AleSmith Barrel Aged Wee Heavy

Wispy tan head with a scattering of larger bubbles. Deep, lightly hazy caramel hue. Big, sweet malty nose including toffee, caramel, chocolate and rum-raisin muffins. Notes of pleasant pipe tobacco, coffee and hazelnuts as well. Flavour starts precisely with all those sweet aromas with a definite focus on the rum-raisin component. Oaky tannins emerge as it warms, especially in the finish. Dried cherries, dates pop out with some warmth. (The sister gets raisin/date/walnut oatmeal. Oh, and apparently there exists such a thing as raisin/date/walnut oatmeal.) Some cocoa powder stands out as it reaches room temperature. Big, thick and velvety texture with low carbonation. Ace!

At DL day at one of the BA tables I believe: Pours a deep mahogany with a sunset highlight, minimal head but good oily legs. The aroma has notes of marzipan, anise, allspice, clove, peatbog, sea salt, vanilla and bourbon barrel influences all over the place, a hint of oxidization too.

The flavor is a smack down of heavy malts, over-ripened fruits (mostly plums) and a peat overload at first. The midsection is mostly a mixture of sugar smack cereal and pumpernickel breads before the on rush of barrel comes crashing down on the finish, woody and boozy. A true palate overload and oh so enjoyable. The mouth feel is lush and sticky, aggressive alcohol bite cleanse the palate nicely.

A wonderful work of art and much more enjoyable than the first try which I did not even bother to rate ’cause I thought my palate and nose was wasted.

Bottle 44/234. I shared this with Sean and Craig sometime ago, and just now found the rating on my laptop. Notes are from sometime in March...Pours out a dark brown color with a small tan head on it. The aroma is very powerful and full of rich wood characters, some slight hints of bourbon, alot of peaty malt smells here too. Taste is fruity, rich, full of sweet sugars and slight hints of bourbon. These guys do not over do the bourbon barrel that so many brewers tend to just ruin beer with. This is a perfect example of a barrel aged beer. Overall this is the best scotch ale I have ever drank, and I do not imagine one being able to top this. Great beer. Thanks so much Sean.

2004 Bottle @ my brothers (Vac) & Abby’s (zug4abby) house warming party. Poured brown in the glass with a thin tan head. Nice bourbon and malt aromas. The flavor is remarkable! Malts, vanilla, and dark fruits mixed with a bourbon background. Medium body and very smooth. Sweet throughout. If you get a chance don’t pass this one up!

Bottle. Dark, clear and glossy. Nose of Brandy. Bitter, taste of brandy, dark roasted malts. Good one. I would recommend.

Courtesy of my sister who picked this up at the brewery! This smells so nice. Smells like cherries, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, bourbon. No head or carbonation really, but is a really nice dark reddish brown - very clear. Tastes strongly of bourbon, vanilla, raisins, wood, malts. The palate was smooth and drinkable. Nice!

Vintage 2004
Bottle 44/324

3/10/2007: AleSmith Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy is dark reddish-amber in color with a frothy, bubbly crown that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma is very port-like with sweet vineous notes of cherry and oak. The flavor is very malty (caramel) and fruity (i.e. dark fruits, dates, cherry) with some whiskey alcohol and barrel flavors (vanilla) as well. The finish is slightly more dry than the rest of the flavor and the alcohol is quite warming. This beer is full-bodied and is so smooth and mellow going down. Very nice. The AleSmith Barrel Aged Wee Heavy is SO much better than the regular AleSmith Wee Heavy (which I didn’t care for much even though I love Scotch Ales and AleSmith).

750 mL bottle signed to and shared by illinismitty. Thanks a ton Sean for sharing this with Ross and me. I think my mouth dropped open when you pulled out this bottle. I guess you are a pretty nice guy after all (even if you do have a bad habit of leaving empty slots in shipping boxes!)...

Boy, this bottle has quite a story behind it.

PART ONE: I had bought Droopy49 a Mephistopheles and a Dreadnaught. He was going to go beer hunting an find something for me. What does he get? This bottle...PERSONALLY SIGNED TO ME BY PETER! Juan, you are DA MAN!.

PART TWO: I get a room at the Hilton for the Knoxville Tasting. I share the room with Shigadeyo and Ross because I am a nice guy. All three of us had worked out trades to be delivered in person. One bottle I was supposed to trade with Ross was the regular Ale Smith Wee Heavy. In a hurry, I accidentally grabbed the BA version going out the door. After the tasting, we were finalizing our trade at the room when I noticed that I brought the BA Wee Heavy. Like hell I was going to trade that to Ross for 6 Duck Rabbit Impys. Needless to say, Ross and Craig really wanted me to open the bottle and were giving me shit. It was late and I told them to STFU and go to bed. But Ross threatened to teabag me while I was sleeping, if I did not open it. So I caved and opened the bottle.

THE RATING: Bottle 44/234. Pours deep brown/ garnet with almost no head. Nice aroma of vanilla, cherries, raisen, caramel, and faint nuts. Initial flavor of caramel, dark fruits, and brown sugar. Middle has some very moderate notes of oak, joined by some faint chocolate. Smooth malty finish with the alcohol very well hidden. I was expecting lots more bourbon and oak, but the barrel aging really just blended into the beer. I would say it added more vanilla and sweetness as opposed to smoke,wood, or char flavors, which this one could have used more of. Perhaps this one mellowed a bit., because I did not pick up a ton of bourbon. Still, a very nice beer. I wish I had more detailed notes, but I was in no condition to rate based on my barely legible notes. Many thanks to Droopy49 for getting this rare treat for me.