Commentist Beer Barrel: Scotchy Scotch Scotch

The worst thing about this time of year, to me—at least in non-election years, Jesus Christ am I sick of that shit—is waiting for Sierra Nevada Brewing Company to release its famous winter fresh hop IPA, Celebration. The ongoing seasonal creep in beer releases means now’s about the time the winter ales start hitting the shelves. Hell, I’m already almost two six-packs into this year’s release of Great Divide Hibernation, but Sierra Nevada seems to be stubborn about this one, year in and year out. This past week, though, they threw me a bone, dropping a pretty impressive Snowpack winter sampler that features a single-hop Centennial IPA, a cold brew coffee stout, and the beer I want to tell to you about today, Sierra Nevada Maple Scotch.

The Scotch ale is an underrated fall and winter staple, potentially even more complex than the big stouts and barleywines and just plain more satisfying than your average spice-heavy winter warmer. The style’s a favorite of lady snow’s in particular. And Sierra Nevada’s come up with a fun twist on it here, with an addition of sweet, delicious maple syrup.

Sierra Nevada Maple Scotch pours a slightly hazy auburn, with ruby highlights and a cream-white head that’s dense if not especially thick, fading away after a couple of minutes. It smells like bitter chocolate and raisins, and tastes like those same things plus a big touch of black cherry. The thing that’s most noticeably not here is any evidence of peat smoke. Peat-smoked malt is not mandatory or even traditional for a Scotch ale, mind—from what I’ve read, it’s only American brewers who really do it—but I usually prefer it, and I suspect it would have combined wonderfully with maple. On the other hand, peat smoke is very much a taste that doesn’t suit all palates, and this beer does not give me the impression that it’s truly missing anything.

Now, the bottle’s label advertises “a hint of maple” and I’d say that’s about right. This isn’t the rich, syrupy maple flavor of, you know, a Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. It’s also not the focused, crystalline sweetness of Abita Turbodog, a beer that always reminds me of Grade A amber maple syrup despite not actually having any maple syrup in it. It’s more just the impression of maple, a sort of… to get real nerdy about this, a sort of  delicious background radiation that underlies and permeates the whole flavor profile of the beer without ever really calling attention to itself. This is a delicate and skillful balancing act, and it works like a charm, letting the maple enhance a well-made beer that’s already rich and sweet and satisfying rather than competing with it or even overpowering it.

lady snow says: Definitely a Scotch ale! I always say that, when I have really distinctive beer styles. “Definitely a fill-in-the-blank!” But really, this reminds me a lot of one of my favorites, Scots Gone Wild. Minus the wild ale part, of course. I really like the maple.

make it snow says: Yeah, how’s that maple presenting for you?

lady snow says: When I first take a sip, that sweetness hits me, and then it kind of fades out. It’s more distinctly a Scotch ale taste on the finish. Definitely the malts are adding to that sweetness too. This makes me want to go tap a tree. Not in that way. This was a good night to drink this, though. Nice and cool, for once.

tl;dr: Sierra Nevada Maple Scotch is only packaged in Sierra Nevada’s Snow Pack winter sampler. You never really want to buy a sampler box for the sake of one beer, and with this one, you don’t have to. In addition to the Scotch ale, the box contains an excellent coffee stout and single-hop IPA as well as the timeless Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Grade: I gotta get some waffles.

make it snow is an alot of beer and Overwatch support main. He drank two Sierra Nevada Maple Scotches while writing this review, and lady snow drank the third, and now we’re all out of Maple Scotch. Alas.