Scottish Ale

It's not often that I get to drink a Three Floyds beer. In fact, it's probably been about a year since I had my last one. This bottle comes to me all the way from Chicago where a friend picked it up and brought back to me. Even before opening the bottle I knew I'd lucked out. Three Floyds makes some great beers but I like some styles more than others. Lately I've been on a bit of a Scotch Ale kick and lo and behold I was gifted a couple bottles of Robert the Bruce. Awesome.

It may be March but the snow is still falling I decided to open up a bottle of Bell's Christmas Ale and pretend we were still in the holiday season. I picked up this bottle as part of a "build your own six pack" mixer just after I wrapped up my annual Jingle Beers review of Christmas seasonals. After drinking two dozen Christmas themed beers during the month of December I was a little burnt out and decided to hang on to this bottle for next year, or at least throw a miniature Christmas in July party for myself. This weekend's snowstorm changed my plans and I decided to make the most of staying indoors by opening up an early (late) Christmas present.

I picked up a six pack of Bristol Brewing's Laughing Label on a recent vacation stop in Colorado Springs. I figured, "When in Colorado Springs, drink as the Colorado Springsers drink." The Laughing Lab is labeled as a "Scottish-Style Ale" and, for the most part, that's pretty accurate. To me, the Scottish style's signature is its maltiness. The Laughing Lab smells very malty and very sweet. It almost smells like you've poured a glass of cola. The taste of this beer is a little bit surprising as it's rather hoppy. The beer is still quite balanced, it borders on being just a little too hoppy for the style in my opinion.