For All You Do, This Skull's For You
Written: Mar 21 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Rich, sweet, and warming brew ideal for cooler weather.
Cons: None Come to Mind
The Bottom Line: Not for the beer novice, but if you love rich, satisfying, malty ales, this one is for you.
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| Bruguru's Full Review: Skullsplitter Orkney Ale |
Before we begin with this beer, a bit of background is in order. From the label:
Orkney-A small group of islands off the northern tip of Scotland, shrouded in magic and mystery, was the home of Thorfinn Hausakluif (Skullsplitter) 7th Viking Earl of Orkney, around 1000 AD.
Thorfinn was known as the Skullsplitter, which is a great name if you’re a Viking or a beer, but would old Thorfinn really have wanted to split the skulls of his enemies? Probably not. Why waste a perfectly good drinking vessel, after all? No, I haven’t gone off my rocker, thank you very much. You see, Vikings were nice guys to drink with, but you didn’t want to get on their bad side. It was a common practice for a Viking to cleave the head of a vanquished foe from his body, remove the flesh from the skull, and polish it to a fine sheen. It would then be used as a drinking vessel at the raucous drinking parties the Vikings were famous for.
And what would they drink from those vessels? Ale might be one beverage. Lagers were not around yet, and the ale was not hopped. It might be spiced with honey or whatever was available. Honey, in addition to being used to spice ale, is the primary fermentable in mead, another drink your skull might end up full of if you found yourself at the wrong end of a Viking’s battleaxe.
Skullsplitter Orkney Ale pours to a deep caramel color with light carbonation and a sweet, sticky nose. The palate is rich and sweet and hinting at molasses, raisins, crackery malt, and has a light nuttiness that strengthens in the finish where it combines with the mouth-warming alcohol to leave quite an impression on the palate. The alcohol content here is 8.5% by volume, which is higher than most beers but not by any means an extremely strong brew.
Orkney ale is synonymous with Scotch ale in my book, which is what this beer really is stylistically. Drink it in moderation. Too many of them could easily lead to a skull-splitting situation the next morning.
Recommended:
Yes
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