Day 33, 2.2.11., Devil's Canyon - Full Boar scotch ale

This is a new beer that we have on tap at the restaurant where I work.  Devil's Canyon has been brewing in Belmont, CA. (down on the peninsula, south of San Francisco) since 2001.  As with most things located in San Mateo or Santa Clara counties, I've never heard of it.  They make several styles, including a lager which they call a 'California Lager' (Steam Beer?), blonde ale, amber ale, and rye IPA.
And then, of course, the scotch ale.  It's a style I don't know a lot about as far as brewing, but I've certainly tried a few.  It's generally a big, syrupy, malty, red beer with a good amount of alcohol.  And Full Boar definitely fits into these characteristics.

Full Boar is a red beer with a light amount of effervescence creating a light white head.  On the nose, it's all maple, and the body is thick and velvety.  Flavor wise, malt is absolutely the main element.  There's a whole lot of brown sugar and just a hint of smokeyness.  there's about 7.4% ABV, which isn't really enough to emerge on the palate through the strong malt sweetness, and with just 12 IBUs, the only bitterness on this beer comes from a bit of darker malts.
I find Full Boar a bit syrupy sweet for my liking although, it seems like a nice example of the  style.  7 out of 10.

Day 18, 1.18.11, Skull Splitter

So, If you ever check how things are going on facebook, you may remember me being pretty, pretty  excited about finding Skull Splitter at Whole Foods. 

It's a Scotch Ale brewed in Scotland's Orkney Islands.  Apparently, (according to the bottle) the name 'Skull Splitter' refers to the 7th Viking Earl of Orkney, Thorfinn Hausakluif.  For what it's worth.
The beer, I would say, is pretty good.  It's a dark brown ale with not much head to speak of.  It's 8.5% ABV.  On the nose, there are coffee beans and maple.  It's medium bodied and pretty smooth drinking.  There's a well integrated bit of malt bitterness, offset by a good amount of residual sugar.  It's got plenty of brown sugar and maple in the same vein as Primátor, but sooooo much better in the balance department.
So it's a little too sweet and malt driven for my taste, but since it's so much better than Primátor, and because of the fact that it's called Skull Splitter and has a label that looks like this,
I'm calling it a 7 out of 10.