Doug's Colonial Ale
Heavyweight Brewing Co.

765 ml bottle, poured into my mug and it *might* be a bit over carbonated. The head is three inches thick, filling more than half the glass. The actual beer is a cloudy brown. Pleasant aroma, smells of nutty, smoky coffee beans and toasty malt. Champagne bubbly on the palate, yet refreshing and smooth. Slight hop bitterness throughout, but the popping of the toasted wheat malt and coffee is the dominant flavor. Alcohol is not noticeable anywhere. An interesting, and despite the high carbonation, quite drinkable end-of-the-line brew from Tom at Heavyweight.

Appearance – 750 ml bottle from Spirits Unlimited. Poured into my mug a huge creamy buff head rises to fill half of the glass the other half of the mug reveals a cloudy light brown liquid with red highlights. Looks highly carbonated which leads to unbelievable head retention.

Smell – Beautiful toasted brown malt aroma, with hints of chocolate and sugar. No hops, no alcohol, and not much in the way of yeast character.

Taste – Very smooth, more towards the malt end of the spectrum. The brown malt is clearly the showcase, deep toast with notes of chocolate and coffee. It is interesting to taste a beer that relies so heavily on such a infrequently used malt. Hop bitterness is just enough to balance, but the hops do not lend anything else to this beer.

Mouthfeel – I think this one is over carbonated, both because of how it interrupts the smooth maltiness, and because a “colonial” beer would be more authentically served with lower carbonation.

Drinkability & Notes – An interesting interpretation of a historical beer, this is actually very similar to a historical porter (pale, brown and amber malts) I brewed a few months back. One of the better “historical” beers out there, not sure how accurate it is, but it sure is tasty.

Wow! This one's impressive. Brewed from 50% pale malt and 45% brown malt (and, I'll assume, 5% crystal), it almost tastes like coffee was added. The brown malt lends it a roasty, deeply toasty, and cocoaish side that's quite unique and intriguing!

It pours a cloudy dark chestnut beneath a full-head of off-white froth that holds remarkably well and leaves some very nice lacing about the glass.

The nose reveals a touch of roasty "smokiness", but doesn't really hint at the coffee flavors held within. It does reveal it's cocoaish, toffee-like and nutty side. Hops aren't particularily present, but neither are they intended to be.

The flavor is drier than the nose might suggest, but it's still very rich and satiating with lots of cocoa and roasted tones. More caramel and nuttiness appears across the middle; and it's balanced by a solid, underlying bitterness. Some leafy hops become apparent at this point as well. Just a touch of alcohol can be noted in the finish, and a mild note of almost-burnt sweet-bread crust lingers on the palate.

In conclusion, it might be a bit full-flavored to have more than one pint, but that one will surely be enough. Remarkably unique, and well worth seeking out!

This was a bit different than expected but really, really good stuff.

It pours a murky brownish-amber colour with a big semi-chunky head that oozees down the glass as it dissolves into a thin off-white lace.

The aroma is an incredible mix of malt, cocoa, nuts, a hint of sweet caramel and some smokiness as well. Awesome.

The flavour and mouthfeel both have a nice, dry ruggedness to them. It starts with and earth like smoke and nut flavour before moving into a cocoa flavour in the middle which mixes nicely with some caramel and the other afformentioned flavours at the finish.

This one was really a treat. I highly recommend trying to get you hands on at least one bottle if it is possible.