The Duck-Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Style Ale

Brewed by The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
Style: Scotch Ale
Farmville, North Carolina USA

on tap @HopfestNC-pours a retaining foamy tan head and amber color. Aroma is medium malt-not sweet caramel. Taste is medium malt, sweet caramel, smoky/peat, secondary hops bite, alcohol. OK carbonation. Occasional.

Bottle via trade with HogTownHarry. Dark rusty-brown with a wisp of a head. Sweet aroma - caramel, molasses, toffee - with some faintly smoked malt and a slight breadiness. Very good mouthfeel, a fair bit of body, but not sticky as some Scotch Ales can be. Nicely balanced flavour - quite sweet off the top, but a nice, woodsy dryness to finish. Solid!

Bottle, best before 3/2007 consumed on 6/2/07
I actually also drank another bottle of it that was within its best before date, but I actually enjoyed this one more….go figure.
This style really seems to mesh with Duck Rabbit. Their mashing and and possibly malt choice seems to lead to a higher amount of breadiness and dryness on the finish, though all the beers are quite sticky-sweet up front. Though I’ve also had issues with a fair amount of wateriness/thinning of their beers, this one was, fortunately, quite free from that problem. Still poured a large, light-tan head atop a burgundy-tinted mahogany body, medium to medium-high clarity, though filtered it is. Lacing and retention are moderate.
Sweet prunes and thick nougat mixed with rich caramel and toffee provide a perfect opening note. Bits of bittersweet, dark fruits pop up, adding livliness and complexity, while walnuts and brown sugar keep things rich through the middle, ending on a softer aroma of vanilla and drier caramel. A slight hint of coffee is perceptible and though odd for the style, it adds more complexity and seems welcome. Medium to medium high strength of aroma with no flaws or alcohol noted.
Rich, well-malted flavor and mouthfeel is perhaps a bit underattenuated for my liking, but pretty spot-on for the style, with breadines, nuttiness and a strong vinousness all balancing on the finish, though the brown sugar and rich maple-toffee notes probably win out in the end. Looks like letting this one age for the number of months it did helped dry it out, because I really didnt get the painful sweetness others report, and I’m quite sensitive to too much sweetness. Slight undertones of woodsmoke and coffee, with brilliant tinges of acidic plums/prunes and tart berries to brighten things. Low, but not too low, is the carbonation, further accenting the silky-rich maltiness. No flaws/alcohol noted. Nice stuff....

Maybe my favourite of theirs, dark blood red with some brown and not much head. Lots of malts and a bit of a peat smoked hint throughout. The flavour is on the sweet side for sure, caramel and/or toffee. Dry finish with a small hint of some hops.

Sampled from 2x12 oz bottles in Montreal on Glouglouburp’s roof at the tiggmtl-returns/MartinT leaves for Japan party, June 17 2007. Pours a proper dark, dirty whisky color with a bit of lasting head, no lacing really....nose is whiskyish too, alcoholic and earthy and a bit sweet but with little in the way of peat or smokiness, little woody character....very sweet, thick, juicy with lots of caramel, light tart berry qualities, rather thick and a bit cloying....a bit of dry clay/loamy quality and some salty hints help cut the sugary overload at the finish....a solid effort overall though by no means one of the best Scotch ales I’ve had.

on tap at tylers ...poured a deep brown with mahogany highlights ...very little head....nose was a slightly floral maltiness,wth hints of smoke and a bit of sweetness ...tons of malt in the flavor,but a leading sweet flavor that was flowery and a bit citrusy. the aftertaste would be my only complaint,as i was left with a sourness ythat i usually associate with waking up hungover...there is a bit of abv detectable as well, and a slight warming sensation on the way down .

Bottle. Amber colour with a little white head. Aroma of malt, rice and some caramel. Nice flavour of malt, caramel little of smoke very nice and tasty.

This scotch ale pours a medium brown color from a 12oz bottle. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is brown sugar, molasses and dark fruit. A medium bodied scotch ale. Malts are caramel and toffee, brown sugar and molasses. Hops are spicy and earthy. Good carbonation. Nice balance. Good balance. Very smooth. Touch of smoke. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.