Ol' Red Cease & Desist Wee Heavy Ale
Erie Brewing Co.

Ol' Red Cease & Desist Wee Heavy AleOl' Red Cease & Desist Wee Heavy Ale
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From:
Erie Brewing Co.
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
Ranked #144
ABV:
10.1%
Score:
80
Ranked #26,120
Avg:
3.52 | pDev: 15.91%
Reviews:
144
Ratings:
302
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 10, 2023
Added:
Nov 20, 2007
Wants:
  11
Gots:
  46
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of Giantspace
Reviewed by Giantspace from Pennsylvania

2.45/5  rDev -30.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
Poured into a Nonic type glass. This beer is a nice red color. Smells of sweet caramel. Taste is just too sweet, almost like a glass of sugar water. I poured this out after 4-5 oz. If you are looking for a wee heavy this is not it, not even close.
Jun 10, 2023
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

4.32/5  rDev +22.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
(12 oz bottle, most recent label, no date/code; purchased single off shelf yesterday... poured into my Chouffe tulip)

L: bottle neck filled too high, but enough pfft! on the cap removal... clear, deep-tawny near garnet colored liquid (close enough)... puts up some foam on the pour, but it dies out, which is typical... barely a thin collar, barely laces

S: mildly boozy waft up front, but they clearly nailed the overall quintessential aromas of a classic (homebrew) Scotch ale: cherry, non-peated single malt Scotch, with hints of honey, bubblegum, and barbequed caramelization... scary on point... subtle note of ammonia (or is that me?)

T: arguably reminiscent of a Belhaven wee heavy in its malt and fruit characters, just with extra oomph! from the powerful booziness, which surges in the finish, adding to an almost cinnamon-like phenolic spice in the aftertaste; lacks the subtle depth of the Belhaven... cordial cherry essence lingering, ultra-light caramel rounding that out... I'm picking out little things; it's not a complex recipe, lacks depth, but it's so damn foundational

F: tangibly, tactfully round and bouncy, with little residual slickness, hurried off the palate by its inherent buoyancy and the brawny boozy heat... kind of too easy to knock back, but you might knock yourself down

O: was NOT expecting this to be so kinda good!... lacks idiosyncracy, but I can't help but applaud this for being remarkably textbook - my homebrewed versions are scary close to this... not the most interesting, ideal take on a Scotch ale, but it checks off all the essential boxes... of course I'll get more, but please knock it down to 8-9% abv damn haha (2137)
Apr 29, 2023
Photo of EMV
Reviewed by EMV from Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Cloudy copper pour. A finger of off-white head leaves a thin ring of lacing. Sediment at the end of the pour.

S: Malts and sugars. Smells like a red ale... earth, grains, and a bit of caramel.

T.F: Sweet-ish and malty, as expected for a Wee Heavy. Earth, caramel, and bread. Tea and herbal hops. Modest bitterness. Brown sugar and a little fruit. Medium body... some alcohol. Lingering sweetness.

O: A decent Wee Heavy. Not a favorite style, but they got the flavor right. Hides its 10% ABV reasonably well. Nice for a change of pace.
Dec 21, 2022
Photo of Brutaltruth
Reviewed by Brutaltruth from Ohio

3.85/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This solid wee heavy pours a muddled
reddish brown with a nice head of off white foam that settles to a thick ring,
thin clumping layer, and sports some light lacing. Nose of toasted breaded malts,
caramel, raisin, subtle peach, and faint alcohol phenol elements. Flavors are
on point with dark breaded malts, bread crust, caramel, peach, raisin, and subltle
chocolate notes amongst brown sugars and spicy booze notes. Nice mouth feel;
medium body, medium light carbonation, and a sweet finish that is faintly dry.

Overall----excellent!

Cheers
Nov 18, 2022
 
Rated: 3.24 by CaptainMac from Pennsylvania

Jun 06, 2022
Photo of bluejacket74
Reviewed by bluejacket74 from Ohio

3.58/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
12 ounce bottle, no dating that I noticed on the bottle or label. Thanks to Brutaltruth for this one! Served in a thistle glass, the beer pours a somewhat clear reddish/amber color with about an inch off-white head. Head retention and lacing are both OK. The brew smells like caramel, fig, raisin, red apple and grainy malt. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some dark bread and cherry flavors noticeable too. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's coating and a bit creamy with a moderate amount of carbonation. Thought this was a decent enough overall brew. Worth a try if you come across a bottle.
Mar 11, 2022
 
Rated: 4.1 by shreead from Michigan

Dec 21, 2020
Photo of Act25
Reviewed by Act25 from New Jersey

3.89/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Why must every beer fit the tradition, is that not the entire point of craft?
Strong Ales - sweet, malty, pungent.
1st why do anything but let this go to cask temp in a snifter - that's pretty enjoyable.
A) mahogany, copper-penny clear body capped with frothy lasting and lacing head.
S) Pungent, late fall, ripe fruit skins, some incense and church, wood.
T) Brings sweet caramel first with toffee, dried dark fruit. complex. A bit of spice on top of malt body. Missing peat, missing ABV.
F) Tight dryness with dried fruit. Malty, sweet, but not cloying, medicine cabinet in a good way. Syrup.
O) drank more like a 7%, malty character, complex, wine like. It's fine. Try 6.
Nov 01, 2019
Photo of WoodBrew
Reviewed by WoodBrew from Ohio

