Belhaven Wee Heavy / 90 Shilling (Bottle)

Brewed by Belhaven (Greene King)
Style: English Strong Ale
Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland

Smells of the wet hay that plagues most ’english’ ales. Ok, don’t kill me b/c I just said that, to me it’s english b/c I’m from Canada and all ’those’ beers taste the same to me, maybe the water? But yeah, not really a good smell, malt and wet rotting hay, or alfalfa, I dunno. It somehow manages to be both dark and completely transparent. Poor head, no lacing. Taste better than it smells, which is to say that the wet hay rotting smell dosent’ transtlate to the taste. Slight sweet malts, but still that english area hard water stain in the mouth. Sort of smooth on the ESB’s or basically anything from that area, but this wasn’t too bad. Still though, I wouldn’t get it regularly.

Pours a dark brown color with a nice tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, molasses, caramels, and some spices. Flavors of roasted malts, molasses, some wood and scotch notes, some raisins and a hint of toasted bread. Low carbonation, sweet and low bitter. A bit of a watery finish, but good flavors and a good lasting taste on mouth.

Rich, heavy, sweet, this is the Black Forest Cake of beers. There’s a decent amount of cocoa and molasses notes, but it finishes with a bitterness that almost puts me in mind of black tea.Color is a dark brown with gold highlights; the tea comparison comes to mind again. Head is pronounced, and lasts a good long while. Me being the malthead that I am, I loved it.

Oily Mahogany pour with a slight white film of a head. Aroma is a mellow and deeply malty. Toffee malts stand out with some peat, booze, vanilla, wood, delightful. Mouthfeel is creamy, a bit slippery, Flavor is a little boozey, with sweet toffee malt that melts into a rich, peaty, caramel mouthful.. A nice sipper on a cold winter day.

( 500ml bottle) pours clear ruby with 1 finger oily head that fades to a thin film but keeps lacing the glass. Nose of sweet pecans, raisin bread and an off flavor I can’t quite put my finger on. Taste of sweet lightly toasted malt, Prunes, and Slightly syrupy in a good way. Creamy carbonation and easy to drink with lots of flavor.

I was really excited when I smelled this beer in the glass. It poured a pretty nice amber with a nice 2 finger white head. The aroma was of grapes, more so dates, and a little banana... Nice. The taste was lacking, however. It was thin and not as flavorful as the aroma was hinting at. Was hoping for better, but it wasn’t bad.

Pours copper with a large beige head. Aroma is sweet caramel, light fruit and raisins. Flavour is caramel, fruity, raisin and plum. Light bitter aftertaste. Not my kind of beer.

Ruby in the glass, small creamy white head. Sweet cherry aroma, little waxy and young oak. Malt driven, reminiscent of a junior barley wine with hints of orange and maple syrup, spiced with lavender, aged in young wood.....but not completely. Overall seems pasteurized or truncated in its overall intensity. Abrupt. Blunt.