How could you NOT want one of these after just reading the name? The product of a recent Tap That “researching” foray, Scotch Silly was recommended to me by the bartender at Resto. This recommendation was quickly seconded by The Girl To My Left. Both have my gratitude. This beer was fantastic, and really put me in a great mood for the rest of the day. Ah, mood-altering chemicals, where would I be without you? Probably rich and successful.

Scotch Silly is somewhat Scottish and not at all silly, it’s a Scotch Ale brewed in the Belgian town of Silly. Scotland and the Flemish region of Belgium share a long and tragic history of being shit upon by centralized powers to the south, so I guess that’s why they get along so well.  Actually, Silly is in Walloon country, but it’s only a few miles south of making my analogy work, so I am going to pretend like I can’t read a map.

Scotch Ale is essentially a strong pale ale that originated in, you guessed it, Scotland. How does a Belgian town end up brewing beer in a Scottish style? The answer, like much of European history, is a healthy combination of boozing, sex, and terrible, terrible war. Although Belgians had been brewing Scottish-style ales for quite some time, Scotch Silly really took off following WWI when Scottish troops stationed in Belgium needed potable liquid that wasn’t tainted with mustard gas as well as something to keep them from remembering they were just living in a Siegfried Sassoon poem. Said troops became reacquainted with the beer (and post-war trauma) following WWII, and the little town of Silly has been churning out its Scotch Ale ever since.

Scotch Silly is a nice dark amber color, and it smells malty, real malty – makes you think of caramel or toffee. Tastes amazing, almost exactly how it smells with a nice sweet finish. I normally dislike sweeter beers, but the Scotch Silly does a nice job of not making me hate it. The finish on your tongue is something like the crust of a creme brulee or even peanut brittle. This beer is pretty strong at 8%, so it’s definitely a sipper – but it is perfect with a hearty meal on a cold day. Or no meal on a cold day, whatever.