Duck-Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Style Ale - The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Review from BeerAdvocate magazine Vol. II Issue VII:

Lively beer brings three fingers of tan head to the pint. Dark and tawny, though not dark enough to show off the clarity, and has a reddish glow in the light. Stodgy malt nose of fresh-toasted bread, slight taffy and nougat sweetness. Creamy smooth with a slick full body. We let this one warm up to cellar temperature before sampling. The maltiness pulled away layer after layer, exposing the palate to an array of complex flavors and suggestions of toasted bread, amid cocoa powder, nougat, melanodian and treacle. Hop bitterness is mild and the flavor follows very mildly. Alcohol is warming with a clean non-expressive character. Faint fruitiness of ripe figs in the semi-dry end.

Beers of this stature and size need some care when pouring; this one is best at cellar temperature. Amazing ale here, enjoyable and drinkable in the context of the style. Malt-bomb fanatics should flock to this treat.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2010 17:54:30 | More by BeerAdvocate

Photekut

Azerbaijan

4/5  rDev +2.8%

05-19-2013 13:26:15 | More by Photekut

Kelp

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +2.8%

05-04-2013 20:26:34 | More by Kelp

leftstagebrew

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +2.8%

05-04-2013 19:16:18 | More by leftstagebrew

weaselchew

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%

04-25-2013 03:54:59 | More by weaselchew

Bluecane

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -16.5%

04-21-2013 05:52:22 | More by Bluecane

57md

Pennsylvania

3.8/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Pours a dark copper with a finger of beige head that enjoyed some retention around the very edges of the glass. The nose includes caramel, nuts, bread and an odd note that was hard to place. This offering has a malty sweetness to it that gives way to a chewy bitterness that includes a trace of alcohol.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2013 21:36:52 | More by 57md

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I had this on tap at O'reilly's tap room and Kitchen in Harrisburg, served in a snifter.

The color is deep copper with some bronze highlights and small thin head of beige which becomes a ring of beads yet revives with a swirl. There are legs on the glass as it is swirled. The smell is very nice with some light malt toasted odors and slightly sweet nuttty almost almond-like scents with a moderately alcohol influenced aroma. The feel is good with slight sweet entry and mild bitterness with not quite cloying feel and moderately high carbonation and semi boozy finish.

This is a pretty decent Scotch ale, a bit of roast and light bready toasted malt with mildly sweet almost caramel and nutty with a gentle bitterness to balance things out but the alcohol comes forward slightly in the flavor as it warms, not bad which might be expected of a beer 8% or higher, I like the dry finish. Overall a pretty good ale, not one I would want more than 1 snifter of however.

Serving type: on-tap

03-25-2013 14:03:19 | More by Slatetank

Darkmagus82

Montana

4.03/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap in a pint glass

Appearance – The beer was served as a golden amber color with a one finger off white head. The head faded relatively quickly leaving a lighter level of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell- The aroma is big and sweet with a strong aroma of brown sugar and some lighter notes of toffee. With these sugary smells is a good presence of a dark fruit and a heavy malt nature with lighter hints of roast mixed within. Rounding all the aromas out is a light boozy smell which overall produces a sweet and comforting smell.

Taste – The taste follows the nose very swell. A big malty and sweet flavor of a lightly roasted malt and bready nature mixed with big flavors of brown sugar meet the tongue. Some flavors of toffee and a light amount of a dark fruit then hit the tongue more toward the middle of the taste. As the taste advances to the end, a very light alcohol flavor meets the tongue leaving an almost lightly liquored hard candy taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel- The body of the beer is creamier and smooth with a carbonation level that was on the lower side. This feel was quite nice for creating a slower drinker with it accentuating nicely all the sweet and malty flavors of the brew.

Overall – A rather enjoyable drink I must say. A bit on the candy sweeter side even for a wee heavy, but very enjoyable and pleasant to drink.

Serving type: on-tap

03-23-2013 20:01:28 | More by Darkmagus82

DrinkDrankDronk

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%

03-20-2013 02:17:01 | More by DrinkDrankDronk

Boilerfood

Indiana

3.25/5  rDev -16.5%

02-25-2013 15:16:17 | More by Boilerfood

Bouleboubier

Pennsylvania

4.26/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A: burgundy liquid....tan head, somewhat creamy with an open structure, not much retention, decent lacing

S: dark, rich caramel....potent fruity esters woven in...bit of a toasty note, alcohol in the background ...really bright and inviting, overall

T: the requisite flavors seem to be all there...darker caramel malt, residual in the aftertaste....perhaps a little more alcohol-forward and malt depth/richness weak than it should be (if that makes sense) - there's a little something in there that gives it a true, characteristic Scotch ale flavor - and I hate to say it could be a "smoky" nuance - could be a yeast or special, adjunct malt character...there's some bubblegum, which should be there, and it's at a nice, mild ratio here

M: a little thinner than the aroma suggests... probably dead on with your average (within a small range) true Scotch ale.... has a sort of light velvety/satiny viscosity - not chewy.... quite dry otherwise, wine-like alcohol and spice feel

O: shit!... along with Bear Republic's Heritage Ale, one of the best, most textbook (not quite the word I was looking for, but close) Scotch ales from an American brewery. Very well done!