3.06/5  rDev -13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
I tried this beer at The Daily Growler in Powell, Ohio . It poured a clear amber with thin white head that did not leave much lace. The scent had faint caramel malt notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with malt presence. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it's not a beer I would seek out and try again.
Aug 24, 2019
 
Rated: 4.83 by TPHuth from Ohio

Feb 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.06 by jwohio from Ohio

Dec 17, 2018
 
Rated: 4.18 by edthehead from Maryland

Dec 15, 2018
Photo of lastmango
Reviewed by lastmango from Pennsylvania

3.09/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Poured an somewhat opaque honey brown color with a one finger white head that quickly dissipated to a thin film. Light lacing. Aroma is a light caramel and green apple. A boozy toffee and malt taste, including a hint of bourbon. Somewhat sticky heavy body with light carbonation. Drinkable but not the best.

Update for 4/6/2021. Pour had the same honey brown color but was clearer despite floaters present. No head or lacing. No detectable aroma. Taste was mostly sweet malt and booze. Body was thin with slight carbonation. My guess is this bottle is old. So, I dumped it.
Nov 25, 2018
Photo of dawsonives
Rated by dawsonives from Pennsylvania

4.87/5  rDev +38.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
My absolute favorite!
Nov 21, 2018
Photo of Fee
Reviewed by Fee from Pennsylvania

3.84/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A strong wee heavy that is a bit sweet. You can definitely taste the maltiness. Pours a nice dark rich red brown. Might be too sweet for some. Boozy - but not overly so!
Jul 18, 2018
Photo of jzeilinger
Reviewed by jzeilinger from Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
On tap.

A - Dark amber colored pour, clear, light carbonation and thun lacing.

S - Some light toasted caramel, apple, and alot of sweet cereal graininess.

T - Toasted caramel sweetness, some nutty character, biscuity, lingering toasted caramel with delicate bitterness.

M - Thick and full bodied, coats the lips with malty sticky sweetness.

O - Very heavy and filling. This beer does a nice job of hiding the ABV.
Jan 31, 2018
 
Rated: 3.84 by BeerForMuscle from New Jersey

Jan 23, 2018
Photo of superspak
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina

3.63/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
12 ounce bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but has a bottle manufacture code of 8/31/2014. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy deep ruby red, light copper/brown color with a small fairly dense cream colored head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, pear, apricot, red apple, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with light notes of nuttiness, roast, peat smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity yeast, dark/bready malt, and light earthy hop notes; with good strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, cherry, fig, date, pear, apricot, red apple, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with light notes of nuttiness, roast, peat smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Mild herbal/grassy hop and roast bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark fruit, cherry, pear, apricot, red apple, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, light nuttiness/roast, leather, tobacco, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, dark/bready malt, and light earthy hop flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying sweetness after the finish. Minimal dryness. Light-medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is good. Pretty thin for the ABV, but not bad. Minimal warming alcohol for 10.1%. Overall this is a nice scotch ale. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, dark/bready malt, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV. This had some nice well rounded yeast/malt complexity and balance between the two. Just not as richly flavorful and full bodied as it should have been for the style. A nicely enjoyable offering, and good style example otherwise.
Sep 23, 2017
Photo of dacrza1
Reviewed by dacrza1 from New Jersey

3.41/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
DATE: April 15, 2017... OCCASION: having enjoyed a great Easter Saturday, Shan and I begin binging on old Arrested Development... GLASSWARE: Corsendonk tulip... pours a dark ruby body full of effervescence... a single-finger, thick white head that sits stoically... first hints of aroma are sweet caramel and toffee, butterscotch, whiskey, leather and faint floral suggestions... in a word, quite complex and promising... first sip is big but not overpowering, lasting but not intrusive... exhibits liveliness at the teeth, but really sinks its teeth into the throat with heavy maltiness... bourbon, caramel, sweet toffee, and raisin make for a boozy, sweet medium-bodied sip that is a meal in itself... too much of a medicinal impact for my liking...a fan of the genre to start, this is thin and wine-like in its presence... big, bold, yet belying its 10.1 ABV... one I would gladly drink again, but not one I would buy again...
Apr 16, 2017
Photo of Inpraiseoffolly
Reviewed by Inpraiseoffolly from Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4
It's not fair to compare this to a Belgian trippel...the geniuses of that country have had a thousand years to perfect their nectar of the gods. This,however, is a nice American ale in that style. A little rough ,not as refined but bursting with malty fullness and a great combination of dried fruitcake fruits and yeasty bread dough. -enjoy it for what it is ,America is making a huge amount of good and daring beers based on their European forebearers.Some are horrible some mediocre, some are home runs, try them all and be glad;the best will survive .Thanks Erie brewing for a flavorful tasty choice, and for not just for making the millionth version of an ipa (yeah you make an ipa too,who doesn't? ) It's good, affordable (15 dollars for 22 ounces for some of the heavenly Belgian trippels) but watch out ,high ABV. Cheers(yeah, I know theyre calling this a Scotch Ale,but it tastes like a trippel made with darker malts and a little barley sugar to me. .can we call it a Scottish -Belgian? ...just kidding)
Mar 22, 2017
Ol' Red Cease & Desist Wee Heavy Ale from Erie Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 80 out of 100 with 302 ratings