AleSmith Wee Heavy Scotch Ale

Bottle at Holiday Alesmith tasting. Soda brown color with very little head. Fresh tobacco scent. Taste is sweet and alcohol at the first. Caramel. Late bitter finish. Coffee leftovers. Rerate moving up from 4 to... Two year old bottle properly stored. Less tobacco scent. Still there, just not as prominent. Sweet funkiness starting to show on the nose. Bright sharp frutiness, almost cranberry. Vanilla. Dark brown with rust highlights. Resilent ring and lace. Taste is caramel and light fruit. Light flavor of dark fruit is part of it. Raisins, but also lighter fruit flavor. Bitter malt finish, and even a bit of hoppiness after two years. Gooey in the back of the throat. Wonderful. Wish I had 3 more in the cellar. I’m resisting going higher than 4.3, as II’m trying to not inflate. Nose is close to 9, as is flavor.

Bottle: Strong character, ABV is very present, too strong hides all the nice malty and flowery notes. Drink one slowly on a cold day.

Scotch ale is not really an exciting style in my opinion, but surprise surprise, AleSmith does it well. Dark brown appearance with an off-white head. Pretty heavy stuff, lots of sweet caramel maltiness, hints of chocolate and smoke. Not much carbonation. Alcohol is there but fairly subdued for a 10-percenter.

From mcbackus via trade. Poured a dark swirl of brown, copper and ruby. A nice off white or tan head formed and sat for a while. Nice lacing. The aroma was smoky, roasted malt, light pine and citrus hops, peat and caramel. The flavor is roasted caramelly malt with smoke, faint hops and alcohol. Super nice medium bodied mouthfeel and terrific warming alcohol.

750 ml bottle. Let me first say that the more I drink, the more complex and awesome this beer becomes. Pours a dark red/amber color, clear and sparkling with tons of tiny bubbles. Large, creamy beige head with great lacing that lasts to the final sip. Aroma is moderately roasty/malty with some molasses and alcohol, caramelized fruits and a hint of spiciness as it warms. Flavor is fantastic, and gets better as it approaches room temperature. Sweet and malty, lots of smoke and some burnt toast on the back of the tongue, a hint of brandy at the front. Full bodied, creamy and maybe a little bit syrupy, perfectly balanced by moderate carbonation. Molasses from beginning to end, with some dates and a light dry bitter finish that sticks around for a while. Mmmm, it keeps getting better the more I drink.

courtesy of one of our fellow weekly tasting. Pours light brown with tan head. Aroma is malty and chocolate. Taste of chocolate, thick barleyish mouthfeel with penty of nice caramely malts and chocolate mixed with a perfect roastiness. Some of us noted a very subtle presence of smoke.

750 ml bottle Via trade with nbutler11 Thanks. Aroma of wonderfully roasted malt, caramel, dark plums, and somewhat bready scent. Appearance is clear copper color with a thick tan head that lingers and wonderful lacing. Taste is absolutely great. A managerie of flavors melding together making a wonderful brew. Caramel malt, sticky, roasty, a bit of smoke, dark fruits, and lingering candy like flavor but in a good way. Palate is nicely carbonated on the tongue, and aftertaste has a lingering maltiness. Overall, Very nice brew all around. Thanks Nice! Cheers!

I cellared it for a year, and don’t know how old it was before I got it. The flavors had meshed perfectly with age, and it was hard to pick out one flavor on its own. Smoky butterscotch is probably what I would say. Couldn’t detect much of the hops, and it was less sweet than other scotch ales that I have had. Great beer. I wish I had another to lay down for another year.