AleSmith Barrel Aged Wee Heavy

2005 Vintage - Bottle #112 (of 222). Appearance: Pours a dark reddish-brown body with a small, tight, off-white head. Smell: Ah, the expressive aroma of oh-so delicious bourbon with its notes of vanilla, oak, and brown sugar. Plus, there’s also nuts, fruit (even raspberry), spice, and a truck load of malt. Taste: Rich, creamy, candylike maltiness with literally tons of toothsome sweetness. Slight praline taste. As much punchy bourbon flavor possible without becoming unpleasant and excessive. Quite fruity, with flavors of the typical dark fruits plus, maybe, those raspberries from the aroma. Smokey peat component. Dash of spice. Warming, drying, vanilla finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Smooth, creamy mouthfeel. Drinkability: Very tasty bourbony boost to what was already an excellent beer. Happiness really is a choice.

’05 118/222. Pours a hazy amber brown color with no head. Aroma is bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, some peat. and some sugary sweetness. Flavor is malty, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, brown sugar, some peat, and a nice sweet bourbon alcohol finish.

2006 Bottle #113/254 sampled with Mad indian. Pours Dark brown with a orange hue, and a thin beige head. Aroma of vanilla, bourbon, oak, smoke, and dark fruit. The flavor is smooth, bourbon, oak sweet vanilla, smoke, and dark fruit. Alcohol is well masked, good body, excellent brew.

2005 Barrel Aged, bottle 27/222 I believe; the silver pen markings have worn a bit on the rear of the bottle. I’ve been saving this beauty for a long time. Opened with Katie while homebrewing on May 11. This really blew me away. I knew it was going to be good, but it exceeded my expectations. Pours still and silky with thick legs on the snifter walls. Dark burgundy center with lighter edges. Looks like a viscous brandy. Nose is truly incredible; loaded with oak barrel and softened bourbon tones above vanilla extract, chocolate, coconut, toffee, caramel and a slight hint of smoke. Extremely quaffable, by far my favorite component of its character. Divine balance in the flavor, with ultra-subtle transitions between the rich oak, molasses and vanilla tones, and the warming bourbon, sugary caramel finish. A pleasant nuance of oxidation sting comes into play at the very end. Smooth body, I wanted to drink this for hours. With a bit of carbonation and a bit less heat from the bourbon, this is nearly perfect for my taste. My favorite of the Alesmith BA lineup. Holy hell!

Bottle from ebay trade 2006 #113 of 254. Sampled with the Beer god Stegosaurus. Ahh Alesmith how we love you. Hazy brown pour with orange hue, Thin beige head. Aroma of alcohol, oak, dark fruit, smoke and black patent malt. Taste was unbelievable , really smooth the alcohol was blended perfect a little thin in the mouth but fantastic as the oak, vanilla and dark fruit flavors grips your soul and makes you beg for more. A+ mork.

750mL Bottle. Rich bourbon and malt nose. An intricate dance of caramelized malts, sherry, rum-soaked fruit. Complex pecan pie and nuts. Quite impressive. Pours a deep, murky brown, with a faint ruby tin. Rim in off-white. Heavy vanilla, oak and bourbon blend in with mature sugars. Not too sweet. Body is thick, but not cloying or sugary. Viscous texture. Nuttiness. A wee bit hot. Dry, bourbon backend. Barrel melds well with the beer, although it takes over a little bit too much. Harmonious, but the barrel overrides. Vinous develops in the backend and long into the smack. As the beer warms, I keep getting new mature flavors and intricacies out of it. Developing. Rather complex and delicious. Thanks a million Andy!

From my backlog. 2004 vintage #201/234. Right off the bat there’s far too much bourbon in here for my tastes. Overdone to the point where this dominates the flavour-profile. However, soon after I focus my palate some wonderful vanilla and oak characters make themselves known. About every other sip I can make out the base beer and its peaty/smoky/malty goodness. For its age, there was a bit of sour noticed and if anyone has any left – drink it now as it’s starting to slide downhill.

750ml bottle (#51), 2006 vintage, shared by iowaherkeye. Thank you for personally importing this from California. Sampled side-by-side with the regular Wee Heavy. Poured a cloudy brown color with a thin khaki head. The aroma was similar to the regular Wee Heavy with dark fruit and toffee elements, but there were also added whiskey and Saltine notes. Very nice. Medium to full bodied and sweet with caramel, raisin, vanilla, and toffee flavors. There was also a mellow bourbon flavor that wasn’t overdone. Not over-bourbonated, as they say. Good beer.