AleSmith Barrel Aged Wee Heavy

Had this beer a couple of weeks ago, finally found the rating. Pour is a deep mahogany with virtually no head. Aroma is of roasted malts and bourbon...maybe a little oak/wood. Flavor is a bit hot for me, but good overall. I get some chocolate and caramel with a sweet, bourbon finish. Full mouthfeel and smooth.

2005 bottle #14/222 bought at the brewery. Tasted at Churchill’s with Ivan, Tim, Aaron, and Dave. Aroma just hits you when you first smell it. Super perfect oxidation. I love this level of oxidation. Low level of carbonation. Sweet buttery caramels, probably from the oak. Melanoidin in your face too. Maybe a little bit of smoke. Very nice. 3 days later, there is 1" left in the bottle in my frig. Bourbon is a little over present in the taste and aroma. It took me a little to recognize what I was smelling. At a tasting, things are rushed, so rating details are left out. You get even a little of bourbon burn on the tongue, which is unusual at 9.5%. I’m bringing the palate and overall down a notch, lowering the rating to 4.4. Tried again at fordest’s tasting with ibrew2or3, fordest, papajohn, toncatcher, and others. 9,4,8,4,18: Same rating, but I seemed to enjoy it more this time.

Thanks to my boy Bruce Willis for this ’07 bottle. Dark brown pour, barely any head. Aroma is huge bourbon all the way bigtime. Flavor is a bourbon coconut sweetness I don’t know why but that’s what I get. The barrel-aging really has covered up most of the smokiness and rich flavors from the regular wee heavy. Some roasted malt and caramel sweetness come through but then there’s more coconut.

Huge thanks to our version of Frank the Tank for dragging this back from his stay in SoCal. Deep dark red pour...somewhat hazy and zero head to this one. Sweet malty aroma...toffee, caramel, and a wee bit of alcohol too. Full bodied brew...pleasingly tart with lotsa dried dark fruits, raisins, plums. Woody, rummy, and bourbony...whew....big taste bomb. Lightly bitter in the end..if at all. Great stuff....doubt I’ll ever see another bottle, but that will just make this one more special.

2005 vintage. Murky dark orange-brown with little to no head. Chocolate, dark alefruit, caramel, vanilla, and alcohol heat in the aroma. Heavy oak and vanillin up front. Chocolate, raisins, slight smoke. Higher alcohol notes with syrupy malt. Rusty nuttiness, semisweet chocolate notes in the finish. Mouthfeel is heavy, rich, with some alcohol heat.

2005 vintage bottle #98/222 from Alesmith brewery. Dark mahogany brown with garnet highlights around the edge and absolutely no head. Big caramel, chocolate, and whiskey aroma. Thick velvet mouthfeel. Initial taste of smooth yet oddly crisp wood, transitioning to a chocolate and caramel taste, which is immediately replaced by the bourbon and vanilla tastes and finishes with a tobacco and spice taste intermingled with a nice alcoholic sweetness. Excellent.

Rating #500. 2005 vintage.. Drank this with four friends on the beach at San Onofre State Beach. Annual dudes camping trip. Anyway, this beer was a definite highlight. We all agreed that it was fantastic. Well, everyone but my friend Drum, who happens to work for Anheuser Busch and thinks Natural Light is a "Damn fine beer." Even he admitted it was good. As with all of the BA Alesmith beers I have had, the Bourbon is definitely the star, and is very prominent. I have read others complain about this, but I happen to love the fact that the bourbon is so noticeable. The wood balances things out rather nicely and the smooth velvety mouthfeel makes this a really nice sipper. We all agreed that there is an interesting Coconut finish that is just fantastic. This is a world class beer in my opinion and it really was a treat to have consumed.

A 2004 vintage bottle (220 out of 234), shared by Guerde and Olso2116. Pours a brownish amber brew with a very fast dissolving tan head that comes clean with a very thin film on top. No lacing or ring in this glass. Aroma of dark caramel malt, plenty of bourbon, coconut, and some vanilla. Taste is medium to full bodied, very light carbonation with flavors of coconut, bourbon, some caramel malt and plenty of alcohol. Finish is smooth and creamy with a coconut/bourbon aftertaste that really sticks around. A pleasant brew to share and experience!