Weyerbacher Heresy

Sample BI Indy gathering 2/25/06 - Aroma of oak, roasted chocolate malt, and vanilla. Pours black with small head and no lacing. Flavor matches with some bourbon showing up. Palate is creamy. Most bourbon barrel aged stouts have way too much bourbon, but this one is very delicate and tasty allowing the other flavors to shine.

Heavy black beer with a good-sized head. Despite pleasant notes of coffee and chocolate in the nose, I could not get around the strong soy sauce aroma and flavour, punctuated especially by its noticeable saltiness. Also a bit of diesel in there. This thing packed a scotch-like wallop, and I let it get totally dry and flat before finishing. It didn’t bring out anything I was too keen on, flavour-wise. Intense, but a bit overrated.

Had this side to side with Old Heathen. Pours a dark, dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma of vanilla, oak, caramel, bourbon and hints of red wine. Flavor was a bit vinous, woody, vanilla, bourbon, sweet and malty. Very smooth and creamy. I feel the BA and time has really done this one well.

[22 oz bottle] Poured absolutely jet black, black hole status, no light came through. A small bubbled tightly packed cashmere beige head perched on top that lasted almost to the finishline. Decent lacing. Aroma was overwhelmed by chocolate/caramel malts but not much of the vanilla they hint at, or roastiness for that matter. Prominent showing of its residing in the oak barrels, more of a woody aroma but the bourbon shows through as well. Hits your tongue and explodes with sweet chocolate/caramel, plum, nuts, some bourbon, and vanilla if you feel around for it. A coffee/roast bitterness finishes it off with the oak flavor coming though strongly overpowering the others. Medium-full body, average carbonation. A bit of alcohol in the retro, probably mostly the bourbon influence. While I enjoyed the oak/bourbon addition and thought it had a good sweet/bitter balance I didn’t like how they flattened out the roast/coffee flavor. Still, it’s an interesting brew and worth trying especially if you’re a fan of whisk(e)y.

From Bottle

Poured pitch black, almost no head, what I did get was brown, and only around the edges. Aroma of overpowering alcohol, oak chips, fruity notes, and faint vanilla notes. Flavor of strong burbon, chocolate, and roasted coffee undertones. Flavors were complex, but I did not think they mixed very well. Light, oily mouthfeel. I like Impy stouts, I like weyerbacher, but the burbon flavor is over the top for me.

Bottle poured jet black with a big brown frothy head, Great aroma. Goes down easy, instant taste of Burbon, maybe a little too strong, changes to dark fruits, chocolate, vanilla and finishes with a nice warming sensation. The barrel aging makes this really smoth on the palate. The flavor is complex, would like a little more roasted malt flavor to remind me I’m drinking a Stout, But you have to think of this as something special. A good brew with flavors that come out when it’s near warm.

Opaque black beer, Orangish head. Overpowering burbon aroma and flavor. Some sweetness behind the burbon. Seems to be a lot a butterscotch-diacetyl allso. I bought two bottles, had one immediately and now I’ve had this bottle for over a year or two. I still do not like it, it seems to have mellowed, but the burbon is still too much, and the butterscotch is awful. Yuck.

Pure black body with a nice brown head. Roasted malts, plums and other dark fruits in the aroma. Heavy burbon accents do to the barrels used in aging that combine with mollasses and coffee. The burbon is extremely noticeable, almost to the point of being overpowering. This isn’t a beer for you if you aren’t a fan of the burbon flavor. Very sweet ending.