready. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, balanced finish. O- After having Buffalo Bayou's Morning Wood I was not impressed so I went in with low expectations on this one. I was way off. This was outstanding. Far from a scotch ale in my opinion. In fact, we tried to guess and guess what style it might be. It felt style-less honestly. Lots of smoke and a fresh cut lawn aspect. A bit of malty sugar cookie lingers in the back. Nice stuff. Wish I could've had more to contemplate.

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2017 vintage bottling. Pours moderately hazy deep ruby red, light copper/brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, wood smoke, toasted biscuit, brown bread, raisin, plum, fig, pear, apricot, and red apple; with lighter notes of molasses, nuttiness, roast, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready/smoked malt, fruity yeast, and light earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, wood smoke, toasted biscuit, brown bread, raisin, plum, fig, pear, apricot, and red apple; with lighter notes of molasses, nuttiness, roast, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Very mild herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, wood smoke, toasted biscuit, brown bread, raisin, plum, fig, pear, apricot, red apple, light molasses/nutty/roast, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/smoked malt, fruity yeast, and light earthy hop flavors; with a solid malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is good. Pretty thin and not that rich for the ABV, but not bad. Minimal warming alcohol for 9%. Overall this is a very good scotch ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/smoked malt, fruity yeast, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the ABV; with the minimally bitter/drying finish. Very well balanced malts and English yeast complexity, with mild earthy hop balance against sweetness. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example.

Bottle sample at a tasting at Tom L’s place. Thanks Ory. Amber. Malt, caramel, a cookie hint, some fruitiness, light smoky hint, a bit of oxidation, sweet.

Bottle - Caramel sweetness and a nuttiness that rounds it out nicely. Cloudy amber with a rich beige head. Almost Pecan and caramel with a rich sweetness that follows through to the end. The smoke is very mild if there at all and I think that is that nutiness I get. Nice beer, matly and sweet but not enough smoke characteristics.

22oz waxed bottle poured. Pours a dark thick reddish amber. Low clarity. Aroma is sweeter and boozier but still has a leafy earthy soil Scottish aroma. Flavor is less sweet and less boozy which is better. Goes great with a slightly thicker mouthful. A nice long soil and bitter brown malts aftertaste.

Bottle. Bronze beer with a dark cream head. Caramel and earthy aroma with light toffee. caramel and light peat flavor with backing dark fruitiness. Medium bodied. Caramel and toffee linger with darker malts, light dark fruit, and light peat.

Sample at Petrol Station. The beer is a slightly murky brownish-amber color with a medium light beige head that dissipates slowly to a wispy film. Strings of lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malt and fruit. Medium-bodied with flavors of smoked malt, toffee and hops. The finish is peaty with an earthy malt aftertaste. Decent overall.

Bottle at RBWG 2013, thanks to Daniel. Pours clear amber with a light, beige foam head. Huge sweet aroma, doughy and meaty bread. Big sweet flavor, heavy malts, toffee, light leafy bitterness. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Sticky sweet finish, semi-dark fruits, light alcohol, some toffee. Decent. Big boned.

On tap at Xmas in July. Pours a cloudy amber with a small beige head leaving spotty lacing. The aroma is caramel butterscotch and smoke. Thin moutfheel with a sweet caramel malt and light smokiness on the finish. Easy to drink hiding alcohol well a very impressive scotch ale from Buffalo Bayou.