Heresy - Weyerbacher Brewing Co.

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BA SCORE
89
very good
-
1,406 Ratings

rAvg: 3.99
pDev: 11.78%
Reviews: 906
Hads: 500

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Brewed by:
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.

Pennsylvania, United States

Style | ABV
Russian Imperial Stout | 8.00% ABV

Availability: Rotating. bottle (856), on-tap (42), growler (4), nitro-tap (2), cask (2).

Notes:
Old Heathen aged in oak (bourbon) barrels.

View: Beers (42) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by the Alström Bros:

Jason

Massachusetts

3.6/5 rDev -9.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: 22oz brown bomber with no freshness or vintage date.

Appearance: Very viscous rolling head dissipates to a thin brown lace. An evil pitch black looking liquid.

Smell: Black currant, burnt raisins and a faintly solvent alcohol at the first smell. Slowly developing roasted smoky character arises the warmer the brew gets.

Taste & Mouth Feel: Super creamy with a slick crispness thick bodied. Quick roasted bite with a thin wall of solvent alcohol that shows some strength. Good amount of malt sweetness with some vague oaked notes and little hop to balance thankfully the finish dries out enough and there is no sign of any cloying sweetness.

Drinkability & Notes: Flavorful yet the oak character is mild to the point of being hidden, regardless this was an enjoyable beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2004 22:36:47 | More by Jason

Todd

Massachusetts

4.35/5 rDev +9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Weyerbacher's Old Heathen Imperial Stout aged in OAK barrels. I like beers aged in oak. I'm ready. Bring it on.

From a 22oz bomber, a pitch black liquid with a snapping coffee colored foam that rises with the pour, but settles to an absolute flat stillness. I've seen this happen with many of oak aged beers. No head. Wonder if this is a very common occurrence, and something that should be taken into consideration when casting an opinion on appearance? Hmm ... until then I'm not impressed.

Malty aroma, with chocolate, vanilla, sherry, wood and wet paper joining in with the massive complexities.

Even mouthfeel, somewhere between medium- and full-bodied. Sharp-ish notes of sherry and black cherry juice prick the palate, then step aside for mature flavors of chocolate, black-strap molasses and suggestions of espresso and maple. Distinct vanilla bean, rich and flavorful. Alcohol is tamed, but does join in on the prickling of the palate and adds a layer of light spiciness. That last drop of a whiskey on the rocks after the ice cubes have melted for about five minutes is there, too. Ashy feel with deep lingering burnt flavors that sick in a slightly slick feel on the tongue.

Heresy. A suitable name for a method of maturation that is still just being explored by American brewers. Weyerbacher explores it well, and captures all the loud complexities and subtle nuances that oak barrel aging has to offer beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2004 03:12:31 | More by Todd

More User Reviews:

garfscores

Connecticut

3.75/5 rDev -6%

06-18-2013 00:16:51 | More by garfscores

Darklight

Pennsylvania

4.5/5 rDev +12.8%

06-17-2013 23:50:40 | More by Darklight

Jeffreysan

Maryland

3.43/5 rDev -14%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

12 ounce bottle poured into a snifter

Appearance: Pours completely black and devoid of all light, like tar, without practically any head or lacing to speak of, just an extremely thin, almost invisible halo of lacing gripping the glass. This beer is gorgeous! Exactly what an Imperial Stout should look like!

Aroma: Dark bread, slight roasted coffee beans, and dark chocolate. Hints of vanilla. Oak. Subtle alcohol aroma

Taste: This is a very strong tasting beer, much stronger than its little brother the Old Heathen. Definitely getting alcohol here, whereas in the Old Heathen I had to really, really search hard to get any alcohol. Here the alcohol practically slaps you in the face! Almost too much too, as I’m finding it pretty harsh. The alcohol completely overwhelms the other flavors of the beer to the point that I couldn’t taste much else, except some hoppy bitterness at the finish. Not a good balance.

Mouthfeel: Smoooth, like a creamy coffee, with almost no carbonation to speak of, which leaves a smoothness that’s very, very pleasing. Very chewy, thanks to the alcohol, which clocks in at 8%, and you taste it all here.

Overall: I didn’t like this stout anywhere near as much as I liked Weyerbacher’s Old Heathen. Actually, out of all the Weyerbacher beers I’ve had, which I’ve liked very much, I rate this one really low, taste-wise. Not my stout at all. Love the name, in fact, it’s one of my favorite names for a beer, but I don’t like the beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2013 22:15:42 | More by Jeffreysan

EigenBeer

Florida

3.75/5 rDev -6%

06-17-2013 20:37:46 | More by EigenBeer

MNPikey

Minnesota

3.5/5 rDev -12.3%

06-17-2013 00:07:13 | More by MNPikey

bcsbeer

Florida

3.79/5 rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pulled from the ice box and sat on the counter 30 minutes before serving.
Visually it was a midnight brown with a generous tan head. ( aggressive pour) The head reduced to a ring after a few minutes. No lacing to speak of, the suds could not hang on. Not a lot for the nose, baring a light whiskey aroma with some dark fruits. Taste was boozy flavored with raisin, fig, molasses and black licorice. It had a nice alcohol warmth on the big gulps. Mouthfeel was in the middle, somewhat oily and low carbonation.
If you like a shot of Crown Royal with your fruit cake you should do well with this one.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 04:31:29 | More by bcsbeer

GeorgianBayPackr

Pennsylvania

3.5/5 rDev -12.3%

06-15-2013 01:51:34 | More by GeorgianBayPackr

YeastEnthusiast

New Jersey

4.25/5 rDev +6.5%

06-14-2013 04:04:51 | More by YeastEnthusiast

twizzard

New York

4.5/5 rDev +12.8%

06-14-2013 01:23:05 | More by twizzard

djre4orm

Virginia

4/5 rDev +0.3%

06-13-2013 20:15:18 | More by djre4orm

dbc5

Ohio

4/5 rDev +0.3%

06-11-2013 03:17:16 | More by dbc5

Snikwad1020

Maryland

3.75/5 rDev -6%

06-11-2013 02:20:24 | More by Snikwad1020

docrates

Pennsylvania

4.25/5 rDev +6.5%

06-09-2013 14:59:01 | More by docrates

Mantooth

North Carolina

4/5 rDev +0.3%

06-09-2013 02:59:38 | More by Mantooth

lunarbrew

Wisconsin

3.73/5 rDev -6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Poured hard with a small 1 finger head that fell down as quickly as it appeared. Beer seems to have a medium viscosity. Pours jet black.

Smell oak and roast on the front end. Lacking the sweet nose I was hoping for. There is a lot of acidity in the smell, which is a bit of a turn off for me. There are notes of black currant, raspberry, and fig. Def. some bourbon present, but nothing that wows me here.

Flavor is more mellow than I expected. Still not sweet enough, and I find that berry acidity in the backend. There are some nice flavors going on here, but nothing seems to mesh like I want it to. Some light toffee, a little vanilla, and a good about of oak flavor. Generally, the beer doesn't pack a big enough punch.

Mouthfeel is fine, but a little lighter than I like. Medium with medium-heavy carb. Shmeh.

When I want a BA stout, but not one I'll miss, this is the perfect candidate. It's good. Ok. Decent. Fine. So-so.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2013 02:31:11 | More by lunarbrew