We review our third specialty brew from the folks at Sun King, and one of eight (yes, eight) Sun King brews to earn a medal at 2011’s Great American Beer Festival. Share why don't you! Seriously though congratulations! That is very impressive! Wee Muckle took gold in the Scotch Ale category, which is saying a lot when you consider one of our all-time favorites, Old Chub from Oskar Blues, took bronze in the same category.     

From the Sun King site: 

"A large, malt-balanced ale with huge
 toffee flavors and hints of port-like character."

Wee Muckle was one of four Sun King beers to win GOLD at the 2011 GABF!

Here we go...

Pour – on the deeper side of ruby-brown with a big, loose head that faded fairly quickly.

Aroma – wonderful aroma of caramelized light brown sugar and roasted malts.  A great start! 

Taste – nice malty flavor at the front with a toffee-like light brown sugar sweetness. Mild hoppiness near the finish does a great job offsetting the rich, sweet start to this Scotch Ale. Just a touch of alcohol lingers in the back of the throat to remind you to sip this one. Medium-full mouthfeel fits the style (and my personal preference) perfectly.   

Overall – A well-balanced Scotch Ale that is deserving of its gold medal at the 2011 GABF. The light sweetness doesn’t linger and the modest hop finish made this one very enjoyable. The lack of smoke and peat flavors that we sometimes find in big Scotch Ales made Wee Muckle especially appealing to my palate. I plan to hold on to a can of this until I can get my beer-soaked paws on a can of Old Chub to do a side-by-side blind comparison and see which one wins out.  It will be a close call!    

NOTES - Thanks to the efforts of Sun King and Great Crescent, Indiana is becoming a canned craft beer state. Despite being the only two craft breweries that are actively canning, between them they have made 17 great beers available in our favorite portable containers, including this Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal Winner, Johan the Barleywine (the first canned barleywine) which was a 2011 GABF Bronze Medalist and Great Crescent's Bourbon's Barrel Stout which was the first canned barrel-aged stout.  Cheers to the Hoosier State!

 
Sun King's limited release canned lineup thus far