Taddy Porter - Samuel Smith Old Brewery

Samuel Smith Taddy Porter: This beer needs no fancy introduction. It is, by many accounts, the gold standard of porter beer. If you desire more than that just drink the damn thing.

ABV: 5%
Serving Type: 12oz. bottle

Appearance: Black with a burgundy glow. A fairly firm dark tan head (my picture notes an abnormally huge wad from a sloppy pour, disregard). Sits pretty nicely and leaves behind a nice lacing.

Smell: Earthy roasted malts and barley. Lots of nose. A little noticeable hop creeps out from behind the barley.

Taste: Nutty on the takeoff. Roasted mocha tones throughout. A hint of red wine earthiness. Sugary malts coat the mouth and linger.

Mouthfeel: Very pleasing on the tongue. Firm but completely unobtrusive in the mouth. A low carbonation feel. Not bubbly at all, just enough firm carbonation to help it down. Not exactly smooth, but closer to that than grainy.

Drinkability: This is a well balanced beer. As I've said before, I tend to favor slightly bigger beers. That being said, this one's not too weak to pass the mark, it's got excellent flavor, and it doesn't sit heavy in the gullet or the gut. It's a little pricey, but worth shelling out for. Apparently the only drinkability note that I deemed worth writing down was "extremely, I want another," which says pretty plainly that this beer invites one in for a full night of dinner, dancing, and home-run level action sure to leave an impression.
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Links:
Samuel Smith Old Brewery Website
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page

Belhaven Scottish Ale - Belhaven Brewery

Don yer best tartan kits, because today we're heading across the pond. Belhaven brewery has bestowed upon Floridian beverage distributors a number of it's sundry sauces, direct from Scotland. It's assured that this is the first, and a safe bet that it will remain the only, brewery from East Lothian to come across my humble beer review. There are a handful of tempting brews from Belhaven, and the first I've chosen to take a crack at is their Scottish Ale.

ABV: 5.2%
Serving Type: 12oz. bottle

Appearance: Golden brown in color leaning toward the red end. Medium-thin looking body on a delicate pour. A crisp, bubbly, and surprisingly firm off-white head hangs around the glass nicely.

Smell: Very creamy malt nose with sugary sweet and caramel tones heavy. There is also noticeable grain note. Overall fairly clean, but with no bitterness or hops discernible.

Taste: Tastes almost identical to the smell. Creamy malt in the front, sweet, caramel, maybe some toffee, very light hops. No bitterness at all. Smooth but not buttery, some crisp cleanliness about the flavor.

Mouthfeel: Thicker than expected. The pour looked a little on the thin side, but it coats the mouth and hangs nicely on the palette.

Drinkability: If I were in Scotland more often I think I'd be happy to have dram upon dram (I know that term is for Scotch, but I don't have a Scotch review, so I'm going with it). As with most of the beers that have graced the review so far, it's tasty and very drinkable for the sweet-toothed kind. Weighing in at 5.2%, it's not terribly strong. I'd prefer it a bit bigger, because it seems to me like this type of flavor profile handles high ABV pretty well. Also I'm a more swerve for my coin type of guy. The price point is fairly friendly for a beer of this level, at around $10/six pack. It's definitely worth a try and I look forward to having another go at it.
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Links:
Belhaven Brewery Website
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page