Weyerbacher Old Heathen

Brewed by Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Easton, Pennsylvania USA

Bottle from early 2006. Pours dark brown with some light edges and with a nice tan head comprised of fine bubbles which dissipates to a thin splotchy surface layer. Some lacing. Aroma is dark chocolate and dark fruits; kahluha-like, including the alcohol. Dry hops also present in the nose along with a nice blueberry-like aroma when it warms. Flavor is expresso and roasted malts, nicely balanced with bittering hops, which linger. Some berry notes again in the finish. Quite complex. Medium bodied, smooth, but a bit syrupy. Alcohol warmth is present but not too hot. Overall, a nice imperial stout; on the lighter side, rather drinkable. Re-rated 3/14/08...bumped up a few numbers for consistency with my other reviews.

Pours a jet black with nice thick dark tan head that lingers a while and leaves decent lacing. Aroma is a malty sweet chocolate-coffee mix, and the flavor is an almost too-sweet version of the same. Mouthfeel is somewhat tingly, and the finish is long and warming, but again, just a tad too sweet. Not a bad Impy Stout, but I’ve had others I’ve definitely enjoyed more.

THOUGHTS: I’ve finally gotten around to rating the beer that I stole my username from. I went with just plain Heathen since I’m not old but Im not young anymore either. It’s hard to go wrong with an imperial stout. This one smells, tastes and looks great. It may be a little thin, but it’s still a great beer. A chocolate masterpiece with just the right amount of hop bitterness. While I’ve had stouts that by all the different categories are technically better, this one is one of the easiest, full-flavored ones to drink. This is one of my favorites. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark, opaque brown that looked completely black in the glass with a small tan head that mostly diminished and didn’t leave much lacing. The aroma was chocolate syrup and dark fruit along with some port, licorice, cola and alcohol. The initial flavor was moderately sweet and lightly bitter, while the finish was moderately to heavily sweet and bitter with short to average duration. The body was medium to full but a little thin for an imperial stout. It was dry but felt like watered-down syrup with a chalky finish.

bottle. pours black with minimal carmel coloured head. small head dissolves quickley leaving a light covering which lingers till the end. light rosted scents with a touch of coffee. a bit more fruity than I expected with hints of raisons. sweet and smooth at first with hints of chocolate and vanilla but grows nicely as it warms bringing out more raosted malts and a touch of bitterness in the end. and at 8% it was very light. not bad at all.

I am not an imp stout lover so I’m not expecting much and some of you will say "why rate it? you’ll just ruin the stats" Smell is strangely heavy almost like there is damp chocolate roasted wood nearby. It has an aroma that is letting you get ready for something big. The pour is coal black and there is no head except for a very thin girdle on the inside of the glass. The bubbles are darker tan. The first flavors of this are simply edifying. It has such a smooth texture it is like silk on the tip of my tongue. This probably has the least amount of medicinal bitterness that I have tasted in an imps stout. There is some bitterness on the back of the throat but I must say it is overwhelmingly pleasant. No way is this 8%! Alky is well hidden. By leaps and bounds, this is the best imp stout I have ever tasted. Oily and very thin transparent lacing, better have some underwear on when you drink this. Finish is not aggressive. For an imp stout, this is not a bad brew! I was expecting the worse and got a big surprise. There is even some acceptable carbonation in this. I’ve got to try this again and make sure I was not under the influence of something when I rated it. Generally, imp stouts just don’t cut it for me. IMO much better than Bell’s Exp, Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout and Thirsty Dog Siberian Night Imperial Stout. Even better than Victory Storm King. This is so delectable it probably should be in the sweet stout style category. Has a little medium bitter linger that is easy to deal with. Undoubtedly my best Weyer and best imp stout to date. This is another reason why you should not quit tasting beers within styles you don’t care for. I never dreamed I would even consider liking an imperial stout.

Pours a deep dark brown to black with a tan head. Not a beer that smacks you over the head with aromas, but certainly worth the effort. Rich dark dry malt. Subtle creamy bittersweet chocolate and good dark roast coffee. A little dark fruit, plum maybe. Smooth and creamy in the mouth with subdued carbonation and a bit of thickness, nice. Slight alcohol burn towards the end. The flavors are a cut below everything else here. I’m very distracted by a tart acidic sourness. Relatively dry, though round roasty malt. Very very fruity. Raspberry and raisin abound. I had to open up a bottle of the raspberry stout for comparison, which certainly has more raspberry character, but not the sharp astringency here. the raspberry impy had the same issue fresh, but a year has softened her. Lactic acid? A little pine in terms of the hops is a bit out of place, but not terribly so. Dry fruity finish with some lingering roast and alcohol thrown into the aftertaste. This isn’t a bad beer, but I think it needs to be aged a bit.

Tap: Pours black with a small brown head. I smell quite a few things here: raisin, bit of vanilla, chocolate, coffee. Taste is much the same, coffee, vanilla, chocolate and a bit of raisin. As this one warmed up, a nice roastiness came through. Great beer.

Dark brown with a light brown head. Sweet vanilla and chocolate aromas mixed in with dark roasted malts. Full flavors of coffee, dark fruits and more chocolate malts. Alcohol is also present, but is followed by a fruity hoppiness. LIke drinking liquid chocolate.