Wee Heavy Winter Ale
Hale's Ales, Seattle WA
After a long walk today to the Post Office and back (with Elaine in the Baby Bjorn), I stopped in the food co-op and picked up a 6 of something local. "Wee Heavy", as the carton explains, is another expression for a Scottish strong beer. Although it is called a winter ale, I don't detect any evidence of spice or other adjuncts, other than hops.
The freshly opened bottle smells yeasty and malty, with a decent amount of boiling hops character. It feels heavy, as advertised, with a light carb burn. Carbonation in general is low to middling. This brew has a strong chocolate flavor, and reminds me of Young's Double Chocolate Stout, without the addition of actual chocolate, of course. It made sense to me.
The strong but clean bitterness is carried equally between the hops and dark roasted malt. There is almost no sourness, thanks in part to the low carbonation. There is also very little overt sweetness--what there is exists as a burnt molasses buried in the secondary.
In short, this gets a strong recommendation from me. I look forward to sampling the rest of Hale's Ales.
Glad you're getting right stuck into the local produce...
ReplyDeleteYep, I've barely scratched the surface. No hope of any Michigan beers out here, sadly, but somehow I think I'll be OK.
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