This beer is pretty good for a beer that isn’t a smokebeer. I stumbled across multiple descriptions and posts online linking Skull Splitter to the realm of beers that taste like smoke, compelling the celebrant to deliver it to the tabernacle, and yet SmokeBeerMinistry feels completely betrayed, Judas. This Skull Splitter beer by The Orkney Brewery is a wee heavy ale, and apparently also a scotch ale as Orkney has defined this beer as both on separate occasions. I’m more familiar with scotch ales given that scotch ales usually include smoked malts in the mash bill, so we wind up crossing paths quite often, and it wasn’t until this writing that I learned Scotch Ale is synonymous with Wee Heavies; we both get to learn today. Regardless, my smoke detecting nasal passages and taste buds came up short on this day. On the bright side, this beer is one of the best scotch ales I’ve ever had. This tasted sweet upon the first sip. Then recognizable beer flavors shortly followed and stuck around for the session. Lots of small, tiny bubbles were fizzing around in every sip helping me breathe in everything this bottle has to offer. And its a solid beer. I’m going to end this right here. Final score – 4 out of 7 smokestacks. Middle of the road.
| Brewer | The Orkney Brewery |
| Beer Name | Skull Splitter |
| Brewer’s Description | Skull Splitter is one of our strongest beers, named after Thorfinn Einarsson the 7th Viking Earl of Orkney. It is a sophisticated, satiny smooth and full flavoured beer. It has a rich fruity wine-like complexity with flavours of fresh and dried fruits, warm exotic spice and mellow summer fruity notes. |
| Food Pairings | A large turkey leg ripped from the carcass and a cluster of grapes still on the vine. |
| Brewer Location (They could have said Scotland) | The tranquil Orkney Islands, with their fertile farming lands and fishing grounds, have been inhabited for over 5000 years. The Orkney brewery is housed in the former schoolhouse in Quoyloo one mile from Skara Brae in the heart of Neolithic Orkney. |
| Alcohol content by volume | 8.5 |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | 55 |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 5.75 |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 1.1 |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 1.1 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | N |
| Beer thickness 1-7 (water – used motor oil) | 4.5 |
| Foaminess 1-7 (thin ring – rabid dogs mouth) | 4 |
| Overall Happiness Rating: 1-7 (low – high) | 4 |
Great website, great photography:
https://www.orkneybrewery.co.uk/
SmokeBeerMinistry 