Beer Rant

Well for this rant I originally was going to preview a nice, strong IPA. That was until I took a fateful stroll down the beverage isle at a Fred Meyer to simply pick up a soda, when something in the beer section struck my eye. It's a new Scoth Ale called Highland Ambush from Bridgeport Brewing. Now one thing that Bridgeport does well all the time is the covers on it's specialty beers (ex. Raven Mad Stout had a 3D cover that came with glasses!). This one has two warriors fighting it out over a highland stream and sunset almost poetic. Why is this important? Well because ultimately your more attracted to the initial visualization, and this draws you toward their product. Admitadely I'm not the biggest fan of all of Bridgeport's line-up, and their go to standards are kind of middle of the pack, but some of their more specialized brews have turned out to be some of the best. If it's available, especially somewhere on tap, try their barley wine it's excellent. On to the ale itself though, where they let you know up front that 33% of the beer in this bottle was aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels. This lends that wonderfully smooth finish to the beer as per usual, gives it a nice cask style feel as you sip it down. It had a sweeter, more carmelized taste to it than a great many other scotch ales I've tried. Not quite a Wee Heavy (another type of scotch ale) type of sweet, more of an accompanying flavor to the wonderful maltiness of the brew. The this one is wonderfully malted, it's not overly done to the point where the ale is threatening to malt you to death like some other scotch ales. It's extremely well balanced to the point where I think fans of even a hoppier ale could at least appreciate this one. The flavors in the ale didn't seem to weave together in terms of the standard ale and that of the added Oak Aged Ale, but rather walk hand in hand. Both distinct, but both tastes kind of helping to enhance the other. That may sound a little strange, but every sip of this delightful beer just seemed to exemplify that sentiment. Complaints? Well just one minor one, and something many other people may love, that being the carbonation. I love my scotch ales to be lightly carbonated to lend to a smoother characteristic, something closer to actual scoth. This one tended to be carbonated closer to a belgian almost. As I said nothing major just one aspect I wasn't really in favor of, but I also have previous knowledge that many of Bridgeport's beers seem to be heavy on the old carbonation so it's probably just an aspect of the brewers they have. This one tips out at 6.8% alc, so it is a little heavier than most standard ales, which scotch ales typically are. All in all this beer was a very pleasurable experience, extemely well balanced, and an overall fine package. Bravo Bridgeport I salute you, so kick back and enjoy a wonderfully malted beer, a little taste of the loch ness monster's home terf brought to you domestically.