Samuel Adams Scotch Ale

Samuel Adams Scotch Ale

This is a brew for adventurous beer drinkers. It is brewed with four malts: two row pale Harrington, Munich malt, chocolate malt, and a rare peat smoked malt commonly used by distillers of Scotch malt whiskey. This unique malt gives Samuel Adams® Scotch Ale its distinct, subtle smoky character and deep amber hue. Samuel Adams® Scotch Ale is brewed using traditional English hops, Goldings and Fuggles. This is a big brew dominated by malt flavors and aromas, rich and full bodied, slightly sweet.

This challenging beer is not for everyone. A high original gravity, hop bitterness, and peat smoke character yield a robust, yet smooth and balanced ale, for the consumer of rich and complex ales. First produced in 1995 Samuel Adams® Scotch Ale was briefly retired in 2000. Happily, its cult following demanded the return of this brew.

Brewed with a small amount of peated malt, commonly used in the production of Scotch whiskey, imparting its smoky signature. This peat smoke note is artfully integrated with, and complemented by, this rich, full bodied, malty ale, robust and complex. Samuel Adams Scotch Ale takes nearly five weeks, from the start of the brew through the final conditioning, to create. Most ales are complete after only two to three weeks.
3.3
720 reviews
Boston, United States

Community reviews

3.0 Bottle: Copper in color with a frothy head that disappeared quickly leaving some lacing. Aroma is roasted malts, with some caramel, spice and smokiness flavorings.
3.3 Pours clear dark copper color with cream color head. Toasted malt and caramel aromas. Sweet caramel and toasted malt flavor, a touch of smoke with some nuttiness. Medium body with average carbonation.
3.6 12 ounce bottle from the Cabin Pack - nose is biscuits and grass. Sip ads a little smoke/peat, caramel and light citrus. This is pretty good for being a little light for the style. I mainly like it for the peat.
3.4 Smoky wood, toast, and cherry nose. Clear tea, medium yellow head, good lacing. Leather, peat, elderberries. Bitter tea finish. Light body, moderate carbonation. Nice peat character, but the texture is empty and fizzy.
4.0 Not a normal style for me, first one I’ve rated. Seems to be wide variety of opinions on this looking at the comments. Light oak and a hint of booziness on the nose. Malty but not to thick with a hint of smoke and a clean finish.
2.7 12 oz. bottle from Cabic Pack Box stamped Enjoy By May 2016 Actual bottle stamped 3455 so bottled on Dec. 11. Poured into a Chalice. A: Very cold pour left next to no head at all. Just a collar around the glass. Crystal clear jewel toned weak tea color. 2nd bottle poured a bit more of tan foam. S: Lightly sweet malt and a little dark fruit/prune note on the nose. A little stout-like but very light. Again the beer is very cold. T: Roasty English hop bitterness with a hint of toffee sweetness at the back. Not getting peat nor smoke to speak of. Balanced and decent taste. M: Slick and a bit oily. Medium bodied and almost flat. Shorter finish than I expected. Fairly clean and very softly carbonated. O: I remember having this back in the ’90s and finding it good but cloying after a short while but perhaps due to the cold temp It’s fairly crisp and clean. Still pretty good although probably not something I’d seek out unless perhaps I have a nice bottle of Scotch on hand.
2.9 Jan. 9, 2016; 12 oz. bottle from SA sampler 12-pack. Copper-dark pour; minimal head. Smoky, vaguely-herbal, malt-laden brew that’s a bit of a challenge to get through.
2.8 Cabin pack Clear copper brown pour with decent soapy sudsy sticky head. Malty old biscuits and moldy peatiness. not all that great imho. didn’t care for it. Blah.
3.8 Bottle. Pours deep copper with some reddish hue; thick off-white head and substantial lacing. Peated malt aroma. Rich, smoky malt flavor. Excellent.
3.6 Bottle: Clear, bubbled-copper with a tall, yellowed-beige head. Caramel, toasty scent. Flavour is caramel malt, vanilla.....just a hint of smoke and peat. A very mild scotch ale.....a slight herbal bittering towards the end. Pretty good.
3.8 Rated from old notes. A rich brew with a heavy malt preasence. Hints of fruit and woodsmoke. Well bodied with a lingering, not unpleasant aftertaste in which the hops comes to the fore. Not a light, easy drinking beer, but a nice digestif.
2.8 A dirty white head dissipates quickly, leaving suds. Pours a medium-dark amber, with just a few bubbles. Aroma isn’t too strong, but what I could get was wheat bread and some smoky firewood. Malts control the flavor, with a sweetness balanced with roasted charcoal flavors. Medium carbonation; light body. A little gentler than I’d like for the style, but drinkable.
2.5 This was a strange brew for me. Noted hints of treacle and a strange vanilla-esque flavor to it.
