Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Bottle at home. Pours clear amber, nose is toffee, nutty, floral, taste is sweet, bready, nutty, caramel. 7

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Flasche 0,5l: Kastanienbraun, dunkles Kupfer, glasklar, kräftiger stabiler mittelporiger Schaum; kräftig malzige + würzige Nase, kräftig Malz, Getreide, Malzzucker, dunkle/getrocknete Früchte, Malz, Getreide, Malzzucker, dunkles Karamell, florale/grasige Hopfennoten, malzig-würzige Bitterkeit; kräftig malziger + würziger Körper, leichte Süße, dunkle/getrocknete Früchte, leichte trockene Säure, Malz, Getreide, dunkles Karamell, cremig, mittlere Kohlensäure, florale/grasige Hopfennoten, Röstaromen, etwas Kaffee; malzig-würziger Nachgang

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Poured from 500mL bottle (bb Apr 2026). Clear amber brown with small off white head. Clean toffee malt, thin-medium body. Quite simple, but decently made.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

One of the rare 80/- Scottish ales still surviving today - the lighter variants, in various degrees of strength historically linked to respective tax brackets, of the much more familiar Scotch ale or wee heavy. Bottle from a supermarket in Aberdeen. Pale greyish off-white, moussey, opening, irregular but well-retaining head on a clear chestnut brown robe with coppery glow and disparate, tiny-bubbled sparkling. Aroma of roasted beech nuts, slightly burnt toast, iron (as in wet rusty nails), dry tree leaves, dried medlar, spring water, tea, wet bricks, dry caramel, earthy note. Cleanly fruity onset, some dried fig and wee pear, low in sweetness with sharpish carbonation (yet small-bubbled and working well at this ABV), smooth non-sweet caramelliness in the middle with roasted nut shell- to even very lightly coffee grounds-like toasty bitterness, though more bitterness eventually comes from leafy, herbal hops, all combining into a dryingly bitter, long ending, feeling quite 'full' in relation to ABV. You do not see this type of beers every day anymore, not even in Scotland, and if you do, it is usually an 80/- (the lower 'tax brackets' are all but extinct) so this was exciting enough for me as a means to delve deeper into this elusive style - and straightforward and 'sleek' as it was, it was certainly an enjoyable beer.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

500 ml bottle from Tesco, Bellshill. Pours clear chestnut with beige foam. Aroma & taste: caramel malts, biscuit, toffee, smooth. Light sweet & bitter. Light to medium body with soft carbonation. Fair.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

50cl bottle from the Co-Op, Bearsden. A chestnut brown pour with a fast fading white head; malty aroma with a touch of citrus; sweet malty taste with some lemon in the background; and a little spice in the finish with more earthy malts. A pleasant 80/-.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Clear amber in the glass and a fine thick head. Good lacing. Moderate intensity in the aroma Mellow sweetness and a mild bitterness Soft carbonation level. Caramel malty, bread and herbal flavor. [Cask at Bull Inn in Paisley, Scotland]

Bottle online from the Broughton Brewery. Pours an amber/brown colour with a thinnish creamy off-white head and nice lacing on the glass. Aromas of sweet toffee, caramel, doughy bread and apples. Taste is very malty with more sweet toffee and caramel, more doughy bread and stewed fruits and vegetables. Sweetish tang on the finish.Thinnish body with low carbonation (almost flat) on the slightly oily mouthfeel. Very light and easy drinking beer. Would be a good session ale. Decent.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

500ml bottle from Tesco - Deep russet body, thin white head. Lots of malty caramel notes in the nose, sweetish start with a gentle bitter finish. Very quaffable.