Weyerbacher Decadence

Formerly brewed at Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Easton, Pennsylvania USA

Bottle: Dark amber color, light head and lacing. Nose of eucalyptus, abundant honey, coriander, plenty of alcohol and some maple syrup. The flavor is sweet, floral, very spicy and medicinal, yet it’s drinkable in ways that similar beers are not. The finish is minty and possesses a sizable body to hold up all these clashing flavors. Nice.

A strong hit of medicine from a cough drop, i.e. luden’s menthol and eucalyptus. Evident and ample honey flavors with some nice subtle yestiness and just a hint of corriander. Piney and resiny with some lip numbing lemon acidity. Very tasty!

Bomber bottle and served in my Heineken footed sort-of-lager glass, the first time I have drank from this rare glassware in years...any who onwards to rating...Pours a clean caramel hue with a small ring of frothy bubbles and okay lacing. The aroma is wonderfully interesting with heavy notes of cinnamon, coriander, mint leaves and clove in addition to caramelized and toffee malts, floral hops, port-wood vinous notes and a moderate phenolic character.

The taste starts sweet for sure but quickly the spice and sublime spices (like ginger root) with quiet effectiveness. I get a boat load of strange fruity notes in this brew: fig, star fruit, Gewurztraminer grape and a sweet oaky port-like overtone that forcefully shines from start to finish. Additional quick hits of honey nut bread and British oxidation pale malts add a nice depth. The mouth feel is part sharp alcoholic young strong ale and part rich oily and lush aged olde ale. A cellar-able beer for sure, I got one more and need to find a few more.

Overall, I dig it right now, but could see this becoming a 4.5+ worthy brew in three to five years. Possibility the best brew Weyerbacher has ever done and I happen to like them more than the average ratebeerian. GET YA SOME!

Clear deep copper colour with a small off white head. Malty and fruity aroma with vinous note and some alcohol sweetness. Sweet malty flavor with notes of caramel and dried dark fruit. Alcohol sweet finish with almond notes.

Deep coppery orange, thin white fizzy head. Complex nose of spicy cinnamon, flowers, wet twigs and forest, herbs, earthy-like, with soft touches of honey, toast and caramel. Unique without a doubt. Flavor is very similar, honey sweet and spicy up front, soft herbal florals throughout, and an overall wet tree and earth tone encompassing all the above. A very light hop biterness plays out late, but really is hard to discern. This beer really grew on me as I worked my way through it. Full bodied and oily, tingly carbonation, spicy, earthy finish. Bet it will continue to age well, but it’s become quite tasty at this point...

I drank this when it first came out and found it too sweet and syrupy at the time. I’m having one now that it is 9 months old and will now rate it. Beer has a rich malty sweet aroma with smokey and spicey aromas mixed in. Beer is a deep amber color with lots of floaters. Has a medium head that was thick and dense that clings to the glass well. Flavor is much better than when it was young. It has the huge malt sweetness but it has some more balance from the spices coming through and a mild amount of oxidation. The mild oxidation seems to be very common in strong ales and barleywines and I find it is okay as long as it isn’t overly oxidized. This is a good american strong but I have had better. I’ll need to see how it is in another 9 months.

While all reviews are subjective, I think something this strong and complex is even more subject to individual preference. First impression; WOW, what a beer! I took a whiff of the bottle, sans cap of course, and was hit with a mint/eucalyptus aroma. Not quite what I was expecting. Pour a deep, dark amber color, with quite a bit of sediment. Hard to factor that into the score, as this was brewed in 2005 (no idea what month), and I bought it off the shelf. No biggie. The flavor is impossible to miss. Much like the aroma, there was a tinge of mint/eucalyptus, with honey, cinnamon, and an almost bourbon like quality to it. The body is rather thick, with a high viscosity. Any beer this alcoholic and complex demands it to be drunk on a fall/winter day. Fortunately, my room is fairly cool even though it’s May. This would probably be the worst thing to drink after doing yard work, but the best thing after shoveling the driveway. It always impresses me when a beer with such a high alcohol content is able to be masked by a complex and commanding flavor. Better yet is when that flavor is not overwhelming, but compliments the beer, which is the case here. Decadence is certainly not a beer for everyone, which is the point, as it was only brewed once to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Weyerbacher. I’ll probably end up buying another bottle or two, so that I can store it.

(Bottle 65 cl) Clear amber golden, basically no head. Berry like aroma - juniper? Very full-bodied with some sweetish caramel. Some odd - but pleasant - herbal accents. Quite spicy. Slightly sweet finish. Interesting indeed. 220406