Belhaven Wee Heavy / 90 Shilling (Bottle)

Brewed by Belhaven (Greene King)
Style: English Strong Ale
Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland

Tasted 3/1/09. 500ml bottle. Filtered with a deep ruby, brown hue. Layer of khaki head. Malty bready aromas with a caramel and fudge note. Mild esters in the nose. Medium bodied with a rich palate and rather malt dominant. Sweet malty character. Bready flavors with a mix of cola astringency and dark dried fruits. Toffee and starting to show a little buttery flavor. Faint wisp of bitter hops in the middle of the palate. Finishes sticky and lingers with a tangy effervescence. Mild burnt, smokey character in the end.

# 777 ersma: "wee heavy" - ein merkwürdiger name. kann das typisch schottische "wee" doch sowohl "klein" als auch "pullern" bedeuten. was meint die brauerei wohl? rotbraune farbe, erstaunlich viel schaum für ein ale, der dazu auch noch recht stabil ist. geruch ist intensiv röstmalzig-süßlich, erinnert an nüsse, pflaumen und frisches brot. antrunk süßlich, röstmalzig, karamell- und dörrpflaumen-aromen. dazu nussigkeit und sirup. die mitte wird herber, ohne dass die intensiven aromen nachliessen. der abgang bringt eine minimale spritigkeit mit. vorherrschend bleibt die röstmalzige würzigkeit. sehr spät wird der hopfen wieder dominanter. die hauseigene flasche zeigt auf ovalem etikett mit goldrand ein großes bild eines wappenlöwen. drum herum auf bordeaux und mittendurch in gold die schrift. das rücketikett ist etwas verdruckt. fazit: die deutschen sollten mehr ale importieren.

Bottle. Pours a very dark brown with hints of amber. A bleach white head. Great alcohol taste.

500 ml bottle from LCBO, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass. JA26/09.

App.: Deep copper, clear, large off-white foam. Aroma: Lots of dark dried fruits, sweet toffee, some nice scotch smokiness, light vague fruits and warm spices, slightly vinous. Palate: Medium+ body, medium carbonation. Flav.: Like the nose – dark dried fruits, other light fruits, smoke, slightly woody, some very light warm spices; sweet with almost no bitterness.

Nice stuff.

500 ml bottle. Dark copper to brown beer. The head is white, thin and it has nice creamy lace. The aroma is sweetish and malty, caramelly, toffyish and also berryish. Some herbal hops in the finish. The flavor is sweetish malty, caramelly and fruity. The finish is dryish and it has sourness of some fermented fruits or berries and it has moderate bitterness. When the beer gets warmer roastedness and darker fruits are empasized. Then the finish gets a bit chalky. The palate is at least medium bodied, quite syrupy, oily and a bit sharply carbonated. Interesting beer that has complexity. I still don´t quite know if I like it very much or not.

This is a damn good beer. Frothy copper. Very well balanced. Tons of flavor for 6.5% alcohol. Toffee, sour fruit, moderately bitter hops, and spicy clove-like flavors.

Dark amber/copper with thin head. The nose was mostly malty as was the flavor. Hops were light but enough to balance the sweetness of the malt. A bit fuller on the tongue than average. A decent session brew.

A- Pours a dark brown hue with ruby red highlights that shine through the glass, head is off-white, craggy, and very lively with carbonation, lacing is thin and watery S- Nose is of moderate caramel malts, some dark fruit, toffee, and smoke, sweet berries (cranberry?) underlie the whole experience T- Initial taste is tart sweetness, followed by caramel, molasses, and brown sugar, finishes with slight sweetness and a touch of bittering hops M- Medium/full beer, oily to creamy texture coats the tongue, nice carbonation D- Rich and sweet Wee Heavy with minimal alcohol presence, nicely balanced, this is a nice evening treat, but I probably would not drink in excess due to the dominating sweetness