The Brewery: Rikenjaks

I bought one bottle of this Scottish Ale in the 90s and it was so tainted I tossed the contents. Later on I had a better bottle and found it to be about a 60… maybe closer to 80 shilling Scottish ale that needed just a little more carmelization. Master brewer for McGuire’s at the time, Steve Fried said…

“They really had a problem with that back then. A lot of customers got turned off to micros, thinking this is what a micro tasted like.”

He agreed that it was good when, well, it was good.

After reading the label I can understand why the several bottles I had seemed to vary so much. I’m guess the FG and OG’s were a little wider than claimed, from my experience.

From the label…

Starting gravity: 1.060-1.066
Final gravity: 1.008-1.012
Finishing hop: Goldings

Rikejak’s Old Hardhead is brewed in small batches using only traditional methods and ingredients. This classic Scottish Ale is dark and wonderfully malty.