Scottish Ales Revisited

​Way back in January, we offered a peek at four delicious Scottish ales, starting with our light, dry, and very drinkable 70 Shilling. All four are now available, and each one is unique and very tasty. This selection of Scottish styles offers something for every palate.
 
The Scottish Export Ale is brand new. The “shilling” rated ales tended to be dark, malty, and somewhat sweet. The Scots started brewing special “export” ales that were more like the lighter, drier English pale ales. This is the historical style our export ale is modeled on. We use pilsner malt as the base and hop it somewhat modestly. The Scottish Export Ale is 5.6% alcohol, but light bodied with a dry finish. It’s a beautiful amber color with some toasty roast malt and a nice clean finish.
 
We also recently re-released our original Scottish Ale. You can think of it as a 90 Shilling. It’s dark and malty, but hopped a bit more than the style generally is. It comes in at 5.7% alcohol and 44 IBUs. The base malt is Golden Promise, a traditional Scottish-grown spring barley. We hop it with good old American Cascade hops, which show subtly on the finish. The beer is a deep reddish mahogany color with loads of caramel malt notes and a little spice. Despite the big malt presence, it doesn’t finish cloyingly, as some Scottish ales do.
 
Finally, our “Wee Bit Heavy Ale” is this year’s third beer in our “big beer” series. That’s right, Civil Life beer topping the scales at 6.5% alcohol … around these parts, that’s plenty big. Wee Heavies are Scottish strong ales. Heavy refers to the full body. Such beers, being higher in alcohol, were originally served in a “wee” glass. The Wee Bit Heavy is deep copper to brown in color with a rich, layered malt character. It’s complex with huge caramelized malt notes, nice spice, and a little sweetness. If you see a fifty-year-old Ford pickup truck with a bed full of growlers, you’ll know our regular Keith has replenished his supply. Hurry down before he finishes it!
 
No matter what you like, one of our Scottish ales is sure to please. You don’t see an awful lot of Scottish ales at American craft breweries, but your friends at the Civil Life are making sure great styles keep flowing, especially those that celebrate the malt backbone of every great beer. Cheers!