Brewery: Orkney Brewery
ABV: 8.5%
Serving method: 16.9-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown
As if the gods of beer heard my pleas for interestingly named beers, I ended up getting a bottle of Skull Splitter today. Obviously I have some positive karma built up. Now to see if that will carry through to the quality of this beer. Also, the bottle has a pretty no-nonsense looking Viking on it, so I'm guessing this beer means business. Hopefully the fact that this is definitely not the right kind of glass won't be a major issue.
Skull Splitter is a deep coppery beer with reddish hues. There was a little bit of head when I poured it, but most of it faded away pretty quickly while leaving a ring around the edge of the top. It leaves a bit of lacing, but the lacing didn't last for the whole glass. The beer has a very sweet aroma of malts along with something I can only describe as a smooth alcohol scent. There also seem to be some of what is usually called "dark fruit," which is like a sweet fruitiness in the background.
Everything from the aroma is happening in the flavor, and it's very nice. There's almost a scotch-like flavor here, along with lots of malty sweetness and a hint of fruit. It's very smooth as well, with only a slight carbonation. The finish has a very faint bitterness to it, but other than that the malt is the star of the show. There's a sweet aftertaste, sort of a fruity brown sugar.
Final thought - This is a very good beer, but it hits you really hard. There are a lot of interesting things happening in the aroma and the flavor, and it's easy drinking enough that you can get yourself into a bad place very quickly. Enjoy with caution.
-Jon
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