Name: Ye Olde Kilt Tilter

Brewer: Middle Ages Brewing Company

Style: Scottish Ale

Vintage: 2007

Cellared On: January 4th, 2008

Original Tasting: January 18th, 2008

I find it really refreshing to find a brewery dedicated to British-style ales here in the US, especially with all of the focus lately that seems to be on Belgian-influenced ales. I find it even more refreshing to find out that said brewery is only a couple of hours away from me, and that it can produce a beer as delicious as the Kilt Tilter.

This Scottish Ale is an extremely dark oak-brown brew topped by a very stout-like brownish head. I didn’t find very much carbonation here, with only a small head emerging after the pour, but there was some lacing present throughout my drink. It wasn’t very aromatic either, with only traces of malty smells in the air.

There’s no mistaking the taste though. Huge malt flavor, biscuity and chewy, bursts in your mouth as you drink this beer. Slight brown sugar sweetness and subtle hop presence give some background complexity to this brew, but the malty goodness is undoubtedly the star here. A long and dry malty taste lingers in your mouth as the beer finishes. The nice medium, slightly chewy body perfectly matched the flavor.

This beer is only brewed once a year, get it while it lasts!

Six Month Tasting: August 2nd, 2008

This brew is really reminding me of a stout. It sure looks like a stout at this point, it’s very, very dark. Not jet black, but even darker then before.

Flavor is very stout like too. Tons of big biscuity malt flavor, but maybe not as quite as roasty as your typical stout. It’s a very smooth beer, no astringency with a light caramel flavor throughout. Hops are there and most noticeable out front, but still rather subtle. No decline in the sweetness level, it may be even a bit more prominent now.

Still an excellent drink!

Cellar Outlook: Kilt Titler comes in at a fairly strong 9%, and I’m not sure if it’s bottle-conditioned or not. In any case, since this beer is rather dry, I’m not sure yeast would last too long anyway. In other words, I really have no idea where this is going in the cellar. Best hope is we get some additional roasted/toasted flavors developing.

Six Month Tasting Notes: I’m still not sure where this is going. Everything is holding steady so far, it’ll probably be the same in six months.

Next Tasting: January 2009

Jason

jason@brewbasement.com

www.brewbasement.com