Pittock Wee Heavy Scotch Ale
Ice Axe Grill / Mt. Hood Brewing Co.

Well wasn't this just an unexpected pleasure. On tap at the lodge at Timberline after just a perfect day...

Pittock pours a deep crimson slapped with auburn and hazelnut highlights. Not perfectly clean, but pretty damn good looking. A fine creamy colored head rests on top and provides moderate lacing.

Caramel, sweet rolls, and peat smoke right off the bat. Deeply roasted malts provide some dark chocolate as well.

Wow. This is near perfect execution of peated malt in a Wee Heavy. Great smokey flavor but in no way overwhelming. Just right in fact as it supports the sweet bruleed bread and roasted grain, yet still manages to be the shining star of the bill.

Great feel too. Heavy, but not too heavy. A medium to full body with excellent balance, and a lighter carbonation that really allows the flavors to shine. Nice sticky finish with a smokey and spicy finish.

Again, I was not expecting this to be so great, but it is. I truly HOPE that I have another chance at Pittock Wee Heavy. Slainte.

 

 

 

Had this excellent beer on tap (cask) at the horsebrass the other day. I'm not sure I've ever had a better wee heavy.

The beer pours a darkish amber color with good head retention and lacing. The beer is impressive on the nose, with some butterscotch, cherry, smoke and peat aromas. In fact, this is probably the most peaty wee heavy I've ever come across, and it works well with the aroma profile in this beer. On the palate this beer is a stunner. The mouthfeel is long, rich and creamy. The flavors replicate the nose, and while the beer is fairly sweet, there's just enough hops, peat and smoke to keep it from becoming cloying. While one can tell the alcohol is up there a bit on this one, the flavors are so delicious, and the beer so well balanced, that I found myself gulping it down.

Wow. This is just excellent stuff.

A shaker glass at the Brewpub from the cask, this batch is supposedly 7.68%. Dark, clear garnett with a very tight, creamy, small tan head that leaves heavy lace.

Smell is sweeet and rich crystal malt.

Taste if really fantastic, refined and smooth yet rich and complex, caramel and butterscotch and smoke round out the lingering aftertaste. Wow, this is pretty much exactly what I want in a wee heavy, pretty much perfect, save for perhaps a tad too much caramelly crystal.

Mouthfeel is very smooth and velvety, with a fairly light body inspite of the ABV. Yay cask!

Drinkability is quite high, as this was a really nice beer. Maybe get a bit cloying if I sessioned, but sadly only had time for one today...

An ale of some intensity and complexity. The nose is vibrant with bright mellifluous notes of plum, cherry, and honeydew. The taste however, takes a sharp turn away from the implied fruitiness of the aroma and instead comes across with a piquant shot of smoldering peat malts. This peatiness nearly red-lines the flavor zone and may be too harsh for some tastes, though of course, not for mine.

Clear mahogany with a slight alcoholic bite in the finish and just enough bitterness to remind you it’s there. Oddly enough, the Mt. Hood Brewpub was serving both this winter seasonal and their barleywine by Labor Day weekend. Said to be 9.5% ABV.

Had on tap at Horse Brass Pub. Poured a dull, almost chocolate brown with a slight haze. Really nice creamy head that lasted for most of the beer. It was a rather lovely pint.

The aroma is somewhat mellow, though a mingling of peat and molasses suggest great things to come.

The taste is astounding. Its rich, full and malty with solid, brown sweetness. Complimenting the affect was a drying smokiness that was on the verge of being subtle. Though big and malty, it drank silky smooth and taunted me with desire for more.

The alcohol was not apparent, though it must be there. This is a fantastic beer, despite being somewhat timid for a wee heavy. Its wonderful, well developed flavors are maybe a bit mature in their flavors, but they're also the mark of a stellar beer.