Blessed Thistle
Cairngorm Brewery in Aviemore, Highland, Scotland 🏴
Bitter - Ordinary / Best Bitter Regular|
Score
6.26
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"Thistle Beer" from Cairngorm Brewery. A reddish brown ale, bittered with thistle and late Goldings hops. Hints of roast malt and fruit finish this most complex of beers. Alias with M&S Scottish Ale confirmed at the brewery (Oakes).
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7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Brown-foxy, with an olive shine; olive tinted, creamy head. Malty with coloured malts, and a fresh greenery smell, even a bit leafy, and salty - seaweed or kelp-like. Must be the thistles? Quite bitter, with a very clear hop - start, then getting granulated, sandy. Dry taste ending in a little leather-like flavour, spicey, quite dry-bitter and complex. Medium bodied at best, slight slickness, very light burning MF. I’m surprised - I like this pretty much. Very decent, even complex, satisfying ale. Slainte mhath, Craig!
Tried
on 31 May 2007
at 14:44
4.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
Cask half-pint at NERAX on 5/5/07
Amber-chartreuse, mostly clear, with a small beige head that leaves no lacing.
Hugely estery nose, but muted somewhat by too much spicy, phenolic character and a strange roasted, nutty note as well. Some light sugars and herbal/tea-like suggestions (must be the nettles). Too much dryness/blandness and the esters are just too much as well. Don’t see why they used any dark malts in this one, it just muddles things and leaves too much dryness. The spiciness is really strange too. Kind of smells like fruitcake when all the esters get mixed in. Not a very strong nose either.
Bland and nutty, with more roast and only minimal malt. Overattenuated, without any real supple texture, the thistle seems pretty soggy and out-of-reach. Weird spices, poor carbonation creating a loose, watery texture.
Amber-chartreuse, mostly clear, with a small beige head that leaves no lacing.
Hugely estery nose, but muted somewhat by too much spicy, phenolic character and a strange roasted, nutty note as well. Some light sugars and herbal/tea-like suggestions (must be the nettles). Too much dryness/blandness and the esters are just too much as well. Don’t see why they used any dark malts in this one, it just muddles things and leaves too much dryness. The spiciness is really strange too. Kind of smells like fruitcake when all the esters get mixed in. Not a very strong nose either.
Bland and nutty, with more roast and only minimal malt. Overattenuated, without any real supple texture, the thistle seems pretty soggy and out-of-reach. Weird spices, poor carbonation creating a loose, watery texture.
Tried
from Cask
on 24 May 2007
at 16:36