Beer Talk

Laughing Lab Scottish Ale

Published November 2008, Volume 29, Number 5

Bristol Brewing Co.
Colorado Springs, CO

In June of 1994, Bristol Brewing Co. settled comfortably in the lap of Pikes Peak and began brewing.

ABV: 5.0
ABW: 3.98
Color: 26.2
bitterness: 19
Original gravity: 1054

  • Roger Protz

    Red-brown beer with a luscious roasted malt and burnt fruit — raisins and sultanas — aroma. The palate has a surprising dryness thanks to the dark malt, with rich fruit and gentle spicy hops. This is a beer of continuing surprises as hops burst through in the finish, balanced by tart and peppery hops notes and continuing fruit and roasted malt. The pronounced hop bitterness is not quite true to style but this is a complex and rewarding beer.

  • Garrett Oliver

    This beer has a nice deep reddish amber color and low carbonation, raising a thin head. The nose shows full breadness without a whiff of hop aroma. On the palate, the beer is soft and round, with sweet malts playing through the center and hops providing gentle balance. The finish is clean and dryish, with malt lingering. The low carbonation is a bit odd (perhaps imitating traditional Scottish draft?), but this is a fine rendition of the style, and just the thing with shepherd’s pie.

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