Traquair - House Ale

After being thoroughly disappointed by the last 2 Scottish beers I've had I'm looking at Traquair with keen anticipation. I've heard murmurings about this beer, I've seen people request it online and I know that people like it... But I don't trust people so let's see what I think of it. It pours a deep, dark, brown, which for all intents and purposes we shall call black. It smells like salty, smoky, caramel mixed with a little sloe (coincidentally, it's the best thing I've smelt today,) my hopes are officially UP. It tastes like a rich and indulgent, almost decedant, ruby ale with a palate that hits you like a torpedo and leaves scorch marks on your tongue. It fizzes in your mouth like a handful of poprocks and has an after taste of wild berries.

At 7.4% this is a true Scottish beverage, no half measures, no messing around, just a recipe that's so old that it's great grand children have beards as long as a caber and a taste that both challenges the weak willed and rewards the brave... Hearted. Boom! Scotland! This beer not only redeems the 2 absolute shockers I'd had previously but it puts them back into the black as far as my beer rankings go. This beer is quietly impressive, it doesn't shout but when it talks everyone listens, it is rich, fruity and has character for days. It has that odd starchy quality that I've found in some Scottish beers that can be cloying and unpleasant but in Traquair it works and, if anything, adds a completely different dimension to the beer that is pleasurable as opposed to distracting. What an absolute stunner of a beer and to think I found this in a bloody garden centre! What a gem! The people of Innerleithen can be seriously proud of this one.

Food Suggestion: It needs something hearty, it needs meat, it needs potatoes, it doesn't matter in which order.

Drink this if you like: Fizzy, fruity, high percentage, almost dunkel style beer that's big on flavour and character is hard to come by but if that kind of thing is your cup of tea then I don't need to tell you that you'll like it because you'll already know about it. If you don't then all I can do is tell you to try it and if you don't like it then that's down to your own personal taste. But F.Y.I if you don't like it then you're wrong.