Wee Heavy - McKenzie Brew House

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.15/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

From a bottle that Mike shared last night. Thanks, friend, this was excellent.

Clear ruby red with a light brown head that slowly falls off to a disk, this looks great. The nose is just excellent. This beer has aged very gracefully, uniquely even, with the light oxidation that adds some like sherry working well with the bourbon and vanilla. What makes the nose stand apart is the brightness that's present, it manages to capture the essence of what makes both fresh and aged beer appealing while avoiding the brashness of big beers when fresh, and the not infrequent staleness of aged beers. Coming back to a description, there's a very nice barrel presence, mellow with bourbon and vanilla, a simple but well done malt presence with caramel, brown sugar and a little toffee. The palate opens with a blend simple sweetness - brown sugar, caramel, honey - with a mellow bourbon character, with vanilla and some oak. Moderately fruity, this still tastes fresh and vibrant. A little oxidation is present, with raisins and sherry being noticeable, but there's also some lighter fruits present. A little sweet on the finish, this beer has a medium body and is moderately carbonated. A true pleasure to drink

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2011 03:46:23 | More by DefenCorps

JAXSON

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle, I believe from 2007. Pours a clear dark maroon/brown with a nice small, creamy head that settles to a ring. Nose is a lot of nice, thick malt, rich dark fruits especially raisins and dates. Nose is more like a quad than a typical scotch ale. Thick and rich on the tongue. Extremely gooey dark fruits, reduced dates, figs, raisins. Lots of concentrated fruit sugars. Malt is chewy and heavy, slightly peaty, really the only anchor to the scotch ale style as this strikes me as more of a rich Belgian quad in it's yeast and fruit qualities. Holy freakin good. This is a major surprise, awesome.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2010 23:04:27 | More by JAXSON

mikereaser

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a growler...
I had this one taped up and sitting in my fridge for some time. When i got it from the brewery, I thought the scotch was a bit too much for me, so i let it sit. Its still fairly carbonated and quite tasty.
A - pours a deep mahogany color with a little bit of foam that eventually dissipated into a ring of bubbles around the glass

S - strong malty aroma, alot of the scotchiness is gone

T - nice sweet malty taste with just a little bit of alcohol burn at the end.

M/D - freshly brewed it was too strong for me to enjoy, but with some age on it, it turned into a nice malty beverage. Not bad at all.

Serving type: growler

11-22-2008 03:59:51 | More by mikereaser

weeare138

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is the 2007 GABF Bronze Medal winner. On tap at Malvern...
Appears a turbid, dark russett with a small, off-white head that quickly fades into a mild cap and thin collar. Tiny speckles of lacing droop down into the collar.
Smell is of rich caramel, ripe fruit, toffee, vanilla, mild cocoa, fusel alcohol, along with an earthy, piney blast hidden in the background.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with a sweet blast and even of touch of dark candi sugar, along with what would seem to be a Belgian-esque yeastiness in there that makes for a delicious, rum soaked raisin brew.
Mouthfeel is medium-full bodied, sweet, boozy, with raisins lingering on the palate and a touch of hot rum going down. As nice as this is (IMHO), I could see this getting much better with age if Ryan decides to bottle this one. Stay tuned!

Serving type: on-tap

11-02-2007 15:33:59 | More by weeare138