Middle Ages Wailing Wench

Brewed by Middle Ages Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Syracuse, New York USA

2005 Bottle. Thin head, full body. Strong brew that has a slight thickness to it but goes down smooth. Good ale. Cheers!

Draught at the Old Toad. Pours dark amber with thin head. Moderate lacing. Excellent citrus overtones. Hops are powerful, but brew is well-balanced. Excellent ale.

Bottle. Poured a small tan fizzy head that mostly diminished with poor lacing, no visible carbonation, transparent, and an orange brown hue. Malty, hoppy and citrus nose. Flavor was malty, caramel, hoppy and some citrus. Tingly palate. Light body.

This offering from Middle ages poured a ruby brown and leaves a 2in thick tan head that is frothy and leaves huge bubbles that stay with the glass. The body is clear and dark. The nose is sweet, a hoppy, citrus, caramel brown crystal sugar smell is present. The taste starts sweet and strong upfront with a crack of bitter hop feel for balance. The feel is syrupy with a roasted malt essence and some chocolate burnt espresso on the palate very complex. The finish is a headlock of hops, that has a background of sweetness complimented again with a sharp bitterness that laces the throat with a smackdown. Fantastic brew, I love the complexity in this ale. I paired this beer with my dessert, chocolate dipped strawberries. The hoppy bitterness in the ale really cut through the sweetness in the strawberries and the roasted chocolate flavor in the beer really complimented the bittersweet chocolate.

Sample BI Indy gathering 2/25/06 - The first thing that popped into my head when I smelled this brew was nail polish, sweat, and funk. Not a good start. Pours dark brown with a small head and decent lacing. Flavor unfortunately matches aroma with a bit of malt. Palate was clean. Not a good tasting brew and after reading other reviews, I wonder if this bottle was mishandled somewhere along the line.

Cask at Mahar’s. Dark IPA! Amber + deep brown, only vaguely translucent. 4 mm bege head medium tight. Hop floraily aroma, a nice mix. bittery and floral, somewhat common apa flavor but good. Fizzy. Little cask character, maybe a little smooth. Perhaps it is better characterized as american strong ale as you have it here, but it was sold me as ipa. I see other peopl ehave yet more opinions. Whatever. the hops were prety fresh and front on mine and the malt, while there, was not in the front or particularly memorable part of the beer. a fine quaff, up there with the generally above average stuff I drink and as such not a standout, but if I was out of new stuff I’d try a bottle for sure.

more malt that hops not a bad beer but when you advertise hops you should get an explosion it’s not here the bitterness is though - which is nice a decent brew

Stylistically to my tastes, this beer would fall into the American Red/Amber Ale category. The 22 oz bomber bottles even sport a very sexy and firery red headed wench on the label. Middle Ages version is unique in its own right, as it uses imported UK malts, and of course the distinctive ringwood strain. While this beer is loaded with pungent hop character, it also has really great sweet malt and fruity character. Coming in at 8% abv, it has some alcohol strength making it a malty, fruity, hop cocktail of a brew. Call it what you will, this beer is very flavorful, delicious, and loaded with character. Wailing Wench Ale pour to a beautiful, bright deep amber to ruby red color, with a thick and creamy white head, and a good bit of carbonation. The nose on this beer really hits you with big, pungent waves, of spicy and citrus hop aromas paired with some aromas of sweet malt. The palate is firm with lots of good sweet malt flavor, some buttery notes, and tangy fruit flavor. Wailing Wench Ale finishes with more good malt and fruity flavors up front, then ends earthy/yeasty with a very zesty, very bitter finish, that lingers on the tongue. This beer is fantastic. I reminds me a lot of Stone Brewing’s Arrogant Bastard, and makes for the perfect aperitif beer, or a great beer to sit and relax with. Retailing for $4 a 22oz bottle, Wailing Wench is a steal at that price, and is a beer you should seek out if you find yourself in Syracuse, or select markets where Middle Ages beers are sold.