Scottish Blog

Scotch Ale is a type of especially strong and dark beer produced in Scotland.

Scotch Ale is another item in the extensive list of unique Scottish foods. It is said that although Scotch Whisky is known throughout the world, there are far greater quantities of Scotch Ale consumed throughout the world.

Scotch Ale is a unique beer due to a number of different reasons. Without even tasting it, the most obvious difference lies in its colloquial name, “Wee Heavy”, which means different things to different people but is generally accepted to refer to its higher alcohol content and in some instances stronger taste. Other differences vary between various brewers and regions but as a general term can be described as such. Scotch Ale doesn’t rely heavily on hops for its brewing (if at all), this is due to the costs that were associated with importing hops into Scotland. As a result, the Scotch Ale is characterized by a much stronger malt character. The malt is often caramelized in a the brewing process, this results in caramel and toffee undertones to Scotch ale, along with a distinctively darker color. The beer is also cellared for long periods of time at low temperatures to emphasize its malt character. In previous times, herbs and plants were used to give flavoring to the beer, some even considered such beers to have certain “tonic” properties, although the use of flavoring herbs had decreased in modern times.

Presently, there is a substantial number of Scotch Ale brewers in Scotland, the most popular of these are : McEwan's Scotch Ale, Belhaven Wee Heavy, Old Jock Ale, Jacobite Ale and probably the most popular being Skullsplitter Ale.