Meantime Scotch Ale
Brewed primarily for Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club, but also available in limited quantities on tap at the Greenwich Union pub.
After India Pale Ale and London Porter the third great British export beer was Scotch Ale. It was brewed at lower temperatures than English ales and cold conditioned for six to eight weeks. Scotland’s remoteness from the hop gardens of Southern England & the softness of the water of the Scottish lowlands made Scotch Ale the world’s finest expression of malt flavour in beer.
After India Pale Ale and London Porter the third great British export beer was Scotch Ale. It was brewed at lower temperatures than English ales and cold conditioned for six to eight weeks. Scotland’s remoteness from the hop gardens of Southern England & the softness of the water of the Scottish lowlands made Scotch Ale the world’s finest expression of malt flavour in beer.
3.6
165 reviews
Greenwich, England
Community reviews
Big bottle in a thistle. Pours deep brown with a lacy, tan head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, chocolate and a little roasted malts plus a little floral hops. Flavor the same, with the malts all blending well. Average to smooth texture. A pretty good beer.
750 ml bottle into snifter, best before 12/10/2012. Pours crystal clear dark reddish brown color with a nice 1 finger dense cream colored head with great retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lasts. Spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of big caramel, raisin, fig, apple, molasses, toast, leather, brown bread, tobacco, pepper, earth, light peat smoke, and herbal spiciness. Fantastic aromas with great complexity, strength, and balance of malt and fruity notes. Taste of caramel, raisin, fig, apple, toast, brown sugar, leather, brown bread, tobacco, pepper, earth, light peat smoke, floral, and herbal spiciness. Lingering notes of caramel, light fruits, brown sugar, toast, leather, tobacco, brown bread, earth, light peat smoke, and herbal spiciness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice balance and complexity of malt and fruity flavors; with zero cloying sweetness present after the finish. Medium carbonaton and body; with a slick and lightly syrupy mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent scotch ale! Great complexity and balance of malt and fruity notes; and very smooth to sip on. A highly enjoyable offering.
750ml bottle, cellar aged for about 1.5 years. Sweet, malty aroma, some dark brown sugar, faint smoke, peat, darkly toasted malt, seaweed/brine and burnt caramel. Dark amber in color, tea-like in appearance, with a very fine head. Dark brown sugar sweetness permeates the flavor profile, more peat/smoky aspects here, as well as some earthy, herbal tones and sweet, warming alcohol towards the finish. Rich and full on the palate, low in effervescence, body is very full. Nice!
Pours a deep tan brown .. mild foam, good lacing .. . blend of fruit and liquor .. . pretty good but too waffle iron .. . pretty good for a meantime though
.. . . remember if you get lost, you can always find East by staring directly at the sun.
The aroma is sweet and malty with caramel, paper, butter scotch and yeast. The appearance is amber with a small head. The taste is like the aroma. The palate is average. Overall not that great it’s ruined by the paper quality. I am not a fan.
has a nice flavor of malts with a touch of caramel and vanilla. the palate is only medium but doesnt have a real kick even though its 8%. the beer is really fantastic
On tap. Deep slightly cloudy orange with medium small off-white head. Aroma malt, bread, brown sugar. Medium full body, hint of warming alcohol and light carbonation. Flavor is mostly malty and sweet but also with some raisins, molasses, a little hoppy bitter balance although really not that prominent so in the end slightly sticky. Still flavorful and enjoyable.
Clear red-brown with good, creamy, tan head / Sweet nose of raisins, other dark fruit, brown sugar, and wood / Full body, sweet, malty, and chewy, with fine hop balance and long, lightly bitter and ever so slightly hot finish / Rich flavors of brown sugar, fig, date, raisin, walnut, marshmallow, anise, and oak / One of the great scotch ales that I have had.
Sweet malt, cherries, walnuts on the nose, slightly boozy. Clear tea, medium yellow head. Sweet malt, walnut, dried leaves. Boozy, but not that big of a deal.
Poured into a snifter.
4.0 A: Clear, deep amber color. Two and a half fingers of frothy beige head. Retention is very good and a short ring of lacing if left.
4.0 S: Nice aroma on this. Peaty foremost followed by toasted malts, caramel, and toffee. Also a fairly strong cider component. Some dark fruits.
3.5 T: Tastes just like the nose. Peaty, big toastiness with caramel and toffee in the background. This is a lot drier than I was expecting, but it’s tasty nonetheless. Much less cidery than the nose suggested though.
3.5 M: Lighter medium to medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Creamy for how thin it is. Good, but I wish it was a bit thicker.
4.0 D: A couple categories were borderline, so I’ll bump this. Tasty, well crafted beer.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 05-16-2012 02:42:12
Dark brown color with light beige head. Smells like a sour beer with oaky musty aroma. Creamy texture with tart yet malty flavor . Tastes more like a dark sour ale than a typical malty scotch ales. Quite a unique brew
750 ml. corked and caged. Vintage February 2011. Pours a mediumlight beige head, over a clear, copper (SRM 17) body....nose is raisin, plum, treacle, hints of molasses....taste is sweet malts with toffee/caramel, brown sugar, raisin, plum, date, finishing with minimal hop spice....mouth feel medium, slightly sticky, light alcohol tones, carbonation adds a medium spritz. This meets the style quite well. It is very malt forward, with great richness, sweetness and complexity from the malt. BJCP 7/3/14/4/7
On tap at Owen & Engine. Pours a clear reddish amber with a white head that lasts throughout the beer. Aroma has a good amount of sweet grains and nuttiness with a bit of caramel and a bit of booze. Flavor has sweet grains and caramel with a bit of backing light fruit and booze.
