AleSmith Barrel Aged Wee Heavy

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

From a 750mL Bottle. Generously shared by KAME. Mostly murky, tannic brown colored pour with a thin, wispy head of off-white. Nice legs are left clinging to the sides of the glass, but with little carbonation activity. A pile of caramelized raisins erupts boldly from the glass, darkened up with some earthy, peaty, pipe tobacco smoke. Notes of molasses add some spicy dark tones to a teething biscuit malt base. Medium bodied, lightly carbonated mouthfeel with a soft, supple texture. Lots of sweet smoky malt caramels up front on the palate, accompanied by fruity tones of flambeed green raisins, dates, and coffee cake that come out mid-palate. Some oaky bourbon comes out on the back end of the palate, drying up the finish nicely, leaving behind some pleasant vanilla and light smoke with some warming (not harsh) alcohols. A sweet treat with fantastic depth and flavor complexity; the barrel character really fits in and melds beautifully with this beer. Thanks for sharing, Dillon!

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!)...