2.8 Pours a clear copper with an off white head. The aroma is caramel, hops, and somewhat yet mild fruits. The taste is the same.
3.1 "this one’s a slight miss from good ol’ Sammy. It’s got a nice, easy drinking quality to it, and all the qualities are there, just at a lower level than the really good ones. A little more oomph, and I’d give it a better rating. The session beer of scotch ales."
3.3 12 oz bottle at home from backlog notes 07. Pours a clear auburn color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma and flavor have caramel, some mild earthy hops, a very subdued fruity character, nothing really bad with thi, just not rreally exciting either.
3.0 Pours a darker reddish color with off-white head. Caramel malt, some notes of whiskey, and just a bit of hop pine on the nose; follows onto the palate. Finishes with an earthy peaty note.
3.0 rich amber/burgundy color..smoky and sweet..almost like it was barbecued..pretty good.
3.4 I’m usually not a big fan of the Scotch Ales, but this one was drinkable. Maybe on the mild side of this style, that’s probably why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Nice taste of complexity, good malt taste, slight bitter finish.
3.4 Bouteille 12oz. De couleur brune et légèrement voilée. Nez malté de caramel toffee légèrement rôti et aux notes fumées (tourbe), léger de houblon floral et terreux avec des notes de noix. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen-faible ainsi qu’une texture légèrement crémeuse. Goût malté de caramel toffee avec de très faibles notes boisées (bois brûlé) lors de l’entrée en bouche suivi d’un goût d’un goût malté plus rôti et légèrement fumé (tourbe) avec des traces de sucre brun puis en finale l’on retrouve une légère amertume de houblon floral et légèrement terreux avec des notes sèches de noix. Post-goût moyen et aux notes sèches, légèrement amer de rôti et de houblon floral aux notes terreuses avec des petites notes de noix et de fumée. (2006)
3.7 From bottle. Pours a copper / red color. Aroma was earthy with hops and caramel malts. Taste had great balance with a better then expected smoky malt taste and great hop backing.
2.9 Part of sam adams variety pack, nothing here was amazing, but this one was alright, smooth, refreshing, did what it needed to do
3.2 Bottle. Pours reddish-brown with a small off-white head. Moderately sweet malty caramel aroma with a touch of rye and grassy hops. Malty caramel flavor with rye, light grassy/pine hops, and a touch of smoke. Moderately sweet with a lightly hopped finish.
4.0 Sam Adams delivers once again with this tasty scotch ale. It pours a golden brown with a thick head of foam that sticks around well beyond the first sip. It has a bold taste with an almost nutty taste to it. A good tasty beer with a pizza, but not exactly a summer cookout beer in my opinion.
2.8 14th May 2011 Clear deep amber - brown beer. Small white head. Light palate. Nice even malt, slightly sweet. Subtle dried fruits underneath. Semi dry finish. Scotch ales, I’ve decided, are not my thing but there is nothing wrong with this.
3.5 An okay Scotch ale. Has a bit of the peat character is advertises, but its not particularly prominent. Has a nice hoppy character, more earthy and grassy than malty.
3.5 Bottle->SA glass. Amber with small head. Aroma of malt, hops, peat. Taste is fairly complex, with some smoky peat. Tasty.
2.4 Bottle pours a red amber color not a great deal of head. Smells and tastes of caramel, nuts, earthy, spice. Its semi sweet not that great ready to get the bottle over with.
5.0 Hands down best beer I’ve ever had, though many would disagree, its my taste buds, Iam the rater. appearence, nice amber color, perfect in the sunlight,little bubbles forming, shimmer pretty taste wonderful blend of Malts, a gaint brew, smooth and mellow, the Hops add to balance out the malt, and the finish awesome peat smoke note comes through, makes me feel like Iam in Scottland in a Flog pub or something. smell, sweet malt and slight flora hop notes overall, for me the best, I can say that alot better at this ponit since I’ve tried alot of beers, still this is number ! in my book, try it, comes out only in the Brewmasters varitey pack starting in Jan to Mar! smell, sweet malt and mellow hop aroma
3.9 Serving glass: Poured from bottle into Nonic Imperial Pint. Appearance: Clear mahogany with thin but persistent head and some nice lacing down the glass. Aroma: Light peat malt, some caramel and English hops. A little too mild for a Scotch Ale. Taste: Quite smoky from the peat malt. Caramel, dark fruit and spicy hops are also apparent, finishing with mostly the spiciness. Palate: Moderate carbonation, medium body, dry finish. Overall: Nice, everyday Scotch Ale with an emphasis on peat smoked malt.