Wee Heavy
Roughtail Brewing Co.

A - thick syrupy ruby amber. Short beige head that quickly faded. Almost no lacing. 3.5

S - sweet but slightly hoppy. Not unlike a rye ale. Malty and a tad citrus. Generally quite pleasant. 4

T - hoppyness is not overpowering at all but complimentary instead of the rich varied malty flavors. Aftertaste is slightly sour. 4

M - spicy abv burps and a bit of burn would be daunting for unseasoned drinkers. But good for the style. 4

D - pleasantly surprised. The only real problem is the price tag at $6 per tall boy can. 3.75

 

 

 

Pours a beautiful orange with no head as would be expected form a 11% abv. Smell of oranges and honey. taste of sweet caramel and toffee with just a hint of hop bitterness on the end. mouthfeel is thick and chewy.

Wow, what a great Wee Heavy! It really brings out the malt beast in me, like a good wee heavy should. Tons of caramel and toffee malts.dominate showing It is primarily a traditional wee heavy in style. But has just a hint of hops and big abv thrown in just to say it was brewed in America.

The can remind me of the Old Heavy Metal Movie, not that they are that much alike. Just a personal thing maybe.

 

Ruby red in color with a dense and clingy tan froth.

Smells of caramel and toasted malts with a slightly metallic background.

Tastes of caramel, tea leaves, sugar and medium fruits in the middle. Has a long, grainy finish and a little plastic fantastic lingering. A nice syrupy stickiness is left on the lips.

Quite smooth and creamy and almost delicate despite the alcohol content.

By far my favorite from RoughTail so far.

 

Incredibly malty with a healthy dose of smooth caramel. Breadiness throughout. Sweet and slightly unbalanced, but in a good way. Complex for the style. Another superb showing by Roughtail. More depth than most others in this style.

Appearance- Color is a combo of dark caramel and reddish hues. About one fingers worth of a foamy head produced.

Aroma- Subtle aroma with sweet caramel and booze standing out the most.

Taste- Lots of boozy sweetness and dense toffee flavors at first. This sweetness lingers to the finish, but a mildly peated malt flavor comes in as well leaving a surprisingly dry finish.

Feel- The very definition of a full bodied beer, low carbonation, and dry in the finish.

Overall- The flavors are really good here, but it really teeters the line of being cloying, overly boozy, and too dense. Overall, its just a little too much in all aspects and really doesn't need to be at 12%. Nice flavors, but not worth the $6-7 price of a 16oz can.

The strength of this Wee Heavy is that it's not, in fact, overly heavy. For an all-malt, 12% beer it's surprisingly dry, not overly sweet, and not overly alcohol influenced. The dryness removes some of the malt complexity associated with the style but the trade off in drinkability is a plus in my book. Smooth sweet barley and a vein of toffee, clean ethanol, tea-like bitterness. Nice deep red color and adequate foam from a mild carbonation. Not a heavy-handed American craft version, but something a little more elegant. Price is always an issue with newer breweries considering I can buy other very good representations for less. However, a $5.50 pint can of well-crafted beer is worthwhile to support a new local brewery making generally very good beer.

 

 

Pours caramel/hazel with 2 fingers of tan head. Stays somewhat hazy, plus effervescent, above average lacing & slightly above average head retention

S: Cakeyness, booze & peatyness

T: Cakeyness, faint peaty notes, plus toffee, dryness, pears & little booze up front. Cakeyness, pears, booze & a little caramel as this warms, some leafy hops as well. Finishes cakey, dry, peaty & with caramel, booze profile calms down over time

MF: Medium bodied, slight carbonation, thickens up as it warms, seems a little coarse

Drinks pretty easy for the style & ABV, a solid take, I'm a little taken aback at the price. But will give them a little bit of a break as this is the equivalent of 2 pints. Having said that I would just as soon buy Old Chub or Dirty Bastard & get more beer for my $. Worth a go none the less

 

Very smooth for how boozy it is. Outstanding balance though. I really enjoyed this beer.

 

Pours from the can into a Roughtail pint glass a dark copper with two fingers of creamy white head. It holds for quite some time, leaving a lot of lacing. Aroma is of malt, toffee and caramel, along with a bit of booze. Tastes of sweet toffee and caramel, and while the booze blends well, it's definitely present. What surprises me most is how well a slight touch of bitterness adds so much depth. Mouth is medium-heavy. With some creaminess. I have to say that this is one of the best of this style that I've had.