type: Ale
origin: Scotland
ABV: 4.7%
location: house
served: pint bottle to glass
A dark ale from Inveralmond Brewery, Lia Fail conforms to the independent Scottish brewery template with the branding, with a highly-Scottish theme happening throughout. The name is Gaelic for 'Stone of Destiny', and the label features celtic knotwork and a scenic landscape scene.
This one was bought for me by famous film-maker and cage dancer Jaggy Jay. Well, not this bottle specifically, but I'm still grateful.
The ingredients are helpfully given on the reverse, and a portion of the malt seems to be wheat, and although it doesn't have much of a distinctive wheat character, clearly adds to the richness. The Hops are listed as Challenger, Fuggles and - American craft-brewer's favourite - Cascade. Three hop varieties, but they all seem to have been added early on in the mash, as they've not really imparted any aroma, but plenty of bitterness and flavour.
Smell - Somewhat lacking, both in hoppiness and maltiness. 2/4
Colour - A nice dark reddy-brown. Good clarity. Good off-white head. 3/4
Taste - Well balanced and rich, with a range of flavours developing. Dark chocolate coming through after the initial bitterness. Medium body. Loads of aftertaste, which is where the hops are most evident. 4/4
Overall - A good beer, only let down by the underwhelming aroma - especially given the hoppiness of the aftertaste. 9/12
