Stout Most Scottish: Belhaven's Brew A Long Overdue Pint

Belhaven Scottish Stout
16.9 oz. capped bottle
Alcohol content: 7 percent ABV
Sampled: November 15, 2009

The lack of a Scottish stout always perplexed me. For all the amazingly complex ales it produces, it had no answer to Britain or Ireland. Consider my query well-quenched.

Moreso than most brewers with long pedigrees, Scotland’s Belhaven has shown an experimental inclination as craft brewers have exploded – few breweries have an IPA like Twisted Thistle.

While plenty of dark, heavy Scottish ales come from all corners Scotland, Belhaven’s stout is the first I’ve sampled which stakes out territory as a Scottish stout. Not knowing what to expect, I dove right in, and found that Scotland can claim a stout as robust and complex as its whiskey-influenced ales.

Belhaven’s stout throws out notes of toffee, cocoa powder, coffee beans and a wee nip of florid hop character to offset its maltiness. The creamy texture goes hand and hand with a finishing slight sweetness that gets submerged in a wave of roasted malt.

This stout easily defies classification, not aping the characteristics of the sweeter British stouts or the dry, low-alcohol originators of the style in Ireland. Belhaven has brewed a stout different enough that only the Scottish label fits.

Rating 9/10