Smells sweet like raisins, and bready. About a 1-finger head, dark ruby in color, just the way a scotch ale should look. Fruity and malty at the front, finished bitter at the end. Medium to full body, just how I like it. I pretty smooth beer going down, overall I would drink this one again for sure. Rerate: my taste has changed significantly since I rated this. Aroma is nice, standard scotch ale with sweet malt, dark fruit, toffee. Appearance is dark brown like an old ale, light light brown head. Taste is much the same as aroma, a bit light. Mouthfeel is light, decent carbonation. Overall...I?ve really grown to dislike this one.
Tasted on 3/10/12 from a corked and caged 750mL bottle, thanks to Jane. Pours a dark cola brown with a thin beige head that slowly recedes to almost nothing, just extremely thin lacing. The nose is the nose is tons of caramel, light molasses, sweet honey, dark bread, and a touch of light bitterness. The flavor is pretty much the same, with an added fruity raisin and date note, but the honey and caramel really dominating. The body is medium plus with light, but stinging, carbonation, and a long, lightly bitter, full of caramel finish.
’The Historic Malt Expression Export Ale’ The aroma is a complex mix of malt, heavily toasted grains and maple syrup. The taste starts with a little dry toasted pumpernickle, after the swallow. The malts sweetness is able to develop into fresh baked dark wheat bread with toffee and coffee finishing the flavor profile.
Historic Malt Expression Version. 750ml corked and caged bottle served in a tulip. Not much of a pop when the cork came out, but there was plenty of carbonation. Poured a deep reddish brown with a finger of off white head. Big malty aroma with molasses, caramel and a bit of fruit from the yeast. Medium bodied. More malt in the flavor with caramel and dark fruit. Solid beer.
Pours reddish brown with moderate head and lacing. Aroma of scotch, carmel, and alcohol. Taste is the same. Very drinkable.
Dark copper color with fleeting off-white head. Aroma is dark fruit, caramel and malty. Tastes malty sweet, woody, and very slightly hop-bitterness. Well balanced and very easy to drink.
Pours a very deep deep copper color with some excellent head and lacing. Hugely deep malty scent with huge hints of caramel and some treacle. Deep flavor, huge thick maltiness, with a bit of peat, some caramel, a bit of sugariness.
Meantime Scotch Ale- Alistair Cook- limited edition Feb. 2011: pours hazy burgundy, fluffy tan head. biscuit malts, vanilla, toffee, typical Scotch ale nose. rich, robust malt sweetness. medium to full bodied yet quite smooth. Slightly dry on the finish.
Sampled on draft at Zeno’s in State College PA this beer poured a dark brown color with a large beige head that faded quickly and left some lacing. The aroma was nutty toasted caramel and faint ripe dark fruits. The flavor was tangy, bitter and woody with notes of cherry, plum and tobacco. The finish was long with wood, cherry and tobacco lingering. Medium body. Solid.
Bottle. Pours a nice dark brown with a nice white head. Aroma is carmalized malts and bread. Notes of honey, dark fruit, and some toasted malts come out. Palate is a little chewy and thick. Flavor really brings out a honey charater, but it is still nice and malty, finishes dry.
Bottle shared at the Bayou.
A:sweet stone fruits (plum),toffee
T:toffee, caramel, malty sweetness
750 ml bottle at the Bayou shared with Dallas. Pours a murky but bright dark brown color with a medium off-white head. The aroma is sweet caramel and strawberries. The flavor is a very nice mellow fruity malt dominated brew, some caramel, dry and earthy, a bit of brown sugar. Nice.
On tap at Beer Revolution. This is the legit 8% ABV version apparently. Dark brown with reddish hues and a small off-white head. Fruity and peaty aroma with some caramel malt evident. The flavor is very good. Nice fruity notes - cherry and fig mostly - with peat smoked malt and toffee. Medium-bodied, maybe a bit more, with medium-low carbonation. Pretty damn good actually. Good to try a real British Isles Scotch Ale.
Beautiful cask and cork bottle. Pours a brownish/orange. Tickly with carbonation on the tongue. Getting some spirit notes amongst some plum. Tastes like a higher abv than the bottle says. Some sweetness at the very back.
Raisin, brown sugar and plum nose. Moderately sweet taste, toffee, prunes, figs and herbal hops. Full body is prickly with over carbonation.
picked up a couple of these for $10 a pop. damn nice scotch ale, has some light oxidation notes that work great, very tasty and aromatic malt profile, some subtle hop flavors in the front still. this is a all around great brew without any barrel aging or anything special. very yummy stuff.
7th January 2009
US Export - re-imported to the UK by me! Grrrrrr - sort it out Meantime! Very dark brown beer. Smooth and almost silky. Doesn’t feel like aged malts like some Scotch ales. Lots of rich yet light tasting malt. Some chocolate. Not bitter or over dry. A very pleasant malty beer. Some cherry in the undertone.