Wee Heavy blind tasting

Discussion in 'The Bar' started by geodonnokepyo, Apr 23, 2016.

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  1. geodonnokepyo

    geodonnokepyo Initiate (0) Oct 31, 2013 Pennsylvania

    Hey all,
    Yesterday I had some friends over and we did a beer tasting with 9 different Wee Heavy/Scotch Ales. These were all easily accessible to my area.
    This was a blind tasting so nobody had any knowledge of what the beers were until the end when we revealed.

    Here is a picture of all the beers after we finished:
    [​IMG]

    I added one of my homebrews into the mix just to see if it was any good. Two out of the seven of us had it in their top 3 but most everyone else, including myself, thought it wasn't that great. Can't complain though.

    Anyways, here is a list of all the beers as we had them numbered on our glasses and common descriptor words taken from all of our notes.

    #1 - Kilty Pleasure - Philadelphia Brewing Co. - 10% ABV
    hoppy, bitter, smokey, bourbon, meh (3 of us wrote meh)
    this one was collectively the least favorite, although one of us voted it #1 (must've been a hop head)

    #2 - Claymore - Great Divide - 7.7% ABV
    rum and chocolate were written on basically everyone's cards
    this was our second place finisher, two #1 votes, no one ranked it worse than 5th

    #3 - Traquair House Ale - Traquair House Brewery - 7.2% ABV
    watery and sour were both written twice, caramel, malty
    despite the poor descriptors this one finished 3rd

    #4 - Scotty Karate - Dark Horse - 9.75% ABV
    roasty, malty, caramel, big, boozy
    this finished tied for 4th

    #5 - Skull Splitter - Orkney Brewery - 8.5% ABV
    mellow, oaky, caramel, smooth, hoppy
    tied for 4th

    #6 - Old Chub - Oskar Blues - 8% ABV
    smooth, creamy, caramel, chocolate
    our clear winner, four #1 votes, two #2 votes

    #7 - Dirty Bastard - Founder's - 8.5% ABV
    raisins, chocolate, hops
    5th place

    #8 - Homebrew - 9.75% ABV
    booze, nail polish, roasty, chocolate
    tied for 6th, two 3rd place votes :sunglasses:

    #9 - Ol' Red Cease And Desist - Erie Brewing Co. - 10.1% ABV
    stone fruit, light, refreshing
    tied for 6th


    The Final Rankings (w/ BA rating avg.)
    1. Old Chub - 4
    2. Claymore - 3.86
    3. Traquair - 4.16
    T4. Scotty Karate - 3.99
    T4. Skull Splitter - 4.06
    5. Dirty Bastard - 4.03
    T6. Homebrew
    T6. Ol' Red - 3.49
    7. Kilty Pleasure - 3.73

    Hope you all enjoyed this:slight_smile:
     
    #1 geodonnokepyo, Apr 23, 2016
    drtth, thebeers, Lucular and 21 others like this.
  2. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,385) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yes I liked that, thanks for posting.
     
    #2 Squire, Apr 23, 2016
  3. Lingenbrau

    Lingenbrau Grand Pooh-Bah (4,853) Apr 9, 2011 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Good to see an awesome style get some appreciation! Would have loved to see how AleSmith Wee Heavy would hold up in that mix. Cheers!
     
    #3 Lingenbrau, Apr 23, 2016
    SteelersX, Rzzzzz and zid like this.
  4. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,701) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    I wish I had a sound track. I'm certain it was "mostly" proper! Sounds like fun.
     
    #4 rgordon, Apr 23, 2016
  5. ONovoMexicano

    ONovoMexicano Initiate (0) Jun 14, 2012 New Mexico

    Pic isn't showing but otherwise, cool. I love blind tastings.
     
    #5 ONovoMexicano, Apr 23, 2016
    VABA likes this.
  6. FBarber

    FBarber Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,325) Mar 5, 2016 Illinois
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    This is hilariously coincidental because I had some friends over last night and we did a blind tasting of barrel aged wee heavies.

    Gravedigger Billy (Revolution)
    BA Big Sound (Cigar City)
    BA Scotty Karate (Dark Horse)
    BA Outta Kilter (Hoppin Frog)
    Backwoods Bastard (Founders)

    Backwoods Bastard was #1 for 3/5 guys and #2 for me. Gravedigger Billy took #1 for me and one other guy. BA Big Sound was the most unique BA wee heavy we tasted -very dark with lots of chocolate cake flavors.

    Its a great style of ale and I'm glad to see others enjoying it as well!
     
