AleSmith Wee Heavy Scotch Ale

Aged 6 months. Pours dark brown into a tulip. Significant conglomerate head slowly recedes with large carb hugging the rim. Alcohol and roasted caramel notes. Full bodied and creamy with upfront smoked coffee, chocolate and caramel syrup and a lasting slightly bittersmoke finish.

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc and tupalev, blankboy’s bottle. Poured murky brown with a small foamy head. Boozy, sweet roast aroma with some fruity/spicy/yeasty character, but the aroma was quite muted, even after warming. Taste of dusty toasted malt, booze, with light spice and yeast and only a hint of peaty earthiness in the alcohol-bitter finish. Slight weak-bodied, and only lightly carbonated, the primary character of this one seemed to be "booze" - it’s nice, but the bar is set very high for me with Alesmith and this one didn’t meet my over-amped expectations; but it’s a high-ABV beer, and I’ve been told by experienced Alesmith fans that this one needs to be aged at least 2 years, so I will put away the 3 bottles that are en-route to me right now and revisit this in 2008. Original rating 6+3+7+4+15 = 3.5 *** Re-rate Feb 6/08 with garthicus. Damn, age turned this mellow - SO much better, the booze is pushed way back, the smooth scotch ale is all you want, lovely smooth mouthfeel - VERY glad I have 3 bottles of this left, another year or so and I may bump again!

Brought back recently by Noah from Jungle Jim’s in Cincy. I’ve been looking to try this for a long time. Sadly, it (or perhaps my bottle) didn’t live up to the hype. I was expecting viscous, and it came off a bit thin. There’s honey and brown sugar to mesh with oak and dark fruit. Is it the best scotch ale out there? Again, perhaps I had an off bottle, but I recall being blown away by Town Hall’s Wee Heavy back in February of 2004, and I was expecting similar things here. The depth of flavor wasn’t the same, nor was the finish. Its solid, just not overwhelming.

This scotch ale is awesome. The Wee Heavy had many of the same aroma and flavor characteristics that the Speedway Stout has. They are not the same by any stretch, but you can definitely taste the similarities. The pour was a dark reddish brown with a huge head that stuck around for a long time. The aroma was of sweet chocolate malt, and a faint hint of coffee. There is a good smoky characteristic to the nose as well. The taste is very smooth and malty, with little in the hop department. The flavors are sweet malts, chocolate, and the coffee again. Way too easy to drink for a 10% ABV beer. The best scotch ale out there for sure."

Pours a deep dark reddish brown...pretty much opaque with a shortmedium tan head that turns to a creamy film. The aroma is pretty big: molasses, grape juice, chocolate, dates,and sweet malt. The flavor also holds a more semi-sweet chocolate, some light smokiness, more sweet malt, and dark fruits...very sweet and savory. Rich over the tounge with a bit of carbonation...a bit flat at times leading to a excellentsmokey/sweet finish with just a touch of coffee like bitterness. This is one big malty beer, although I can’t but to yearn for a bit more smoke/peat in here, but it’s still delicious despite that factor. Perfect for this breezy 74 degree weather day in the shade.

Robe brune foncée surmontée d’une mousse beige mince. Arômes de torréfié, de caramel et d’alcool. Saveurs de caramel, de chocolat, de torréfié et de levure.

sampler at brewery. Buttermilk, caramel, vanilla and prunes in the aroma. Poured a smokey dark red and tasted mainly of malty caramel with some vanila and raisins. The palate was not overwhelmed with alcohol but instead was pleasantly warming and suprisingly refreshing. Finished slightly smokey (thumbs up) with sweet caramel and hops. (fresh from the brewery i gave it a 4.3) Retasted and rerated from bottle: Now its double a beer and half a wiskey!... The alcohol overwhelmed in the bottled version, and the sweet malts were much more noticeable with less complexity in flavors. I guess it doesnt age well.. especially in GREEN glass bottles.

I can’t really get much aroma out of this. Slight caramel and alcoholic. Flavor is the least smoky and meaty that I’ve had for the style and I like that a lot. Way smooth Lots of caramel and some slight alcohol burn on the back of the throat. A great sipping beer and quite refined. For a bad style this is definitely out of this world.