Tonight's beer: Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy
Lots of caramel, some deeply-toasted bread. Surprising amount of dark fruits, mostly something an awful lot like bing cherries, lightly dried and candied (lots of juicy character). Peat and smoke linger around the edges; there's a vague trace of earthy bitterness, more for contrast than for balance. Strong presence of whiskey and brandy.
Mouthfeel is thick and bready and gently-carbonated. Lots of bready-syrupy stickiness that never completely lets go. Lots of pretty obvious boozy warmth to the beer, and most of the drying on the palate is probably from that. Warming and filling, with a finish that goes on and on and on and on and on.
Probably one of the strongest Wee Heavy style beers I've had, and it's not particularly subtle about that 9.5% ABV it's packing. Big and boozy and surprisingly sweet: I've always figured that malt-bombs were mostly barleywines (with the occasional awkwardly-balanced stout), but this is the maltiest malt-bomb I've had on a long while. For all that, though, it's nicely integrated and surprisingly complex, and closer to a Scottish Wee Heavy than ones I've had from other American craft brewers. Not something to run to ground, or go to any great lengths to get, but a good (if very strong) example of the style.
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| Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy |
Lots of caramel, some deeply-toasted bread. Surprising amount of dark fruits, mostly something an awful lot like bing cherries, lightly dried and candied (lots of juicy character). Peat and smoke linger around the edges; there's a vague trace of earthy bitterness, more for contrast than for balance. Strong presence of whiskey and brandy.
Mouthfeel is thick and bready and gently-carbonated. Lots of bready-syrupy stickiness that never completely lets go. Lots of pretty obvious boozy warmth to the beer, and most of the drying on the palate is probably from that. Warming and filling, with a finish that goes on and on and on and on and on.
Probably one of the strongest Wee Heavy style beers I've had, and it's not particularly subtle about that 9.5% ABV it's packing. Big and boozy and surprisingly sweet: I've always figured that malt-bombs were mostly barleywines (with the occasional awkwardly-balanced stout), but this is the maltiest malt-bomb I've had on a long while. For all that, though, it's nicely integrated and surprisingly complex, and closer to a Scottish Wee Heavy than ones I've had from other American craft brewers. Not something to run to ground, or go to any great lengths to get, but a good (if very strong) example of the style.
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