    #6 FBarber, Apr 23, 2016
    Mlkluther and geodonnokepyo like this.
  7. StoutAtTheDevil

    StoutAtTheDevil Maven (1,434) Nov 17, 2013 Alabama
    Trader

    Thanks for posting. I keep thinking I'll find a wee heavy I'll like more than Old Chub, but it hasn't happened yet.
     
    #7 StoutAtTheDevil, Apr 23, 2016
    geodonnokepyo likes this.
  8. alucard6679

    alucard6679 Savant (1,009) Jul 29, 2012 Arizona

    Now I want to drink some of the Old Chub in my fridge but I'm at work.....hmmmm......
     
    #8 alucard6679, Apr 23, 2016
    Lucular and geodonnokepyo like this.
  9. David_Deas

    David_Deas Initiate (0) Jan 26, 2016 North Carolina

    Alesmith was missing.
     
    #9 David_Deas, Apr 23, 2016
    JohnnyHopps likes this.
  10. geodonnokepyo

    geodonnokepyo Initiate (0) Oct 31, 2013 Pennsylvania

    Love the style, and love Backwoods Bastard as well.

    Yes, Old Chub reigns supreme
     
    #10 geodonnokepyo, Apr 23, 2016
    FBarber likes this.
  11. lambpasty

    lambpasty Initiate (0) May 3, 2013 New Hampshire

    I have a can of old chub from December of last year that I've been saving to see what age will do to it in the can - I may have to crack it tonight.
     
    #11 lambpasty, Apr 23, 2016
  12. UrbanCaveman

    UrbanCaveman Pooh-Bah (1,866) Sep 30, 2014 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Interesting results. Though if most of you said "hoppy" for Kitty Pleasure, but no one said "hoppy" for Old Chub, I will be sure to stay as far away from Kitty Pleasure as I possibly can. Old Chub is pure floral perfume to my palate.
     
    #12 UrbanCaveman, Apr 23, 2016
  13. wilymobastardo

    wilymobastardo Savant (1,012) Jan 12, 2015 California
    Trader

    Cool contest. Their Jacobite Ale is the best wee heavy I've ever had.
     
    #13 wilymobastardo, Apr 23, 2016
    TongoRad likes this.
  14. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    It's very nice to see a thread like this for something other than IPAs and stouts.
     
    #14 zid, Apr 24, 2016
    UrbanCaveman, TongoRad and Rzzzzz like this.
  15. TheDoctor

    TheDoctor Grand Pooh-Bah (3,484) Mar 7, 2013 Canada (QC)
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Nice post. Interesting to see what people picked.

    I can't decide whether that makes me happier as a Simpsons fan or a linguist.:grinning:
     
    #15 TheDoctor, Apr 24, 2016
  16. MooseBoose

    MooseBoose Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2007 Wisconsin

    Cool tasting. Love Jacobite and old chub. Alesmith would have done well I bet
     
    #16 MooseBoose, Apr 24, 2016
  17. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,790) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Before I "discovered" craft last year, I had run across Orkney Skull Splitter while on vacation, but when I got home I was not able to find it. This was one of the first revelations of craft for me; distribution varies by location (state). I'll eventually run across Skull Splitter again but thanks to this thread I now have some alternatives to seek out. I have had and liked Backwoods Bastard, without realizing it was the same style as Skull Splitter (though BA). Thanks guys!
     
    #17 bbtkd, Apr 24, 2016
    FBarber, BrewsingBuffalo, geodonnokepyo and 1 other person like this.
  18. geodonnokepyo

    geodonnokepyo Initiate (0) Oct 31, 2013 Pennsylvania

    Skull Splitter is a fantastic beer, I was very surprised it wasn't top 3.
     
    #18 geodonnokepyo, Apr 24, 2016
    WesMantooth, bbtkd, BrewsingBuffalo and 1 other person like this.
  19. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,790) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I thought it was the best beer I'd ever had - and was blown away by another revelation; they make higher than 4.2% ABV beers! I was totally oblivious to that up until then. By the time I realized that, I had two (or was it three?) with supper, and was thankful I was on foot rather than driving...
     
    #19 bbtkd, Apr 24, 2016
    manfromanotherplace likes this.
  20. manfromanotherplace

    manfromanotherplace Initiate (0) May 19, 2015 New York

    Definitely agree, the old chub is a stunner.I love scotch ales....still think the barrel aged Central Waters Scotch ale is the best ive ever tried tho.amazing beer.if you see it, buy it.
     
    #20 manfromanotherplace, Apr 24, 2016
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