AleSmith Barrel Aged Wee Heavy

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
San Diego, California USA

Bottle from kmweaver. What a generous trade—big thanks for this! Opened this one with Fin, Loz and Traci at ours. Cheers on Rating 2000 Fin! Deep leafy brown pour, a bubble or two with the pour that quickly disappear, leaving the surface as slick and dark as a forest pool. Vast lovely rich caramel, toffee and fig aroma, so warm and big it goes all the way down to the bottom of my lungs. Sweet bourbon with a nice charred oak edge. Absolute silky-soft on the palate, every sip coating and soothing, as if velvet had been pressed and distilled into some kind of precious elixir. Raisin, rum, chocolate, vanilla. The barrel character is strong, but the beer clearly thrives under the influence that bourbony goodness. Flavor and aroma both beautiful, but man, the palate is really something astounding.

Big thanks to Casey for inviting me back to his house to sample this for my 2000th beer, cheers mate! 10-07-08 This bottle was numbered 222. Pours like a cup of very dark old tea, very little almost non-existent head. The nose is really whisky, soft dark sugar and oak, lovely nose. Creamy vanilla, rum and raisin ice cream, rich dark alcohol laden fruits, yummm. This is a real sipper, I love that woodiness, I like the whisky (bourbon) its presence is always there but its nver intrusive, its more warming I feel like the ready brek kid, many thanks Casey a great beer!

2005 Bottle: Very dark amber color with an off-white head. Head quickly disappeared and left very little retention. Smell is boozy, caramel, toffee, and butterscotch. Taste has caramel, butterscotch, bourbon, smoke, dark fruits, and vanilla. Carbonation was light, body was medium. A very nice barrel aged beer. I’d love to drink this more regularly, but obviously it isn’t possible. Thanks to doubleo for the bottle!

Bottle # 13 of 240, from the brewery at Fall 2007 release. Dark brown, chestnut with a small off-white head. Vanilla, bourbon, caramel, dark fruit and alcohol. Flavor is rich malts, brown sugar, earth and herbs, alcohol presence. Full body, smooth and gentle carbonation.

Much thanks to Zathrus13 for this bottle a while back. Pours out dark brown with a slight coppery tint, no head. Aroma is of bourbon, some sweet fruits and vanilla. Taste is very complex. Sweet malts, vanilla, bourbon, some dark fruit and some interesting earthy notes going on in there too. Very smooth and drinkable, lots going on in this one.

Bottle courtesy of wetherel and weeheavySD. Pours a caramel color with no head. Nose is very bourbon, as is the flavor. I loved the original and all the influences present. The barrel aging loses all of that and just goes to bourbon. Not that I didn’t like it, just thought the standard was better.

750ml bottle @Noogfest4.0-pours a few white bubbles for a head and dark brown color with orange tint. Aroma is somewhat sweet medium single malt, wood, dark fruit. Taste is smoother and sweet that aroma, sweet medium single malt, wood, dark fruit, vanilla. Minimum carbonation.

Bottle at Noogfest Four-O. Pours cloudy orange-brown with not much head. The aroma is rich caramel, some toffee, and a hint of butterscotch. The flavor is toffee, brown sugar, faint bourbon, and a hint of port. Good.