Kelpie Ale, by Williams Brothers Brewery, is a beast of an Ale, in name and flavor.  No, I’m not joking…as cute as “Kelpie” sounds and as wimpy as 4.4% ABV may seem, sometimes there’s more than meets the eye.  The beer, based of historic Scottish ales that were brewed on the coast using malts that had been grown in fields fertilized with seaweed.  Williams Brothers Brewery add seaweed to the Kelpie recipe in the mash to simulate the historic ales.

So how is this beer a beast?

The term “kelpie” actually is derived from a mythological creature of Celtic folklore–a monster–said to haunt the rivers and locks of Scotland.  The mythological Kelpie was said to lure victims (it favored children) into the water where it would drown and then devour them.  Yikes!  At 4.4% ABV there’s little chance that consuming a couple bottles of Kelpie Ale will be so cruel to you.

So how does the beast reveal itself in the drinking experience?

There are few beers that REALLY intrigue me prior to drinking.  No matter how crazy a name a brewery decides to name its pale ale, I usually cannot muster up any intrigue…I mean…it’s a pale ale, hardly a white buffalo.  But a beer brewed with seaweed?  Those certainly aren’t flooding the shelf.  I was even more intrigued because my Kelpie came to me as a gift from my father, a burgeoning craft beer lover.  As intriguing as it was, I wa expecting a fairly mild beer.  After all, 4.4% does land this brewing the session range.

The beer pours and looks like an average porter, with perhaps a bit more viscosity.  I dug my nose in expecting to be bombarded with sea, fish, and salt.  Such was not the case.  Instead, the brew was pleasantly malty and grainy.  Chocolate was a noticeable aroma.  It must be noted that Kelpie Ale is not very carbonated, and you’ll be hard pressed to produce a vibrantly foamy head.

In the mouth, Kelpie is VERY smooth.  It is difficult to describe what a silky beer feels like in the mouth…it just has to be experienced.  Keplie would be a nice place for to start.  As the beer begins to impart its flavor on your taste buds, the beast comes out.  What I mean is, this beer is FULL flavored in respect to it’s ABV.  Usually in lower ABV beers with a lower IBU (bitterness from hops) the flavor is mild and subdued.  But in this case, the intense caramel and chocolate flavors.  All sorts of nutty and malty flavors are powerfully in your face.  The best way I can describe it, is by comparing it to a sweet Russian Imperial Stout…just subtract the sweetness and keep the malt flavors.

The seaweed was hardly noticeable, and came across as a moderater vegetable flavor…maybe a hint of sea. I believe the seaweed flavor had diminished in the 5 year old bottle I was drinking.  Nevertheless, in short, for a beer of such modest alcohol content, the flavor is a beast.

This is a good brew, and worth a try.  In fact, I’ll buy it again if I ever see it.  The fact that my dad, who considered Molson Ice a great beer just a few years ago (sorry for ratting you out dad) gave it to me made the drinking experience better.  Hve you had Kelpie?