Belhaven Wee Heavy / 90 Shilling (Bottle)

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

A special beer for a special day -- reminds me of an expertly crafted wingtips: on the days that it is right there is nothing more right. I just love that mossy peaty boggy smokey truth that this beer brings -- like the original evolution soup from which all other beers crawled. You don’t need Scotch when you have this beer. The truest example of one of my favorite styles.

Wonderful burgundy red colour with nice off-white to beige head. Aromas range from smoke to cranberries with hints of caramel and toffee. The taste is more centred around the smoke, but a creamy mouthfeel makes that appear great. Some nuts (sweet ones) a touch of alcohol and some citric zest at the end...

From the bottle.

Pours a very attractive red-brown with a beige head. The nose is some peat and some smoke and a hint of toffee. The flavor is some serious smoked almonds, definite whisky peatiness, a hint of lime, somewhat sweet but not strongly so. The mouthfeel is the weak link here, thin for the style and unable to measure up to the rest of the brew.

This isn’t bad, but nor am I overly impressed.

Tap Dark, blood-red. Big white head that disappears slowly and leaves a nice lacing and film. It has a strong but not unpleasant vinegar smell, sweet with traces spices, mint, cinammon and peach punch. Light bodied. Tastes sweet with hints of figs ans nuts smoothly hoppy. Short finish and oily texture...it smelled and looked better.

<FONT SIZE=1>Pint shared with <a href = http://www.ratebeer.com/View-User-30044.htm> Panzerfaust </FONT>

Nice brown, very smooth and buttery. Smokey and fills your mouth. Drank at Kelvin Arms on tap. This beer at this bar is sublime. Great beer.

Bottle. Nice beer. Brownish colour with light brown head. Aroma and taste of sweet malts. Nice palate

I had this on tap at Pipers Pub. Im not sure if it was something they did when it was poured or what but the first sip was sweet and had a sugary aftertaste when i licked my lips. the rest of the beer was not sweet just good. i wouldnt have guessed it to have a 6.5 alc% either. i recomend giving this a try , i was satisfied with the one i had despite it was 6 bucks

On Tap/Nitro Keg: Shows a very dark red/brown color with a medium white frothy head which lingers and leaves a good lacing. Aroma has a defined malty and fruity character. It has notes of plums, prunes, raisins, some molasses, figs and apricots. Slight buterry and hoppy herbal touches. Flavor tends to the sweeter side but with obvious bitter hints from the hops. There are traces of red wine, nuts and fruits with a soft sour taste. Varied and very different with every sip. Unfrotunately it’s a bit watery with a medium body. Not really heavy as the name suggests. Texture is a little oily but not creamy as I expected. Medium metallic finish and decent aftertaste. A little light and highly carbonated. Good overall brew but not at all exciting.

1 Pint shared with <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/View-User-31163.htm&g Lilith