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 09:29:38 | More by Bouleboubier

JeffTheJuice

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.8%

02-20-2013 18:37:43 | More by JeffTheJuice

Rn2Ln3Tn4

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.8%

02-20-2013 18:11:30 | More by Rn2Ln3Tn4

RyanAU

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

02-11-2013 23:53:12 | More by RyanAU

DmanGTR

New York

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%

02-10-2013 16:11:55 | More by DmanGTR

discdueler

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%

02-09-2013 21:18:07 | More by discdueler

SoberPhobic

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.8%

02-08-2013 03:27:30 | More by SoberPhobic

anjah

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -10%

02-03-2013 03:16:28 | More by anjah

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.21/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thanks a while back to kwakwhore and Solomon420 for bottles of this, which I know is a couple years old by now. Enjoy by 08/09, so quite old actually... but hopefully being an 8% abv wee heavy, it held up.

Surprisingly still carbonation, a nice ppsssttt as I crack the top, and a decent fizzy head rises up to almost 1/2 finger before quickly fading back like the style would expect, faint lacing, over a very sediment filled as expected for a 4 year old beer, coppery caramel colored beer.

Nose is pretty nice, surprisingly a bit of booze cuts in through it, with plenty of malts, sweet candy malts, caramel, little nutty, molasses and candy, caramelized brown sugar, toffee, etc. Then fruits, a bit of dark fruits a little fig paste and nutty raisins.

Taste starts with more malts, plenty of sweet brown malts, and the sweetness really held up, and brings a little booze with it, booze taste and warmth, perfect for the cold night tonight. Fruits in there again, figs and little candied raisin flavor. Sweetness comes also with the toffee, little molasses, caramel, and candy syrup flavors, and just a bit of an aged malt character with slight toasty bready taste. There is a faint hint of fusel like alcohol, which is surprising to last after this much time. A faint hint of an earthy hop in there with touch of bitterness. Finish is sticky and sweet, syrupy, more nutty sweet malts, fig and candied raisins, and toffee syrup flavors lingering, with a bit of booze as well.

Mouth is fuller bodied but not thick, syrupy with decent carb esp for the style and age, and plenty of warming slightly tingly booze.

Overall surprised how well this held up. Quite a nice beer with great dark malts, sweet flavors, fruits, etc. It has quite a bit of a Belgian Strong aged beer at this point with the flavor profile it brings, which is quite nice.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2013 22:30:31 | More by jlindros

JxExM

New York

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

01-19-2013 06:51:05 | More by JxExM

AndyAvalanche

Massachusetts

4.19/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

12 oz. bottle poured into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint Glass. Nice gold to deep amber in color. Glows golden when held up to the light with excellent clarity. A thick orange creamsicle colored head with various bubble sizes and good lacing.

Smell is very good and consistent in representing the style, total malt bomb. Probably closer to the darker colored malts being used here. There's also plenty of dark fruit notes, not too boozy which sometimes this style can be. Slightly sweet, but overall well balanced in the smell.

Taste is very good, and 100% on par with the smell. Flavor is really good. I have to describe it as having a candied caramel apple, but it's not the classic granny smith, more of a slightly more than ripe Red Delicious or other non sour red apple, the good taste without the mess. In addition to that there's sweet toffee and hints of coco powder and maybe some slight earthy spice, nutmeg maybe. Super good.

Mouthfeel is good. Full bodied with a good carbonation level. Rich, buttery and only a slight bite to it. Well balanced for the style. Super drinkable, you could easily drink this faster than intended, but it's a nice sipper too. Another solid example of what Duck Rabbit is doing and doing right.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2013 02:46:58 | More by AndyAvalanche

AntLeatherface

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -3.6%

01-08-2013 03:51:39 | More by AntLeatherface

undeadozzy

Pennsylvania

4.65/5  rDev +19.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Thick caramel darkness with a heavy cream colored head that gave way to lots of lacing. Beautiful color, serving it in a snifter definitely enhanced its already beautiful appearance.

S - Beautiful aroma on the nose. Instantly smell brown sugar, some dark dried fruit like figs and prunes, molasses, and a huge over powering malt smell that's nearly irresistible.

T - Hits hard with all the things I smelled AND MORE! Definitely picking up on an almost bran/pumpernickel mixed with a kinda malted milk ball sweetness, and some bite from the ABV, but nothing too much. A delicious elixir.

M - Smooth and creamy, almost sticky. Very heavy beer, but I wouldn't expect anything less from this style.

O - Never had a Wee Heavy before, but I think this was a good one to start with. Definitely very interested in the style now and want to try more!

Serving type: on-tap

01-06-2013 05:28:17 | More by undeadozzy

Falcone

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +2.8%

01-04-2013 22:56:30 | More by Falcone